---
title: Vessels containing from half a pint to fifty gallons were constructe… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: Vessels containing from half a pint to fifty gallons were constructed by them of earthenware, some of which were highly ornamented, and were almost as perfect in form as if they had been turned on a wheel. Who acts: Vessels, gallons. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introduct
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 218

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Vessels containing from half a pint to fifty gallons were constructed by them of earthenware, some of which were highly ornamented, and were almost as perfect in form as if they had been turned on a wheel.

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**Who acts:** Vessels, gallons · **What happens:** contain, construct, ornament, be, turn · **To what, where:** pint, Vessels, some, form, wheel

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Vessels, gallons), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg71335:2:218
# text = Vessels containing from half a pint to fifty gallons were constructed by them of earthenware, some of which were highly ornamented, and were almost as perfect in form as if they had been turned on a wheel.
1	Vessels	vessel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	containing	contain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	6	det:predet	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	pint	pint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	gallons	gallon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	constructed	construct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	earthenware	earthenware	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
17	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	22	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	17	nmod	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux:pass	_	_
21	highly	highly	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	ornamented	ornament	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
25	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	cop	_	_
26	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
27	as	as	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	conj	_	_
29	in	in	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
31	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
32	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
33	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
34	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
35	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	36	aux:pass	_	_
36	turned	turn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	28	advcl	_	_
37	on	on	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	wheel	wheel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contain** | gerund | Vessels *not said here* |  |  | half pint |  | to fifty gallons | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **construct** | past · passive | gallons *= gallon* | Vessels |  |  |  | of earthenware | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Result |
| 3 | **ornament** | past · passive |  | some |  |  |  | highly *property* | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination |
| 4 | **is** | past |  |  |  | form |  | almost, perfect *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **turn** | past · perfect · passive |  | Vessels *= vessel* |  | a wheel |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Project Gutenberg book 71335 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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