---
title: Though they were frequently not more than an eighth of an inch in th… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: Though they were frequently not more than an eighth of an inch in thickness, so finely tempered were they that the most intense heat did not damage them. Who acts: Vessels, intense heat. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its de
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 219

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Though they were frequently not more than an eighth of an inch in thickness, so finely tempered were they that the most intense heat did not damage them.

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**Who acts:** Vessels, intense heat · **What happens:** not be, temper, be, not damage · **To what, where:** Vessels

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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, intense heat), 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:pg71335:2:219
# text = Though they were frequently not more than an eighth of an inch in thickness, so finely tempered were they that the most intense heat did not damage them.
1	Though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	eighth	eighth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	inch	inch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	thickness	thickness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
17	finely	finely	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	tempered	temper	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
19	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	_
21	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
23	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	24	advmod	_	_
24	intense	intense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj	_	_
26	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	28	advmod	_	_
28	damage	damage	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	advcl	_	_
29	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | Vessels *= vessel* |  |  |  |  | than a eighth of a inch in thickness; frequently, more *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **temper** | participle | Vessels *= vessel* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | finely *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | past |  | Vessels *= vessel* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **damage** | past · do-support | the intense heat | Vessels *= vessel* |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

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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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