---
title: A portion of it was to be placed upon some coals, over which the man… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: A portion of it was to be placed upon some coals, over which the man was to sit, covering himself and the fire with his mantle so as to be thoroughly smoked. Who acts: man. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., with its dependency tree and the pragma
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., sentence 12

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A portion of it was to be placed upon some coals, over which the man was to sit, covering himself and the fire with his mantle so as to be thoroughly smoked.

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**Who acts:** man · **What happens:** place, be, cover, smoke · **To what, where:** portion, coals, plant

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man), 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:pg71335:31:12
# text = A portion of it was to be placed upon some coals, over which the man was to sit, covering himself and the fire with his mantle so as to be thoroughly smoked.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	portion	portion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nmod	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	coals	coal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
13	over	over	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	obl	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	sit	sit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	covering	cover	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	19	advcl	_	_
22	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	21	obj	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	conj	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	mantle	mantle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
29	so	so	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
30	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
31	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
32	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	aux:pass	_	_
33	thoroughly	thoroughly	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	smoked	smoke	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **place** | past · passive |  | a portion of method |  | some coals |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: subject=Theme upon coal=Destination |
| 2 | **is** | past | the man |  |  |  |  | which *obl*; sit *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **cover** | gerund | the man *not said here* | plant |  |  |  | with plant's mantle | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent himself=Destination with mantle=Theme |
| 4 | **smoke** | to-infinitive · passive | the man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | thoroughly *property* | vn eat-39.1-1-1 «NP V» |

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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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