---
title: They are so sharp that although one is sure that he actually sees th… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: They are so sharp that although one is sure that he actually sees the grain taken into the right hand, that hand when opened will be found empty and the maize will be contained in the left, or perhaps it will be exhibited somewhere else. Who acts: boys, one, cleverest. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lor
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Sikulume., sentence 31

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They are so sharp that although one is sure that he actually sees the grain taken into the right hand, that hand when opened will be found empty and the maize will be contained in the left, or perhaps it will be exhibited somewhere else.

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**Who acts:** boys, one, cleverest · **What happens:** be, see, take, open, find, contain · **To what, where:** grain, right hand, hand, maize, left

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Sikulume.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boys, one, cleverest), 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:pg71335:32:31
# text = They are so sharp that although one is sure that he actually sees the grain taken into the right hand, that hand when opened will be found empty and the maize will be contained in the left, or perhaps it will be exhibited somewhere else.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	so	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	sees	see	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	grain	grain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	acl	_	_
17	into	into	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
22	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	23	det	_	_
23	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
24	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	25	advmod	_	_
25	opened	open	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	acl	_	_
26	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	_
29	empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	xcomp	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	maize	maize	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
34	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	aux:pass	_	_
35	contained	contain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	28	conj	_	_
36	in	in	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	left	left	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
40	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
41	perhaps	perhaps	ADV	RB	_	45	advmod	_	_
42	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	45	nsubj:pass	_	_
43	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	45	aux	_	_
44	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	aux:pass	_	_
45	exhibited	exhibit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
46	somewhere	somewhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	45	advmod	_	_
47	else	else	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | boys *= boy* |  |  |  |  | sharp *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | one |  |  |  |  | sure *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **see** | present | cleverest *= clever* | the grain |  |  |  | actually *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer grain=Stimulus |
| 4 | **take** | participle |  | the grain *not said here* |  | the right hand |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent into hand=Destination |
| 5 | **open** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **find** | future · passive |  | that hand |  |  |  | empty *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 7 | **contain** | future · passive |  | the maize |  | the left |  |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Value in left=Location |
| 8 | **exhibit** | future · passive |  | maize |  |  |  | perhaps, somewhere *property* | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: 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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