---
title: At that time of life they usually begin to practise the different da… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: At that time of life they usually begin to practise the different dances which they will be required to take part in when they become men. Who acts: boys. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Sikulume., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Sikulume., sentence 33

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At that time of life they usually begin to practise the different dances which they will be required to take part in when they become men.

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**Who acts:** boys · **What happens:** begin, practise, require, take in, become · **To what, where:** different dances, part, men

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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), 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:pg71335:32:33
# text = At that time of life they usually begin to practise the different dances which they will be required to take part in when they become men.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
3	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	begin	begin	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	practise	practise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	dances	dance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux:pass	_	_
18	required	require	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl:relcl	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
21	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	RP	_	20	compound:prt	_	_
23	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	25	advmod	_	_
24	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
25	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	advcl	_	_
26	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | present | boys *= boy* |  |  |  | time | usually *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **practise** | to-infinitive | boys *= boy* *not said here* | the different dances |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **require** | future · passive |  | the different dances |  |  |  | boys *= boy* *nsubj:pass* | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **take in** | to-infinitive |  | part |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent part=Theme |
| 5 | **become** | present | boys *= boy* | men |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=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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