---
title: If there are many players they form themselves into sides or parties… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: If there are many players they form themselves into sides or parties, but when they are few in number one plays against the rest. Who acts: players, few. 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 39

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If there are many players they form themselves into sides or parties, but when they are few in number one plays against the rest.

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**Who acts:** players, few · **What happens:** be, play · **To what, where:** sides, number

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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 (players, few), 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:pg71335:32:39
# text = If there are many players they form themselves into sides or parties, but when they are few in number one plays against the rest.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	players	player	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	form	form	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	parties	party	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
15	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	nsubj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
21	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	20	flat	_	_
22	plays	play	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
23	against	against	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | players *= player* |  |  | sides or parties |  | form *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | players *= player* |  |  | number |  | few *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **play** | present | few |  |  |  |  | against the rest | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ↑ back to [The Story of Sikulume.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/32/)