---
title: Commencing with an ant-heap at a distance of ten or fifteen yards, f… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: Commencing with an ant-heap at a distance of ten or fifteen yards, for a target, they gradually become so perfect that they can hit an object a foot square at double and even treble that distance. Who acts: stations. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Sikulume., wi
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Sikulume., sentence 6

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Commencing with an ant-heap at a distance of ten or fifteen yards, for a target, they gradually become so perfect that they can hit an object a foot square at double and even treble that distance.

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**Who acts:** stations · **What happens:** commence, become, hit, treble · **To what, where:** object, double, distance

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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 (stations), 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:pg71335:32:6
# text = Commencing with an ant-heap at a distance of ten or fifteen yards, for a target, they gradually become so perfect that they can hit an object a foot square at double and even treble that distance.
1	Commencing	commence	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	22	advcl	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	ant	ant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	heap	heap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	fifteen	fifteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	conj	_	_
14	yards	yard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
20	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
21	gradually	gradually	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
23	so	so	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	xcomp	_	_
25	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
26	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
27	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	hit	hit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	advcl	_	_
29	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	_
31	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
32	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	compound	_	_
33	square	square	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	_
34	at	at	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	double	double	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	obl	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
37	even	even	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	treble	treble	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	conj	_	_
39	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	40	det	_	_
40	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	22	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **commence** | gerund | stations *= station* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with a ant heap; at a distance of ten yards; for a target | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with heap=Subeventuality |
| 2 | **become** | present | stations *= station* |  |  |  |  | gradually, perfect *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **hit** | can | stations *= station* | a object |  | double |  | a foot square *obj* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP ADJP»: agent=Agent object=Patient square=Result |
| 4 | **treble** | infinitive | stations *= station* *not said here* | that distance |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent distance=Patient |

<!-- .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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