---
title: As the cock was going on his way, some boys who were tending calves… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: As the cock was going on his way, some boys who were tending calves saw him. Who acts: cock, boys. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Tangalimlibo., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Tangalimlibo., sentence 120

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As the cock was going on his way, some boys who were tending calves saw him.

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**Who acts:** cock, boys · **What happens:** go, tend, see · **To what, where:** way, calves, cock

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Tangalimlibo.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cock, 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:pg71335:6:120
# text = As the cock was going on his way, some boys who were tending calves saw him.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	advcl	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
10	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	tending	tend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	acl:relcl	_	_
15	calves	calf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
16	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past · progressive | the cock |  |  | cock's way |  |  | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on way=Location |
| 2 | **tend** | past · progressive | some boys | calves |  |  |  |  | vn caring-75.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent calf=Theme |
| 3 | **see** | past | some boys | cock |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |

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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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