---
title: She told her brother when his parents asked him who did these things… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: She told her brother when his parents asked him who did these things to say that he did them himself, and if they should ask him to do them again to reply, “I have done it already.” Who acts: voice, parents, boy. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana.,
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., sentence 28

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She told her brother when his parents asked him who did these things to say that he did them himself, and if they should ask him to do them again to reply, “I have done it already.”

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**Who acts:** voice, parents, boy · **What happens:** tell, ask, do, say, reply · **To what, where:** brother, boy, things, parents, bread · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (voice, parents, boy), 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:pg71335:8:28
# text = She told her brother when his parents asked him who did these things to say that he did them himself, and if they should ask him to do them again to reply, “I have done it already.”
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	iobj	_	_
5	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	iobj	_	_
10	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
12	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	13	det	_	_
13	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	acl	_	_
16	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	ccomp	_	_
19	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
23	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
24	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
25	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
26	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
27	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	_
30	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	_
31	again	again	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	reply	reply	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
35	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	38	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
37	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
38	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	26	ccomp	_	_
39	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	_
40	already	already	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	38	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	38	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | voice |  | voice's brother |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent brother=Recipient |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | boy's parents |  | boy |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **do** | past |  | this things |  |  |  | who *nsubj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  | this things *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **do** | past | boy | things *= thing* |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Eventuality |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* *a condition, not said to happen* | should | parents *= parent* |  | boy |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP that S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 7 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | parents *= parent* *not said here* | parents *= parent* |  |  | again |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Eventuality |
| 8 | **reply** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | parents *= parent* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **do** *in a quote* | present · perfect | parents *= parent* | bread |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

<!-- .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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