---
title: She went in and began to smear the floor; water was wanting, so she… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: She went in and began to smear the floor; water was wanting, so she sent Simbukumbukwana to the river for some. Who acts: sister, water. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., sentence 39

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She went in and began to smear the floor; water was wanting, so she sent Simbukumbukwana to the river for some.

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**Who acts:** sister, water · **What happens:** go in, begin, smear, want, send · **To what, where:** floor, Simbukumbukwana, river

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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 (sister, water), 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:pg71335:8:39
# text = She went in and began to smear the floor; water was wanting, so she sent Simbukumbukwana to the river for some.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	smear	smear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	wanting	want	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
16	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
18	Simbukumbukwana	Simbukumbukwana	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go in** | past | sister |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **begin** | past | sister *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **smear** | to-infinitive | sister *not said here* | the floor |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent floor=Theme |
| 4 | **want** | past · progressive | water |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 5 | **send** | past | sister | Simbukumbukwana |  | the river |  | for some | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent simbukumbukwana=Theme to river=Destination |

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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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