---
title: An empty hut was given to them to sleep in, but they said: “It is ou… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: An empty hut was given to them to sleep in, but they said: “It is our custom only to sleep in a hut that has things in it.” Who acts: people, hut, custom. 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 125

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An empty hut was given to them to sleep in, but they said: “It is our custom only to sleep in a hut that has things in it.”

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**Who acts:** people, hut, custom · **What happens:** give, sleep in, say, be, sleep, have · **To what, where:** empty hut, people, custom, hut, things · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (people, hut, custom), 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:pg71335:9:125
# text = An empty hut was given to them to sleep in, but they said: “It is our custom only to sleep in a hut that has things in it.”
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	hut	hut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	20	punct	_	_
16	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
21	only	only	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	ccomp	_	_
24	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	hut	hut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
27	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	28	nsubj	_	_
28	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	acl:relcl	_	_
29	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obj	_	_
30	in	in	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · passive |  | a empty hut | people |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to they=Recipient |
| 2 | **sleep in** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | hut | our custom |  |  |  | our *nmod:poss* | tree rules |
| 5 | **sleep** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | our custom |  |  | a hut |  |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent in hut=Location |
| 6 | **have** *in a quote* | present | a hut | things |  | custom |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=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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