---
title: He gave them weapons, and instructed them that if any one opposed th… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: He gave them weapons, and instructed them that if any one opposed them they were to fight till the last of them died. Who acts: man, one, birds. 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 19

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He gave them weapons, and instructed them that if any one opposed them they were to fight till the last of them died.

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**Who acts:** man, one, birds · **What happens:** give, instruct, oppose, fight, be · **To what, where:** weapons, birds

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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 (man, one, birds), 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:pg71335:9:19
# text = He gave them weapons, and instructed them that if any one opposed them they were to fight till the last of them died.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	iobj	_	_
4	weapons	weapon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	instructed	instruct	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
10	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
12	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	opposed	oppose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	fight	fight	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
19	till	till	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	obl	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obl	_	_
24	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | man | weapons | birds *= bird* |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent they=Recipient weapon=Theme |
| 2 | **instruct** *speech: other* | past | man *not said here* | birds *= bird* |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **oppose** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | any one | birds *= bird* |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |
| 4 | **fight** | past | birds *= bird* |  |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | of birds *= bird*; last *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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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