---
title: They chased them for several days, till at last the birds were exhau… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: They chased them for several days, till at last the birds were exhausted, when each of the boys caught one. Who acts: birds, each. 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 21

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They chased them for several days, till at last the birds were exhausted, when each of the boys caught one.

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**Who acts:** birds, each · **What happens:** chase, exhaust, catch · **To what, where:** boys, birds, one

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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 (birds, each), 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:pg71335:9:21
# text = They chased them for several days, till at last the birds were exhausted, when each of the boys caught one.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	chased	chase	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	till	till	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	exhausted	exhaust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
16	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	21	mark	_	_
17	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	21	nsubj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nmod	_	_
21	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
22	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chase** | past | birds *= bird* | boys *= boy* |  |  | day |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **exhaust** | past · passive |  | the birds |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 3 | **catch** | past | each of the boys | one |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme |

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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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