--- title: He said: “If it stands still, you will know I am safe; if it shakes,… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics description: He said: “If it stands still, you will know I am safe; if it shakes, you will know I am running; if it falls down, you will know I am dead.” Who acts: cannibal, assagai, you. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Sikulume., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/9/50/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/) / [The Story of Sikulume.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/9/) / 50 # Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Sikulume., sentence 50 He said: “If it stands still, you will know I am safe; if it shakes, you will know I am running; if it falls down, you will know I am dead.” **Who acts:** cannibal, assagai, you · **What happens:** say, stand, know, be, shake, run · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (cannibal, assagai, you), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg71335:9:50 # text = He said: “If it stands still, you will know I am safe; if it shakes, you will know I am running; if it falls down, you will know I am dead.” 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 3 : : PUNCT : _ 12 punct _ _ 4 “ " PUNCT `` _ 12 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 5 If if SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 6 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 7 stands stand VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 12 advcl _ _ 8 still still ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 10 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 12 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 ccomp _ _ 13 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 14 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 15 cop _ _ 15 safe safe ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 16 ; ; PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 17 if if SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 19 shakes shake VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 23 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 21 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 23 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 parataxis _ _ 24 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 25 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 26 running run VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 27 ; ; PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 if if SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 29 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 falls fall VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 ccomp _ _ 31 down down ADP RP _ 30 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 33 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 34 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 35 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 conj _ _ 36 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 38 nsubj _ _ 37 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 38 cop _ _ 38 dead dead ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 35 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 39 . . PUNCT . _ 30 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 ” " PUNCT '' _ 30 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | cannibal | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **stand** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | assagai | | | | still | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **know** *in a quote* | future | you | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **is** *in a quote* | present | cannibal | | | | | safe *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **shake** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | assagai | | | | | | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient | | 6 | **know** *in a quote* | future | you | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 7 | **run** *in a quote* | present · progressive | cannibal | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **fall down** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | assagai | | | | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **know** *in a quote* | future | you | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 10 | **is** *in a quote* | present | cannibal | | | | | dead *property* | tree rules | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 49](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/9/49/) - next →: [sentence 51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/9/51/) - ↑ back to [The Story of Sikulume.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/9/)