---
title: The chief said: “Let a black ox be killed, but you must not break an… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The chief said: “Let a black ox be killed, but you must not break any of its bones, because it belongs to the daughter of a chief.” Who acts: chief, black ox, you, ox. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Hlakanyana., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of ev
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Hlakanyana., sentence 418

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The chief said: “Let a black ox be killed, but you must not break any of its bones, because it belongs to the daughter of a chief.”

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**Who acts:** chief, black ox, you, ox · **What happens:** say, let, kill, not break, belong · **To what, where:** black ox, any · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Hlakanyana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chief, black ox, you, ox), 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:pg71335:10:418
# text = The chief said: “Let a black ox be killed, but you must not break any of its bones, because it belongs to the daughter of a chief.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
5	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	ox	ox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
14	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
15	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	17	advmod	_	_
17	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
18	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	17	obj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
24	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
25	belongs	belong	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	advcl	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **let** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a black ox |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **kill** *in a quote* | infinitive · passive | a black ox *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |
| 4 | **not** **break** *in a quote* | must | you | any of ox's bones |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer any=Patient |
| 5 | **belong** *in a quote* | present | ox |  |  |  |  | to the daughter of a chief | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=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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