---
title: They persuaded him to consent to her being put to death, and then th… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: They persuaded him to consent to her being put to death, and then they rejoiced greatly, because she was very fat, and they intended to eat her; but one of them, who had more compassion than the others, told the woman what they were about to do. Who acts: cannibals, child, one. A sentence of «Kaffir
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Story of Ironside and His Sister., sentence 17

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They persuaded him to consent to her being put to death, and then they rejoiced greatly, because she was very fat, and they intended to eat her; but one of them, who had more compassion than the others, told the woman what they were about to do.

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**Who acts:** cannibals, child, one · **What happens:** persuade, consent, put, rejoice, be, intend · **To what, where:** chief, child, more compassion, woman · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of Ironside and His Sister.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cannibals, child, one), 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:pg71335:13:17
# text = They persuaded him to consent to her being put to death, and then they rejoiced greatly, because she was very fat, and they intended to eat her; but one of them, who had more compassion than the others, told the woman what they were about to do.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	persuaded	persuade	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	consent	consent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
6	to	to	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	put	put	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	xcomp	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	rejoiced	rejoice	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
17	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
20	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
22	very	very	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	fat	fat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	intended	intend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	xcomp	_	_
30	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
32	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
33	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	38	nsubj	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
37	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	38	nsubj	_	_
38	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
39	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	40	amod	_	_
40	compassion	compassion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
41	than	than	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
45	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	conj	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	iobj	_	_
48	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	51	obl	_	_
49	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	51	nsubj	_	_
50	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	cop	_	_
51	about	about	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	ccomp	_	_
52	to	to	PART	TO	_	53	mark	_	_
53	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	51	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **persuade** | past | cannibals *= cannibal* | chief |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 2 | **consent** | to-infinitive | cannibals *= cannibal* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn acquiesce-95.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **put** | gerund · passive |  | child |  |  |  | to death | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: subject=Goal |
| 4 | **rejoice** | past | cannibals *= cannibal* |  |  |  | then | greatly *property* | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **is** | past | child |  |  |  |  | fat *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **intend** | past | cannibals *= cannibal* |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 7 | **eat** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | cannibals *= cannibal* *not said here* | child |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient |
| 8 | **have** | past | one of cannibals | more compassion |  |  |  | than the others; who *nsubj* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent compassion=Patient |
| 9 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | one of cannibals *not said here* |  | the woman |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent woman=Recipient |
| 10 | **is** | past | cannibals *= cannibal* |  |  |  |  | what *obl*; about *property* | tree rules |
| 11 | **do** | to-infinitive | cannibals *= cannibal* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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