---
title: He asked the cannibal to go for some water, and said he would give h… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: He asked the cannibal to go for some water, and said he would give him plenty of beef when he returned. Who acts: chief, cannibal. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird., sentence 29

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He asked the cannibal to go for some water, and said he would give him plenty of beef when he returned.

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**Who acts:** chief, cannibal · **What happens:** ask, go, say, give, return · **To what, where:** cannibal, plenty · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chief, cannibal), 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:pg71335:14:29
# text = He asked the cannibal to go for some water, and said he would give him plenty of beef when he returned.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cannibal	cannibal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	ccomp	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	iobj	_	_
17	plenty	plenty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	beef	beef	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	_
20	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	22	advmod	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | chief | the cannibal |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent cannibal=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the cannibal *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for some water | vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for water=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **give** | would | chief | plenty of beef | cannibal |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient plenty=Theme |
| 5 | **return** | past | chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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