---
title: In South Africa the word Kaffir is often used in a general way to si… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: In South Africa the word Kaffir is often used in a general way to signify any black native who is not the descendant of an imported slave, but on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony the term is usually restricted to a member of the Amaxosa tribe. Who acts: black native. A sentence of «Kaffir fol
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 1

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In South Africa the word Kaffir is often used in a general way to signify any black native who is not the descendant of an imported slave, but on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony the term is usually restricted to a member of the Amaxosa tribe.

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**Who acts:** black native · **What happens:** use, signify, not be, import, restrict · **To what, where:** word, South Africa, black native, descendant, term, eastern frontier

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (black native), 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:pg71335:2:1
# text = In South Africa the word Kaffir is often used in a general way to signify any black native who is not the descendant of an imported slave, but on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony the term is usually restricted to a member of the Amaxosa tribe.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	South	South	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	Kaffir	Kaffir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	often	often	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	general	general	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	signify	signify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
16	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	18	det	_	_
17	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	native	native	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
19	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	23	nsubj	_	_
20	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
21	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	descendant	descendant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	acl:relcl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	imported	import	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	27	amod	_	_
27	slave	slave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
29	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
30	on	on	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
32	eastern	eastern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	frontier	frontier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	obl	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
36	Cape	Cape	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	37	compound	_	_
37	Colony	Colony	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nsubj:pass	_	_
40	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux:pass	_	_
41	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	_
42	restricted	restrict	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	conj	_	_
43	to	to	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
44	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
45	member	member	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	obl	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
47	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
48	Amaxosa	Amaxosa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	49	compound	_	_
49	tribe	tribe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present · passive |  | the word |  | South Africa |  | in a general way; often *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **signify** | to-infinitive |  | any black native |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot native=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **is a** | present | any black native | the descendant |  |  |  | of a imported slave | tree rules |
| 4 | **import** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **restrict** | present · passive |  | the term |  | the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony |  | to a member of the Amaxosa tribe *goal*; usually *property* | vn limit-76 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Patient to member=Goal |

<!-- .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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