---
title: It is based upon the supposition of the existence of spirits who can… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: It is based upon the supposition of the existence of spirits who can interfere with the affairs of this world, and who must therefore be propitiated with sacrifices. Who acts: spirits. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its depe
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 130

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It is based upon the supposition of the existence of spirits who can interfere with the affairs of this world, and who must therefore be propitiated with sacrifices.

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**Who acts:** spirits · **What happens:** base, interfere, propitiate, suppose, exist · **To what, where:** system, existence

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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 (spirits), 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:pg71335:2:130
# text = It is based upon the supposition of the existence of spirits who can interfere with the affairs of this world, and who must therefore be propitiated with sacrifices.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	based	base	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	supposition	supposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	existence	existence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	spirits	spirit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
13	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	interfere	interfere	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	acl:relcl	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	affairs	affair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	20	det	_	_
20	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
23	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	27	nsubj:pass	_	_
24	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
25	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
26	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	aux:pass	_	_
27	propitiated	propitiate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
28	with	with	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	sacrifices	sacrifice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **base** | present · passive |  | system |  |  |  | upon the supposition of the existence of spirits | vn base-97.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **interfere** | can | spirits |  |  |  |  | with the affairs of this world | tree rules |
| 3 | **propitiate** | must · passive |  |  |  |  |  | with sacrifices; who *nsubj:pass*; therefore *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **suppose** |  |  | the existence of spirits |  |  |  |  | nom supposition «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 5 | **exist** |  | spirits |  |  |  |  |  | nom existence «state intransitive»: of=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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