---
title: These spirits are those of their deceased chiefs, the greatest of wh… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: These spirits are those of their deceased chiefs, the greatest of whom has power over lightning. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 131

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These spirits are those of their deceased chiefs, the greatest of whom has power over lightning.

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**What happens:** be, decease, have · **To what, where:** those, power, lightning

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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: 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:pg71335:2:131
# text = These spirits are those of their deceased chiefs, the greatest of whom has power over lightning.
1	These	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	spirits	spirit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	2	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	deceased	decease	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	greatest	great	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	0	root	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	parataxis	_	_
15	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
16	over	over	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | those |  |  |  | of spirits's deceased chiefs | tree rules |
| 2 | **decease** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn die-42.4 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **have** | present |  | power |  | lightning |  | whom *nsubj* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent power=Patient |

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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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