---
title: The rites of religion consist merely in sacrifices to appease the sp… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The rites of religion consist merely in sacrifices to appease the spirits. Who acts: rites. 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 177

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The rites of religion consist merely in sacrifices to appease the spirits.

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**Who acts:** rites · **What happens:** consist, appease · **To what, where:** sacrifices, spirits

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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 (rites), 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:pg71335:2:177
# text = The rites of religion consist merely in sacrifices to appease the spirits.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rites	rite	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	religion	religion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	consist	consist	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	merely	merely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	sacrifices	sacrifice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	appease	appease	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	spirits	spirit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consist** | present | the rites of religion |  |  | sacrifices |  | merely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **appease** | to-infinitive | the rites of religion *not said here* | the spirits |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus spirit=Experiencer |

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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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