---
title: On great occasions they are performed by individuals who act the par… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: On great occasions they are performed by individuals who act the part of priests, on ordinary occasions by heads of families. Who acts: individuals. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of ev
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 179

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On great occasions they are performed by individuals who act the part of priests, on ordinary occasions by heads of families.

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**Who acts:** individuals · **What happens:** perform, act · **To what, where:** occasions, great occasions, part

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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 (individuals), 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:pg71335:2:179
# text = On great occasions they are performed by individuals who act the part of priests, on ordinary occasions by heads of families.
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	occasions	occasion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	performed	perform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	individuals	individual	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	act	act	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	priests	priest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	on	on	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	occasions	occasion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
19	by	by	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perform** | present · passive | individuals | occasions *= occasion* |  | great occasions |  | on ordinary occasions; by heads of families | vn performance-26.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **act** | present | individuals | the part of priests |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V PP.predicate»: agent=Agent part=Eventuality |

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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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