---
title: In olden times the person whom the witch-finder pronounced guilty wa… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: In olden times the person whom the witch-finder pronounced guilty was liable to confiscation of property, torture, and even death. Who acts: witch finder. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 185

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In olden times the person whom the witch-finder pronounced guilty was liable to confiscation of property, torture, and even death.

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**Who acts:** witch finder · **What happens:** pronounce, be, confiscate · **To what, where:** guilty, property

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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 (witch finder), 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:pg71335:2:185
# text = In olden times the person whom the witch-finder pronounced guilty was liable to confiscation of property, torture, and even death.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	olden	olden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
6	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	finder	finder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
12	guilty	guilty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	liable	liable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	acl	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	confiscation	confiscation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	property	property	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	torture	torture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
23	even	even	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pronounce** | participle | the witch finder *not said here* | guilty |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent guilty=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | past | the witch finder |  |  |  |  | to confiscation of property and torture; the person *advmod*; liable *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **confiscate** |  |  | property |  |  |  |  | nom confiscation «act transitive»: of=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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