---
title: He is really a monomaniac, but if his statements are believed his po… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: He is really a monomaniac, but if his statements are believed his power at once becomes greater than that of the highest chief, and his commands are implicitly obeyed. Who acts: person. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dep
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 193

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He is really a monomaniac, but if his statements are believed his power at once becomes greater than that of the highest chief, and his commands are implicitly obeyed.

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**Who acts:** person · **What happens:** be, believe, become, obey, state, command · **To what, where:** monomaniac, statements, commands · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (person), 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:pg71335:2:193
# text = He is really a monomaniac, but if his statements are believed his power at once becomes greater than that of the highest chief, and his commands are implicitly obeyed.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	really	really	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	monomaniac	monomaniac	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
8	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	believed	believe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	advcl	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	12	obl	_	_
17	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
18	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	17	xcomp	_	_
19	than	than	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	18	obl	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	highest	high	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	24	amod	_	_
24	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
27	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	commands	command	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nsubj:pass	_	_
29	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux:pass	_	_
30	implicitly	implicitly	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
31	obeyed	obey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | person | a monomaniac |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **believe** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · passive |  | person's statements |  |  |  | person's power *obj* | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme power=Eventuality |
| 3 | **become** | present | person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | great *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **obey** | present · passive |  | person's commands |  |  |  | implicitly *property* | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 5 | **state** |  | person |  |  |  |  |  | nom statement «communication transitive»: poss=agent |
| 6 | **command** |  | person |  |  |  |  |  | nom command «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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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