---
title: In a condition independent of European control, each Kaffir tribe is… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: In a condition independent of European control, each Kaffir tribe is presided over by a great chief, whose government is, however, but little felt beyond his own immediate clan, each petty division being under a ruler who is in reality nearly independent. Who acts: little, ruler. A sentence of «Kaff
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 22

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In a condition independent of European control, each Kaffir tribe is presided over by a great chief, whose government is, however, but little felt beyond his own immediate clan, each petty division being under a ruler who is in reality nearly independent.

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**Who acts:** little, ruler · **What happens:** be, feel · **To what, where:** Kaffir tribe, condition, own immediate clan, reality

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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 (little, ruler), 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:pg71335:2:22
# text = In a condition independent of European control, each Kaffir tribe is presided over by a great chief, whose government is, however, but little felt beyond his own immediate clan, each petty division being under a ruler who is in reality nearly independent.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	condition	condition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
4	independent	independent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	European	European	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	control	control	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
9	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
10	Kaffir	Kaffir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	tribe	tribe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	presided	preside	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
14	over	over	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	government	government	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
24	however	however	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	nsubj	_	_
28	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
29	beyond	beyond	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
30	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	33	nmod:poss	_	_
31	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
32	immediate	immediate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	clan	clan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
35	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	37	det	_	_
36	petty	petty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	compound	_	_
37	division	division	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	appos	_	_
38	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	37	acl	_	_
39	under	under	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	ruler	ruler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	_
42	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	47	nsubj	_	_
43	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	47	cop	_	_
44	in	in	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	reality	reality	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	obl	_	_
46	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	47	advmod	_	_
47	independent	independent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present · passive |  | each Kaffir tribe |  | a condition |  | by a great chief and a great chief and a great chief's government's government; however, preside *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **feel** | past | little |  |  | tribe's own immediate clan |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent beyond clan=Location |
| 3 | **is** | present | a ruler |  |  | reality |  | independent, nearly *property* | tree rules |

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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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