---
title: With regard to the common people, the principle of the law is that t… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: With regard to the common people, the principle of the law is that they are the property of the rulers, and consequently an offence against any of their persons is atoned for by a fine to the chief. Who acts: principle. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Re
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 25

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With regard to the common people, the principle of the law is that they are the property of the rulers, and consequently an offence against any of their persons is atoned for by a fine to the chief.

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**Who acts:** principle · **What happens:** be, atone · **To what, where:** property, offence

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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 (principle), 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:pg71335:2:25
# text = With regard to the common people, the principle of the law is that they are the property of the rulers, and consequently an offence against any of their persons is atoned for by a fine to the chief.
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	regard	regard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	principle	principle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	property	property	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
24	consequently	consequently	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
25	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	offence	offence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	against	against	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	26	nmod	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	nmod	_	_
32	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	33	aux:pass	_	_
33	atoned	atone	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	conj	_	_
34	for	for	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
35	by	by	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	fine	fine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	_
38	to	to	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the principle of the law | the property |  |  |  | with regard to the common people; of the rulers; laws *= law* *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 2 | **atone** | present · passive |  | a offence against any of laws's persons |  |  |  | for a fine to the chief | tree rules |

<!-- .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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