---
title: The first is the existence of a body of councillors about the person… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The first is the existence of a body of councillors about the person of each chief, whose advice he is compelled to listen to. Who acts: first. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every c
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 28

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The first is the existence of a body of councillors about the person of each chief, whose advice he is compelled to listen to.

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**Who acts:** first · **What happens:** be, compel, listen · **To what, where:** existence, person

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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 (first), 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:pg71335:2:28
# text = The first is the existence of a body of councillors about the person of each chief, whose advice he is compelled to listen to.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	existence	existence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	councillors	councillor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	about	about	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	det	_	_
16	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	appos	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
21	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux:pass	_	_
22	compelled	compel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	acl:relcl	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	listen	listen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	xcomp	_	_
25	to	to	ADP	IN	_	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the first | the existence |  |  |  | of a body of councillors about the person of each chief | tree rules |
| 2 | **compel** | present · passive |  | person |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 3 | **listen** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

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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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