---
title: The judges are guided in their proceedings by a recognised common la… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The judges are guided in their proceedings by a recognised common law and by precedents, though some of them are exceedingly venal. Who acts: recognised common law, some, judges. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 33

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The judges are guided in their proceedings by a recognised common law and by precedents, though some of them are exceedingly venal.

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**Who acts:** recognised common law, some, judges · **What happens:** guide, recognise, be, proceed · **To what, where:** judges, proceedings

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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 (recognised common law, some, judges), 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:pg71335:2:33
# text = The judges are guided in their proceedings by a recognised common law and by precedents, though some of them are exceedingly venal.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	judges	judge	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	guided	guide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	proceedings	proceedings	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	4	obl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	recognised	recognise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	_
11	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	precedents	precedent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
17	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
18	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	23	nsubj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nmod	_	_
21	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
22	exceedingly	exceedingly	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	venal	venal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guide** | present · passive | a recognised common law and precedents | the judges |  | judges's proceedings |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent subject=Theme in proceedings=Destination |
| 2 | **recognise** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** | present | some of judges |  |  |  |  | exceedingly, venal *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **proceed** |  | judges *= judge* |  |  |  |  |  | nom proceedings «act intransitive»: poss=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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