---
title: About six generations ago a practice was introduced of dividing each… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: About six generations ago a practice was introduced of dividing each tribe into three sections, by the elevation of a third son to power, with the title of representative of the ancients. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its d
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 46

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About six generations ago a practice was introduced of dividing each tribe into three sections, by the elevation of a third son to power, with the title of representative of the ancients.

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**What happens:** introduce, divide, elevate, title · **To what, where:** practice, tribe, three sections, third son, representative

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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: 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:pg71335:2:46
# text = About six generations ago a practice was introduced of dividing each tribe into three sections, by the elevation of a third son to power, with the title of representative of the ancients.
1	About	about	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	generations	generation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
4	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	dividing	divide	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
11	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	det	_	_
12	tribe	tribe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	into	into	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	sections	section	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	by	by	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	elevation	elevation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
22	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	23	amod	_	_
23	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
27	with	with	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	title	title	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	representative	representative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	ancients	ancient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **introduce** | past · passive |  | a practice |  |  |  | with the title of representative of the ancients; ago *property* | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: subject=Patient with title=Instrument |
| 2 | **divide** | gerund |  | each tribe |  | three sections |  | by the elevation of a third son to power | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent tribe=Theme by elevation=Co-Theme |
| 3 | **elevate** |  |  | a third son to power |  |  |  |  | nom elevation «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **title** |  |  | representative of the ancients |  |  |  |  | nom title «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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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