---
title: The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, som… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, some of which are readily understood by an Englishman, but others, when literally interpreted, are to us meaningless. Who acts: Englishman, others. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expres
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 1

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The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, some of which are readily understood by an Englishman, but others, when literally interpreted, are to us meaningless.

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**Who acts:** Englishman, others · **What happens:** adorn, understand, interpret, be · **To what, where:** language, some, us

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Englishman, others), 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:pg71335:26:1
# text = The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, some of which are readily understood by an Englishman, but others, when literally interpreted, are to us meaningless.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Kaffir	Kaffir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	adorned	adorn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	figurative	figurative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	expressions	expression	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nmod	_	_
15	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
16	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	advcl	_	_
18	by	by	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	Englishman	Englishman	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
23	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	27	advmod	_	_
26	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	interpreted	interpret	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
29	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
30	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	29	obl	_	_
32	meaningless	meaningless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **adorn** | present · passive |  | the language of a Kaffir |  |  |  | with figurative expressions | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination with expression=Theme |
| 2 | **understand** | present · passive | a Englishman | some |  |  |  | readily *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **interpret** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | literally *property* | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **does** | present | others |  | us |  |  | meaningless *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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