---
title: This saying is used of Europeans, to denote that they act as the dog… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: This saying is used of Europeans, to denote that they act as the dog in the manger towards the Kaffirs. Who acts: Europeans. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 154

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This saying is used of Europeans, to denote that they act as the dog in the manger towards the Kaffirs.

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**Who acts:** Europeans · **What happens:** use, denote, act · **To what, where:** saying, manger

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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 (Europeans), 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:pg71335:26:154
# text = This saying is used of Europeans, to denote that they act as the dog in the manger towards the Kaffirs.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	saying	saying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Europeans	European	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	denote	denote	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	act	act	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	manger	manger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
19	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	Kaffirs	kaffir	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present · passive |  | this saying |  |  |  | of Europeans | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **denote** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **act** | present | Europeans *= european* |  |  | the manger |  | as the dog; towards the Kaffirs | vn masquerade-29.6-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as dog=Attribute |

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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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