---
title: The saying is used to a wealthy man, and means, You use a vessel han… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The saying is used to a wealthy man, and means, You use a vessel handed down to you from your ancestors. Who acts: You. 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 159

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The saying is used to a wealthy man, and means, You use a vessel handed down to you from your ancestors.

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**Who acts:** You · **What happens:** use, mean, hand down · **To what, where:** saying, vessel, you, ancestors · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (You), 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:pg71335:26:159
# text = The saying is used to a wealthy man, and means, You use a vessel handed down to you from your ancestors.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	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	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	wealthy	wealthy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	handed	hand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	acl	_	_
18	down	down	ADP	RP	_	17	compound:prt	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	17	obl	_	_
21	from	from	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	ancestors	ancestor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl	_	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 | **use** | present · passive |  | the saying |  |  |  | to a wealthy man | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **use** | present | You | a vessel |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent vessel=Patient |
| 4 | **hand down** | participle |  | a vessel *not said here* | you | your ancestors |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent to you=Destination from ancestor=Initial\_Location |

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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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