---
title: A saying of the industrious to the idle, meaning that each should wo… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: A saying of the industrious to the idle, meaning that each should work for himself as the flies do. Who acts: each, flies. 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 17

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A saying of the industrious to the idle, meaning that each should work for himself as the flies do.

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**Who acts:** each, flies · **What happens:** mean, work, do · **To what, where:** saying · **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 (each, flies), 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:pg71335:26:17
# text = A saying of the industrious to the idle, meaning that each should work for himself as the flies do.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	saying	saying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	industrious	industrious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	idle	idle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	meaning	mean	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	parataxis	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	nsubj	_	_
13	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	ccomp	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	14	obl	_	_
17	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	flies	fly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj	_	_
20	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **work** | should | each |  |  |  |  | for saying | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for himself=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **do** | present | the flies |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=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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