---
title: This saying is applied as a warning not to give anything to an impor… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: This saying is applied as a warning not to give anything to an importunate person, as he would very likely be encouraged thereby to continue asking for more. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of 
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 190

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This saying is applied as a warning not to give anything to an importunate person, as he would very likely be encouraged thereby to continue asking for more.

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**What happens:** apply, not give, encourage, continue, ask · **To what, where:** saying, anything, importunate person

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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: 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:pg71335:26:190
# text = This saying is applied as a warning not to give anything to an importunate person, as he would very likely be encouraged thereby to continue asking for more.
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	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	warning	warning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
11	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	importunate	importunate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
17	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
18	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
19	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
20	very	very	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
22	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	encouraged	encourage	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
24	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	continue	continue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	advcl	_	_
27	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	26	xcomp	_	_
28	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** | present · passive |  | this saying |  |  |  | as a warning | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **give** | to-infinitive |  | anything | a importunate person |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent anything=Theme to person=Recipient |
| 3 | **encourage** | would · passive |  | saying |  |  |  | likely, thereby *property* | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **continue** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn continue-55.3 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 5 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for more | vn inquire-37.1.2 «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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