---
title: This saying is used to denote a very greedy person, one who is so gr… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: This saying is used to denote a very greedy person, one who is so greedy as to fasten his dog to a shrub that the animal may not beg for food while he is eating. Who acts: one, animal, saying. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., with its dep
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 196

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This saying is used to denote a very greedy person, one who is so greedy as to fasten his dog to a shrub that the animal may not beg for food while he is eating.

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**Who acts:** one, animal, saying · **What happens:** use, denote, be, fasten, not beg, eat · **To what, where:** saying, greedy person, dog, shrub

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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 (one, animal, saying), 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:pg71335:26:196
# text = This saying is used to denote a very greedy person, one who is so greedy as to fasten his dog to a shrub that the animal may not beg for food while he is eating.
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	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	denote	denote	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	very	very	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	greedy	greedy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	nsubj	_	_
13	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	greedy	greedy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	acl:relcl	_	_
17	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	fasten	fasten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
20	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	shrub	shrub	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
25	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	30	obj	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
28	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	_
30	beg	beg	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	acl:relcl	_	_
31	for	for	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
33	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
34	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
35	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
36	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	30	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	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 |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **denote** | to-infinitive |  | a greedy person |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot person=Topic |
| 3 | **is** | present | one |  |  |  |  | a greedy person *nsubj*; greedy *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **fasten** | to-infinitive | one *not said here* | saying's dog |  |  |  | to a shrub | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent dog=Patient to shrub=Co-Patient |
| 5 | **not** **beg** *speech: request* | may | the animal | a shrub |  |  |  | for food | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent that=Recipient for food=Topic |
| 6 | **eat** | present · progressive | saying |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «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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