---
title: It is said that when a monkey is caught in a trap he cries, but that… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: It is said that when a monkey is caught in a trap he cries, but that tears come out of one eye only. Who acts: monkey, tears. 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 38

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It is said that when a monkey is caught in a trap he cries, but that tears come out of one eye only.

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**Who acts:** monkey, tears · **What happens:** say, catch, cry, come out · **To what, where:** warning, monkey, trap, one eye · **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 (monkey, tears), 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:pg71335:26:38
# text = It is said that when a monkey is caught in a trap he cries, but that tears come out of one eye only.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	monkey	monkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	ccomp	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	trap	trap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	cries	cry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	18	det	_	_
18	tears	tear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
19	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
20	out	out	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	23	nummod	_	_
23	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
24	only	only	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | warning |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **catch** | present · passive |  | a monkey |  | a trap |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **cry** *speech: express* | present | monkey | a trap *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trap=Topic |
| 4 | **come out** | present | that tears | one eye |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient eye=Result |

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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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