---
title: The isinama is a kind of grass that sticks to one’s clothing when it… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The isinama is a kind of grass that sticks to one’s clothing when it is touched, and can hardly be brushed off afterwards. Who acts: isinama, kind. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clau
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 96

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The isinama is a kind of grass that sticks to one’s clothing when it is touched, and can hardly be brushed off afterwards.

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**Who acts:** isinama, kind · **What happens:** be, stick, touch, brush off · **To what, where:** kind, isinama

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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 (isinama, kind), 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:pg71335:26:96
# text = The isinama is a kind of grass that sticks to one’s clothing when it is touched, and can hardly be brushed off afterwards.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	isinama	isinama	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	sticks	stick	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	’s	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	clothing	clothing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	touched	touch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
20	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
21	hardly	hardly	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
22	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	brushed	brush	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	parataxis	_	_
24	off	off	ADP	RP	_	23	compound:prt	_	_
25	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the isinama | a kind |  |  |  | of grass | tree rules |
| 2 | **stick** | present | a kind |  |  |  |  | to one clothing | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent to clothing=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **touch** | present · passive |  | isinama |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Theme |
| 4 | **brush off** | can · passive |  |  |  |  |  | afterwards, hardly *property* | vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V» |

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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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