---
title: The Kaffirs are expert in making baskets and mats, but never attempt… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The Kaffirs are expert in making baskets and mats, but never attempt to dye any of the materials of which they are composed, or otherwise to ornament them. Who acts: Kaffirs. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Bird That Made Milk., with its dependency tree and the 
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Story of the Bird That Made Milk., sentence 19

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The Kaffirs are expert in making baskets and mats, but never attempt to dye any of the materials of which they are composed, or otherwise to ornament them.

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**Who acts:** Kaffirs · **What happens:** be, make, not attempt, not dye, compose, ornament · **To what, where:** baskets, any, Kaffirs

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Bird That Made Milk.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Kaffirs), 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:pg71335:27:19
# text = The Kaffirs are expert in making baskets and mats, but never attempt to dye any of the materials of which they are composed, or otherwise to ornament them.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Kaffirs	kaffir	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	expert	expert	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	baskets	basket	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	mats	mat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	attempt	attempt	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	dye	dye	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	15	obj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	materials	material	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	24	obl	_	_
22	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
27	otherwise	otherwise	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	ornament	ornament	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
30	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the Kaffirs |  |  |  |  | expert *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | gerund | the Kaffirs *not said here* | baskets and mats |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset basket=Product |
| 3 | **not** **attempt** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **not** **dye** | to-infinitive |  | any of the materials |  |  |  |  | vn braid-41.2.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent any=Patient |
| 5 | **compose** | present · passive |  | Kaffirs *= kaffir* |  |  |  | of the materials | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |
| 6 | **ornament** | to-infinitive |  | Kaffirs *= kaffir* |  |  |  | otherwise *property* | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent they=Destination |

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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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