---
title: Thus the customs observed at the birth of a child are exactly the sa… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: Thus the customs observed at the birth of a child are exactly the same in every part of the country among people of the same family title, though they may never have heard of each other, while neighbours of the same clan, but of different family titles, have these customs altogether dissimilar. Who 
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Five Heads., sentence 23

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Thus the customs observed at the birth of a child are exactly the same in every part of the country among people of the same family title, though they may never have heard of each other, while neighbours of the same clan, but of different family titles, have these customs altogether dissimilar.

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**Who acts:** customs, people, different family titles · **What happens:** observe, be, not hear, have · **To what, where:** customs, birth, part

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Five Heads.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (customs, people, different family titles), 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:pg71335:28:23
# text = Thus the customs observed at the birth of a child are exactly the same in every part of the country among people of the same family title, though they may never have heard of each other, while neighbours of the same clan, but of different family titles, have these customs altogether dissimilar.
1	Thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	customs	custom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
4	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	birth	birth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
12	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	det	_	_
17	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	_
21	among	among	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
25	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
26	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	compound	_	_
27	title	title	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
29	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
30	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
31	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
32	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
33	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	aux	_	_
34	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	parataxis	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	34	obl	_	_
37	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
39	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	40	case	_	_
40	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	conj	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	amod	_	_
44	clan	clan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
46	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
48	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	amod	_	_
49	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	compound	_	_
50	titles	title	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	52	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
52	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	parataxis	_	_
53	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	54	det	_	_
54	customs	custom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	52	obj	_	_
55	altogether	altogether	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
56	dissimilar	dissimilar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **observe** | participle |  | the customs *not said here* |  | the birth of a child |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | the customs |  |  | every part of the country |  | among people of the same family title; exactly, same *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **hear** | may · perfect | people |  |  |  |  | of each; neighbours of the same clan *conj* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of each=Stimulus |
| 4 | **have** | present | different family titles | this customs |  |  |  | altogether dissimilar | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent custom=Patient |

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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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