--- title: In this case the messenger takes some cattle with him, when, if the… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics description: In this case the messenger takes some cattle with him, when, if the advances are favourably received, an assagai is sent back, after which the relatives of the young people discuss and finally arrange the terms of the marriage. Who acts: messenger, relatives. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by Geor --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/28/27/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/) / [The Story of Five Heads.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/28/) / 27 # Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Five Heads., sentence 27 In this case the messenger takes some cattle with him, when, if the advances are favourably received, an assagai is sent back, after which the relatives of the young people discuss and finally arrange the terms of the marriage. **Who acts:** messenger, relatives · **What happens:** take, receive, send back, discuss, arrange, term · **To what, where:** cattle, case, advances, assagai, terms, marriage 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 (messenger, relatives), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg71335:28:27 # text = In this case the messenger takes some cattle with him, when, if the advances are favourably received, an assagai is sent back, after which the relatives of the young people discuss and finally arrange the terms of the marriage. 1 In in ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 2 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 3 det _ _ 3 case case NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 messenger messenger NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 6 takes take VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 8 det _ _ 8 cattle cattle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 obj _ _ 9 with with ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 12 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 6 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 14 if if SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 advances advance NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 nsubj:pass _ _ 17 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 19 aux:pass _ _ 18 favourably favourably ADV RB _ 19 advmod _ _ 19 received receive VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 6 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 21 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 assagai assagai NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nsubj:pass _ _ 23 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 24 aux:pass _ _ 24 sent send VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 19 conj _ _ 25 back back ADV RB _ 24 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 27 after after ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 28 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 35 obl _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 relatives relative NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 nsubj _ _ 31 of of ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 33 young young ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 34 amod _ _ 34 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 nmod _ _ 35 discuss discuss VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 24 parataxis _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 37 finally finally ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 38 arrange arrange VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 35 conj _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 terms term NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 obj _ _ 41 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 marriage marriage NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | present | the messenger | some cattle | | this case | | with guardian | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent cattle=Value in case=Location | | 2 | **receive** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · passive | | the advances | | | | favourably *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 3 | **send back** | present · passive | | a assagai | | | | | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 4 | **discuss** *speech: other* | present | the relatives of the young people | | | | | which *obl* | vn chit\_chat-37.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **arrange** | present | the relatives of the young people *not said here* | the terms of the marriage | | | | finally *property* | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent term=Product | | 6 | **term** | | | the marriage | | | | | nom term «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/28/26/) - next →: [sentence 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/28/28/) - ↑ back to [The Story of Five Heads.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/28/)