--- title: The husband is required, however, before repudiating his wife, to go… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics description: The husband is required, however, before repudiating his wife, to go through the customary ceremonies, which are described in the following case tried before me when acting as a border magistrate in 1881:—A, a Kaffir, sued B, another Kaffir, to recover the value of a heifer lent to him two years bef --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/29/31/) [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 Tangalimlibo.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/29/) / 31 # Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Tangalimlibo., sentence 31 The husband is required, however, before repudiating his wife, to go through the customary ceremonies, which are described in the following case tried before me when acting as a border magistrate in 1881:—A, a Kaffir, sued B, another Kaffir, to recover the value of a heifer lent to him two years before under these circumstances. **Who acts:** Kaffir · **What happens:** require, repudiate, go, describe, follow, try · **To what, where:** husband, wife, customary ceremonies, following case, 1881, B This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Tangalimlibo.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Kaffir), 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:pg71335:29:31 # text = The husband is required, however, before repudiating his wife, to go through the customary ceremonies, which are described in the following case tried before me when acting as a border magistrate in 1881:—A, a Kaffir, sued B, another Kaffir, to recover the value of a heifer lent to him two years before under these circumstances. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 husband husband NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux:pass _ _ 4 required require VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 6 however however ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 8 before before SCONJ IN _ 9 mark _ _ 9 repudiating repudiate VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 advcl _ _ 10 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 11 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 13 to to PART TO _ 14 mark _ _ 14 go go VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 15 through through ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 17 customary customary NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 compound _ _ 18 ceremonies ceremony NOUN NNS Number=Plur 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 20 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 22 nsubj:pass _ _ 21 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 22 aux:pass _ _ 22 described describe VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 18 acl:relcl _ _ 23 in in ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 25 following follow VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 26 amod _ _ 26 case case NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obl _ _ 27 tried try VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 26 acl _ _ 28 before before ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 14 obl _ _ 30 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 31 advmod _ _ 31 acting act VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 14 advcl _ _ 32 as as ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 34 border border NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 compound _ _ 35 magistrate magistrate NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 36 in in ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 37 1881 1881 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 38 : : PUNCT : _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 39 — - PUNCT : _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 43 det _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ _ 42 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 Kaffir Kaffir PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 45 sued sue VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 acl:relcl _ _ 46 B B PROPN NNP Number=Sing 45 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 48 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 49 det _ _ 49 Kaffir Kaffir PROPN NNP Number=Sing 43 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 50 , , PUNCT , _ 52 punct _ _ 51 to to PART TO _ 52 mark _ _ 52 recover recover VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 43 conj _ _ 53 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 54 value value NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 obj _ _ 55 of of ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 57 heifer heifer NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 nmod _ _ 58 lent lend VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 57 acl _ _ 59 to to ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 60 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 58 obl _ _ 61 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 62 nummod _ _ 62 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 58 obl:unmarked _ _ 63 before before ADP IN _ 66 case _ _ 64 under under ADP IN _ 66 case _ _ 65 these this DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 66 det _ _ 66 circumstances circumstance NOUN NNS Number=Plur 58 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 67 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **require** | present · passive | | the husband | | | | a Kaffir and another Kaffir *parataxis*; however *property* | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Precondition | | 2 | **repudiate** | gerund | | husband's wife | | | | | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme | | 3 | **go** | to-infinitive | | | | the customary ceremonies | before me | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through ceremony=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **describe** | present · passive | | the customary ceremonies | | the following case | | | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Theme | | 5 | **follow** | gerund | | | | | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **try** | participle | | the following case *not said here* | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 7 | **act** | gerund | | | | 1881 | | as a border magistrate | vn masquerade-29.6-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as magistrate=Attribute | | 8 | **sue** | past | a Kaffir and another Kaffir *not said here* | B | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **recover** | to-infinitive | | the value of a heifer | | | | | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent value=Theme | | 10 | **lend** | participle | | a heifer *not said here* | husband | | before this circumstances; year | | vn give-13.1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient | | 11 | **value** | | | a heifer | | | | | nom value «cognition 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 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/29/30/) - next →: [sentence 32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/29/32/) - ↑ back to [The Story of Tangalimlibo.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/29/)