---
title: The defence was that A, being the woman’s nearest relative who had c… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The defence was that A, being the woman’s nearest relative who had cattle, was bound to furnish a heifer for the purpose. Who acts: defence, nearest relative. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Tangalimlibo., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every cla
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Tangalimlibo., sentence 35

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The defence was that A, being the woman’s nearest relative who had cattle, was bound to furnish a heifer for the purpose.

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**Who acts:** defence, nearest relative · **What happens:** be, have, furnish · **To what, where:** nearest relative, cattle, heifer

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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 (defence, nearest relative), 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:pg71335:29:35
# text = The defence was that A, being the woman’s nearest relative who had cattle, was bound to furnish a heifer for the purpose.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	defence	defence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
5	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	’s	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	nearest	near	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	12	amod	_	_
12	relative	relative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
13	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
15	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	bound	bound	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	furnish	furnish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	heifer	heifer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
23	for	for	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | 's a woman | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the defence | a woman's nearest relative |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **have** | past | a woman's nearest relative | cattle |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cattle=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | past | a woman's nearest relative |  |  |  |  | bound *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **furnish** | to-infinitive | a woman's nearest relative *not said here* | a heifer |  |  |  | for the purpose | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent heifer=Theme for purpose=Recipient |

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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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