---
title: The heifer could not be returned after being so used. — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The heifer could not be returned after being so used. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Tangalimlibo., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Tangalimlibo., sentence 37

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The heifer could not be returned after being so used.

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**What happens:** not return, use · **To what, where:** 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: 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:pg71335:29:37
# text = The heifer could not be returned after being so used.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	heifer	heifer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	aux:pass	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **return** | could · passive |  | the heifer |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **use** | gerund · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V» |

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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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