---
title: He believes that a spirit pulls the person under water, and that thi… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: He believes that a spirit pulls the person under water, and that this spirit is willing sometimes to accept an ox as a ransom for the human victim. Who acts: idea, spirit. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Tangalimlibo., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Tangalimlibo., sentence 48

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He believes that a spirit pulls the person under water, and that this spirit is willing sometimes to accept an ox as a ransom for the human victim.

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**Who acts:** idea, spirit · **What happens:** believe, pull, be, accept · **To what, where:** person, water, ox

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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 (idea, spirit), 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:pg71335:29:48
# text = He believes that a spirit pulls the person under water, and that this spirit is willing sometimes to accept an ox as a ransom for the human victim.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	believes	believe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	under	under	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
14	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	15	det	_	_
15	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
17	willing	willing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
18	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	20	advmod	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	accept	accept	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	xcomp	_	_
21	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	ox	ox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
23	as	as	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	ransom	ransom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
26	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	victim	victim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | present | idea |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **pull** | present | a spirit | the person |  | water |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP ADJP-Result»: agent=Agent person=Result |
| 3 | **is** | present | this spirit |  |  |  |  | willing *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **accept** | to-infinitive | this spirit *not said here* | a ox |  |  |  | as a ransom; for the human victim; sometimes *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent ox=Theme as ransom=Attribute |

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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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