---
title: On putting the ordinary tests to the witchfinder he failed to meet t… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: On putting the ordinary tests to the witchfinder he failed to meet them, and when he was compelled, reluctantly, to admit that he had never held converse with the people under the water, it was easy to convince the bystanders that he was only an impostor. Who acts: number. A sentence of «Kaffir folk
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Tangalimlibo., sentence 76

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On putting the ordinary tests to the witchfinder he failed to meet them, and when he was compelled, reluctantly, to admit that he had never held converse with the people under the water, it was easy to convince the bystanders that he was only an impostor.

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**Who acts:** number · **What happens:** put, fail, not meet, compel, admit, not hold · **To what, where:** ordinary tests, witchfinder, witchfinders, number, bystanders, impostor · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (number), 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:pg71335:29:76
# text = On putting the ordinary tests to the witchfinder he failed to meet them, and when he was compelled, reluctantly, to admit that he had never held converse with the people under the water, it was easy to convince the bystanders that he was only an impostor.
1	On	on	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	putting	put	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	40	advcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	witchfinder	witchfinder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	meet	meet	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	19	advmod	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux:pass	_	_
19	compelled	compel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	reluctantly	reluctantly	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	admit	admit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	conj	_	_
25	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
28	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	29	advmod	_	_
29	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	ccomp	_	_
30	converse	converse	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	xcomp	_	_
31	with	with	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	obl	_	_
34	under	under	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
38	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	expl	_	_
39	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	cop	_	_
40	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
41	to	to	PART	TO	_	42	mark	_	_
42	convince	convince	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	40	csubj	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	bystanders	bystander	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	obj	_	_
45	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	50	mark	_	_
46	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	nsubj	_	_
47	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	50	cop	_	_
48	only	only	ADV	RB	_	50	advmod	_	_
49	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	impostor	impostor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	40	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | gerund |  | the ordinary tests |  |  |  | to the witchfinder | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent test=Goal |
| 2 | **fail** | past | number | the witchfinder *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **meet** | to-infinitive | number *not said here* | witchfinders *= witchfinder* |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Co-Agent |
| 4 | **compel** | past · passive |  | number |  |  |  | reluctantly *property* | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 5 | **admit** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn confess-37.10 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **not** **hold** | past · perfect · passive |  | number |  |  |  | converse *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **convince** | to-infinitive |  | the bystanders |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus bystander=Experiencer |
| 9 | **is a** | past | number | a impostor |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
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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