---
title: The boy was just going to kill it, but it said: “I am a crocodile; I… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The boy was just going to kill it, but it said: “I am a crocodile; I am not to be killed; I am your friend.” Who acts: boy, crocodile. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Bird That Made Milk. I., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Story of the Bird That Made Milk. I., sentence 135

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The boy was just going to kill it, but it said: “I am a crocodile; I am not to be killed; I am your friend.”

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**Who acts:** boy, crocodile · **What happens:** go, kill, say, be, not kill · **To what, where:** crocodile, friend · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Bird That Made Milk. I.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, crocodile), 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:pg71335:3:135
# text = The boy was just going to kill it, but it said: “I am a crocodile; I am not to be killed; I am your friend.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
14	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
20	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
21	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux:pass	_	_
22	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	25	advmod	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
24	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	aux:pass	_	_
25	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
27	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
28	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
29	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	30	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	30	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past · progressive | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **kill** | to-infinitive | the boy *not said here* | crocodile |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | crocodile |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | crocodile | a crocodile |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **kill** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | crocodile |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | crocodile | your friend |  |  |  | your *nmod:poss* | 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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