---
title: The bird said: “Your sister has performed the custom, and as for you… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The bird said: “Your sister has performed the custom, and as for you, you should enter manhood.” Who acts: bird, sister, you. 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 144

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The bird said: “Your sister has performed the custom, and as for you, you should enter manhood.”

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**Who acts:** bird, sister, you · **What happens:** say, perform, enter · **To what, where:** custom, manhood · **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 (bird, sister, you), 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:pg71335:3:144
# text = The bird said: “Your sister has performed the custom, and as for you, you should enter manhood.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
5	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	performed	perform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
14	as	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	16	case	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	fixed	_	_
16	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	enter	enter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
21	manhood	manhood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the bird |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **perform** *in a quote* | present · perfect | Your sister | the custom |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent custom=Theme |
| 3 | **enter** *in a quote* | should | you | manhood |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme manhood=Destination |

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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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