---
title: A case recently came before me for investigation, in which a Kaffir… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: A case recently came before me for investigation, in which a Kaffir woman was suspected of having administered poison to another person. Who acts: case. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., sentence 4

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A case recently came before me for investigation, in which a Kaffir woman was suspected of having administered poison to another person.

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**Who acts:** case · **What happens:** come, suspect, have, administer · **To what, where:** Kaffir woman, investigation, administered poison

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (case), 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:pg71335:31:4
# text = A case recently came before me for investigation, in which a Kaffir woman was suspected of having administered poison to another person.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	recently	recently	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	investigation	investigation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	Kaffir	Kaffir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	suspected	suspect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	_
17	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
18	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	advcl	_	_
19	administered	administer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	amod	_	_
20	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	23	det	_	_
23	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | a case |  |  |  | before me | for investigation; recently *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme before i=Location |
| 2 | **suspect** | past · passive |  | a Kaffir woman |  | investigation |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Attribute |
| 3 | **have** | gerund |  | administered poison |  |  |  | to another person | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poison=Patient |
| 4 | **administer** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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