---
title: One plant was for curing stomach-ache, another acted as an emetic, a… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: One plant was for curing stomach-ache, another acted as an emetic, a third cured the sting of a venomous insect, and so on. Who acts: One plant, third. 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 8

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One plant was for curing stomach-ache, another acted as an emetic, a third cured the sting of a venomous insect, and so on.

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**Who acts:** One plant, third · **What happens:** cure, act, sting · **To what, where:** stomach ache, another, sting, venomous insect

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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 (One plant, third), 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:pg71335:31:8
# text = One plant was for curing stomach-ache, another acted as an emetic, a third cured the sting of a venomous insect, and so on.
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	plant	plant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	curing	cure	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	stomach	stomach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	ache	ache	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	acted	act	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
12	as	as	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	emetic	emetic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	third	third	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	appos	_	_
18	cured	cure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	acl	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	sting	sting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	venomous	venomous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	insect	insect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	so	so	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
28	on	on	ADV	RB	_	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cure** | past · progressive | One plant | stomach ache |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer ache=Source |
| 2 | **act** | participle · passive |  | another |  |  |  | as a emetic | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V PP.predicate»: subject=Eventuality |
| 3 | **cure** | participle | a third *not said here* | the sting of a venomous insect |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer sting=Source |
| 4 | **sting** |  |  | a venomous insect |  |  |  |  | nom sting «state transitive»: of=patient |

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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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