---
title: I have more than once heard Kaffirs accused of falsehood because the… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: I have more than once heard Kaffirs accused of falsehood because they asserted one person to be their father or mother at one time and a different person at another time. Who acts: I, Kaffirs, Europeans. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Demane and Demazana., with
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Demane and Demazana., sentence 2

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I have more than once heard Kaffirs accused of falsehood because they asserted one person to be their father or mother at one time and a different person at another time.

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**Who acts:** I, Kaffirs, Europeans · **What happens:** have, hear, accuse, assert, be · **To what, where:** more, one person, father · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Demane and Demazana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, Kaffirs, Europeans), 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:pg71335:34:2
# text = I have more than once heard Kaffirs accused of falsehood because they asserted one person to be their father or mother at one time and a different person at another time.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	obj	_	_
4	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	6	advmod	_	_
6	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	Kaffirs	Kaffirs	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	accused	accuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
11	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	asserted	assert	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
14	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
17	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	cop	_	_
18	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	_
22	at	at	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	24	nummod	_	_
24	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	conj	_	_
29	at	at	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	31	det	_	_
31	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | I | more |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent more=Patient |
| 2 | **hear** | past | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | once *property* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **accuse** | past | Kaffirs |  |  |  |  | of falsehood | vn suspect-81 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent of falsehood=Attribute |
| 4 | **assert** | past | Europeans *= european* | one person |  |  | time |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme |
| 5 | **is a** | to-infinitive |  | Europeans's father or mother |  |  |  | Europeans *= european* *nmod:poss*; mother *conj* | tree rules |

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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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