---
title: A common complaint concerning native servant girls is that they clai… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: A common complaint concerning native servant girls is that they claim every other person they meet as a brother or a sister. Who acts: common complaint, girls. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Demane and Demazana., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of e
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Demane and Demazana., sentence 4

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A common complaint concerning native servant girls is that they claim every other person they meet as a brother or a sister.

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**Who acts:** common complaint, girls · **What happens:** concern, be, meet · **To what, where:** native servant girls, other person

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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 (common complaint, girls), 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:pg71335:34:4
# text = A common complaint concerning native servant girls is that they claim every other person they meet as a brother or a sister.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	complaint	complaint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
4	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	native	native	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	girls	girl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	claim	claim	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
13	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	meet	meet	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	as	as	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **concern** | gerund | a common complaint *not said here* | native servant girls |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus girl=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | present | a common complaint |  |  |  |  | girls *= girl* *nsubj*; every other person *obj*; claim *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **meet** | present | girls *= girl* | every other person *not said here* |  |  |  | as a brother or a sister | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Co-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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