---
title: It may often be seen on the backs of cattle, seeking for insects on… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: It may often be seen on the backs of cattle, seeking for insects on which it feeds. Who acts: ntengu. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Runaway Children., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/35/9/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/) / [The Runaway Children.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/35/) / 9

# Kaffir folk-lore, The Runaway Children., sentence 9

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may often be seen on the backs of cattle, seeking for insects on which it feeds.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** ntengu · **What happens:** see, seek, feed · **To what, where:** ntengu, backs

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Runaway Children.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ntengu), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg71335:35:9
# text = It may often be seen on the backs of cattle, seeking for insects on which it feeds.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	often	often	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	backs	back	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	seeking	seek	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	insects	insect	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
15	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	obl	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	feeds	feed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | may · passive |  | ntengu |  | the backs of cattle |  | often *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 2 | **seek** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for insects | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for insect=Theme |
| 3 | **feed** | present | ntengu |  |  |  |  | on insects | vn gorge-39.6 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=Agent on which=Patient |

<!-- .note -->
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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/35/8/)
- next →: [The Girl and the Mbulu., 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/36/1/)
- ↑ back to [The Runaway Children.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/35/)