---
title: One of its peculiarities is that it never speaks the truth when it i… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: One of its peculiarities is that it never speaks the truth when it is possible to tell a falsehood. Who acts: mbulu, One. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Girl and the Mbulu., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Girl and the Mbulu., sentence 3

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One of its peculiarities is that it never speaks the truth when it is possible to tell a falsehood.

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**Who acts:** mbulu, One · **What happens:** not speak, be, tell · **To what, where:** truth, falsehood · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Girl and the Mbulu.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (mbulu, One), 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:pg71335:36:3
# text = One of its peculiarities is that it never speaks the truth when it is possible to tell a falsehood.
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	peculiarities	peculiarity	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	speaks	speak	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	15	mark	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	csubj	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **speak** *speech: other* | present | mbulu | the truth |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | One of mbulu's peculiarities |  |  |  |  | it *nsubj*; possible *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  | a falsehood |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent falsehood=Recipient |

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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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