Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 11, sentence 12
Wen de Buckra man quire wuh kind er head wuk him duh do, de New Nigger say: “Mossa, ef you see tree pigeon duh set on dat tree limb, an you shoot an kill one er dem, how many gwine leff?”
Who acts: Wen, you · What happens: do, de, say, see, set, shoot · To what, where: New Nigger, Mossa, tree pigeon, tree limb, kill · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Wen, you), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wen | Wen | PROPN | Number=Sing | 13 do | nsubj |
| 2 | de | de | PROPN | Number=Sing | 1 Wen | flat |
| 3 | Buckra | Buckra | PROPN | Number=Sing | 1 Wen | flat |
| 4 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 quire | compound |
| 5 | quire | quire | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Wen | list |
| 6 | wuh | wuh | INTJ | _ | 10 wuk | discourse |
| 7 | kind | kind | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 wuk | amod |
| 8 | er | er | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 head | compound |
| 9 | head | head | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 wuk | compound |
| 10 | wuk | wuk | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Wen | conj |
| 11 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 wuk | obj |
| 12 | duh | duh | INTJ | _ | 13 do | discourse |
| 13 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 18 say | parataxis |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 de | punct |
| 15 | de | de | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 13 do | conj |
| 16 | New | New | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 17 Nigger | amod |
| 17 | Nigger | Nigger | PROPN | Number=Sing | 13 do | obj |
| 18 | say | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 19 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 21 Mossa | punct |
| 20 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 21 Mossa | punct |
| 21 | Mossa | Mossa | PROPN | Number=Sing | 25 see | obl |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 ef | punct |
| 23 | ef | ef | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 Mossa | conj |
| 24 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 25 see | nsubj |
| 25 | see | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 18 say | ccomp |
| 26 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 pigeon | compound |
| 27 | pigeon | pigeon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 see | obj |
| 28 | duh | duh | INTJ | _ | 29 set | discourse |
| 29 | set | set | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 27 pigeon | acl |
| 30 | on | on | ADP | _ | 33 limb | case |
| 31 | dat | dat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 tree | compound |
| 32 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 limb | compound |
| 33 | limb | limb | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 set | obl |
| 34 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 37 shoot | punct |
| 35 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 37 shoot | det |
| 36 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 37 shoot | nsubj |
| 37 | shoot | shoot | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 27 pigeon | acl:relcl |
| 38 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 39 kill | det |
| 39 | kill | kill | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 shoot | obj |
| 40 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 42 dem | nummod |
| 41 | er | er | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 dem | compound |
| 42 | dem | dem | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 shoot | obl |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 47 leff | punct |
| 44 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 45 many | advmod |
| 45 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 47 leff | amod |
| 46 | gwine | gwine | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 47 leff | amod |
| 47 | leff | leff | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 dem | appos |
| 48 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 47 leff | punct |
| 49 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 47 leff | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | do | infinitive | Wen man quire and kind head wuk mek | New Nigger | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nigger=Eventuality | ||||
| 2 | de | infinitive | Wen man quire and kind head wuk mek not said here | tree rules | |||||
| 3 | say speech: ask | present | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||||
| 4 | see in a quote | present | you | Mossa and ef | tree pigeon obj | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer pigeon=Stimulus | |||
| 5 | set in a quote | participle | tree pigeon not said here | tree limb | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent on limb=Destination | ||||
| 6 | shoot in a quote | present | you | a kill | one er dem obl | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent kill=Theme |
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.
Text: «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Project Gutenberg book 76586 (public domain in the USA). Tree: Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), the chapter read in order.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/11/12/