Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 35
During the spring and summer they frequently met, and whenever the former could be taken at a disadvantage its life was forfeit to the opportunity.
Who acts: reptiles, life · What happens: meet, take, be · To what, where: former, disadvantage, forfeit
This is a sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 13. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (reptiles, life), 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 | During | during | ADP | _ | 3 spring | case |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 spring | det |
| 3 | spring | spring | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 met | obl |
| 4 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 5 summer | cc |
| 5 | summer | summer | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 spring | conj |
| 6 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 met | nsubj |
| 7 | frequently | frequently | ADV | _ | 8 met | advmod |
| 8 | met | meet | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 taken | punct |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 16 taken | cc |
| 11 | whenever | whenever | SCONJ | _ | 16 taken | mark |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 former | det |
| 13 | former | former | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 16 taken | nsubj:pass |
| 14 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 16 taken | aux |
| 15 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 16 taken | aux:pass |
| 16 | taken | take | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 8 met | conj |
| 17 | at | at | ADP | _ | 19 disadvantage | case |
| 18 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 19 disadvantage | det |
| 19 | disadvantage | disadvantage | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 taken | obl |
| 20 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 21 life | nmod:poss |
| 21 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 forfeit | nsubj |
| 22 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 23 forfeit | cop |
| 23 | forfeit | forfeit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 disadvantage | conj |
| 24 | to | to | ADP | _ | 26 opportunity | case |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 opportunity | det |
| 26 | opportunity | opportunity | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 forfeit | nmod |
| 27 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 met | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | meet | past | reptiles = reptile | spring | frequently property | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||
| 2 | take | could · passive | the former | a disadvantage and forfeit | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: subject=Theme at disadvantage=Asset | ||||
| 3 | is a | past | pan's life | forfeit | to the opportunity | tree rules |
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/pg76586/13/35/