Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 14, sentence 77
A widower and without children, he led, in the main, a retired life; seldom visiting at the houses of the other negroes on the plantation, but always chatting pleasantly with all who came to see him.
Who acts: widower · What happens: lead, visit, chat, come, see · To what, where: houses, DADDY
This is a sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (widower), 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 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 widower | det |
| 2 | widower | widower | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 led | nsubj |
| 3 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 5 children | cc |
| 4 | without | without | ADP | _ | 5 children | case |
| 5 | children | child | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 widower | conj |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 2 widower | punct |
| 7 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 led | nsubj |
| 8 | led | lead | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 main | punct |
| 10 | in | in | ADP | _ | 12 main | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 main | det |
| 12 | main | main | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 led | parataxis |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 life | punct |
| 14 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 16 life | det |
| 15 | retired | retired | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 16 life | amod |
| 16 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 main | obl |
| 17 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 19 visiting | punct |
| 18 | seldom | seldom | ADV | _ | 19 visiting | advmod |
| 19 | visiting | visit | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 8 led | advcl |
| 20 | at | at | ADP | _ | 22 houses | case |
| 21 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 22 houses | det |
| 22 | houses | house | NOUN | Number=Plur | 19 visiting | obl |
| 23 | of | of | ADP | _ | 26 negroes | case |
| 24 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 negroes | det |
| 25 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 26 negroes | amod |
| 26 | negroes | negro | NOUN | Number=Plur | 22 houses | nmod |
| 27 | on | on | ADP | _ | 29 plantation | case |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 29 plantation | det |
| 29 | plantation | plantation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 negroes | nmod |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 chatting | punct |
| 31 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 33 chatting | cc |
| 32 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 33 chatting | advmod |
| 33 | chatting | chat | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 19 visiting | conj |
| 34 | pleasantly | pleasantly | ADV | _ | 33 chatting | advmod |
| 35 | with | with | ADP | _ | 36 all | case |
| 36 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 33 chatting | obl |
| 37 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 38 came | nsubj |
| 38 | came | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 36 all | acl:relcl |
| 39 | to | to | PART | _ | 40 see | mark |
| 40 | see | see | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 38 came | advcl |
| 41 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 see | obj |
| 42 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 led | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | lead | past | a widower and children | DADDY nsubj | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition | ||||
| 2 | visit | gerund | a widower and children not said here | the houses of the other negroes on the plantation | seldom property | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||
| 3 | chat speech: other | gerund | a widower and children not said here | with all; always, pleasantly property | vn chit_chat-37.6 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with all=Co-Agent | ||||
| 4 | come | past | who nsubj | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 5 | see | to-infinitive | DADDY | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |
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/pg76586/14/77/