---
title: His ancestors were well acquainted with the African crocodile, and t… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: His ancestors were well acquainted with the African crocodile, and their descendants, dwelling in this marsh region filled with swamps and cypress ponds, and permeated with lagoons, creeks, and rivers--the habitat of this formidable reptile--were from childhood familiar with its roar, and entirely a
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 25

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His ancestors were well acquainted with the African crocodile, and their descendants, dwelling in this marsh region filled with swamps and cypress ponds, and permeated with lagoons, creeks, and rivers--the habitat of this formidable reptile--were from childhood familiar with its roar, and entirely accustomed to its unsightly appearance and habits.

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**Who acts:** rivers, familiar · **What happens:** acquaint, dwell, fill, permeate, be, accustom · **To what, where:** ancestors, marsh region, childhood familiar

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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 (rivers, familiar), 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:pg76586:13:25
# text = His ancestors were well acquainted with the African crocodile, and their descendants, dwelling in this marsh region filled with swamps and cypress ponds, and permeated with lagoons, creeks, and rivers--the habitat of this formidable reptile--were from childhood familiar with its roar, and entirely accustomed to its unsightly appearance and habits.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	ancestors	ancestor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
5	acquainted	acquaint	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	descendants	descendant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	dwelling	dwell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	19	det	_	_
18	marsh	marsh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	region	region	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
20	filled	fill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	acl	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	swamps	swamp	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	cypress	cypress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	_
25	ponds	pond	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	permeated	permeate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
29	with	with	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	lagoons	lagoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
32	creeks	creek	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	47	cc	_	_
35	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	47	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	habitat	habitat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	conj	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
40	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	42	det	_	_
41	formidable	formidable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	amod	_	_
42	reptile	reptile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	cop	_	_
45	from	from	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	childhood	childhood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	compound	_	_
47	familiar	familiar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
48	with	with	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	50	nmod:poss	_	_
50	roar	roar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
52	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	54	cc	_	_
53	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	54	advmod	_	_
54	accustomed	accustom	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
55	to	to	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
56	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	58	nmod:poss	_	_
57	unsightly	unsightly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	58	amod	_	_
58	appearance	appearance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obl	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
60	habits	habit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	58	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquaint** *speech: other* | past · passive |  | Francis's ancestors |  |  |  | with the African crocodile; ancestors's descendants *obl*; well *property* | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **dwell** | gerund |  |  |  | this marsh region |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in region=Location |
| 3 | **fill** | participle |  | this marsh region *not said here* |  |  |  | with swamps and cypress ponds | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with swamp=Instrument |
| 4 | **permeate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | with lagoons and creeks | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | past | rivers and the habitat of this formidable reptile |  |  | childhood familiar |  | with familiar's roar | tree rules |
| 6 | **accustom** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to roar's unsightly appearance and habits; entirely *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **roar** |  | familiar |  |  |  |  |  | nom roar «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

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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:** «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.

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