---
title: A constant depredator was the alligator upon the fish-traps which gu… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: A constant depredator was the alligator upon the fish-traps which guarded the mouths of the short creeks emptying into the rivers. Who acts: constant depredator, fish traps, short creeks. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, pa
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 32

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A constant depredator was the alligator upon the fish-traps which guarded the mouths of the short creeks emptying into the rivers.

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**Who acts:** constant depredator, fish traps, short creeks · **What happens:** be, guard, empty · **To what, where:** alligator, mouths, rivers

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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 (constant depredator, fish traps, short creeks), 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:pg76586:13:32
# text = A constant depredator was the alligator upon the fish-traps which guarded the mouths of the short creeks emptying into the rivers.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	constant	constant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	depredator	depredator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	traps	trap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	guarded	guard	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	mouths	mouth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	creeks	creek	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
20	emptying	empty	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	19	acl	_	_
21	into	into	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | a constant depredator | the alligator |  |  |  | upon the fish traps | tree rules |
| 2 | **guard** | past | the fish traps | the mouths of the short creeks |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mouth=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **empty** | gerund | the short creeks *not said here* |  |  | the rivers |  |  | vn clear-10.3-1 «NP.Source V»: agent=Source |

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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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