---
title: The lazy way in which the negro was in the habit of fishing, perched… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: The lazy way in which the negro was in the habit of fishing, perched upon a tussock, with feet and rod trailing in the water, somnolent and in utter silence, did sometimes invite and receive a flirt from the tail of the reigning alligator, defending its preserves against all poachers. Who acts: negr
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 85

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The lazy way in which the negro was in the habit of fishing, perched upon a tussock, with feet and rod trailing in the water, somnolent and in utter silence, did sometimes invite and receive a flirt from the tail of the reigning alligator, defending its preserves against all poachers.

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**Who acts:** negro, feet, lazy way, ALLIGATOR · **What happens:** be, perch, trail, invite, receive, reign · **To what, where:** habit, tussock, water, flirt, tail, preserves

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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 (negro, feet, lazy way, ALLIGATOR), 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:pg76586:13:85
# text = The lazy way in which the negro was in the habit of fishing, perched upon a tussock, with feet and rod trailing in the water, somnolent and in utter silence, did sometimes invite and receive a flirt from the tail of the reigning alligator, defending its preserves against all poachers.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	lazy	lazy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	negro	negro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	habit	habit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	fishing	fishing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	perched	perch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl	_	_
16	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	tussock	tussock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl:unmarked	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	rod	rod	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	conj	_	_
24	trailing	trail	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	21	acl	_	_
25	in	in	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
29	somnolent	somnolent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
31	in	in	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	utter	utter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
35	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
36	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	37	advmod	_	_
37	invite	invite	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
38	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
39	receive	receive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	37	conj	_	_
40	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	flirt	flirt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obj	_	_
42	from	from	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
45	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
47	reigning	reign	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	48	amod	_	_
48	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
50	defending	defend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	37	parataxis	_	_
51	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	52	nmod:poss	_	_
52	preserves	preserve	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	obj	_	_
53	against	against	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
54	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	55	det	_	_
55	poachers	poacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	37	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the negro |  |  | the habit |  | in the lazy way; of fishing | tree rules |
| 2 | **perch** | participle |  | the habit *not said here* |  | a tussock |  | with feet and rod | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon tussock=Location |
| 3 | **trail** | gerund | feet and rod *not said here* |  |  | the water |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent in water=Trajectory |
| 4 | **invite** | past · do-support | the lazy way |  |  |  |  | sometimes *property* | vn promote-102 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **receive** | infinitive | the lazy way *not said here* | a flirt |  | the tail of the reigning alligator |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent flirt=Theme from tail=Source |
| 6 | **reign** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **defend** | gerund |  | ALLIGATOR's preserves |  |  |  | against all poachers | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent preserve=Beneficiary against poacher=Theme |
| 8 | **preserve** |  | ALLIGATOR |  |  |  |  |  | nom preserve «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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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