---
title: At the “Praise-House” his seat was never vacant when his health perm… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: At the “Praise-House” his seat was never vacant when his health permitted him to be present, and he filled the office of a “watchman” upon the plantation. Who acts: seat, health, DADDY. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 14, sentence 78

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At the “Praise-House” his seat was never vacant when his health permitted him to be present, and he filled the office of a “watchman” upon the plantation.

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**Who acts:** seat, health, DADDY · **What happens:** not be, permit, be, fill · **To what, where:** Praise House, DADDY, office

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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 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (seat, health, DADDY), 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:pg76586:14:78
# text = At the “Praise-House” his seat was never vacant when his health permitted him to be present, and he filled the office of a “watchman” upon the plantation.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
3	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Praise	praise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	House	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	seat	seat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	vacant	vacant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
13	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	health	health	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	permitted	permit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
19	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	cop	_	_
20	present	present	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	filled	fill	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	office	office	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	30	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	watchman	watchman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	30	punct	_	_
32	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	plantation	plantation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | DADDY's seat |  |  | the Praise House |  | vacant *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **permit** | past | DADDY's health | DADDY |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | to-infinitive | DADDY's health *not said here* |  |  |  |  | present *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **fill** | past | DADDY | the office of a watchman |  |  |  | upon the plantation | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent office=Patient |

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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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