--- title: You slap de law onter a nigger a time er two, an' larn 'im dat he's… — Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings · tree and pragmatics description: You slap de law onter a nigger a time er two, an' larn 'im dat he's got fer to look after his own rashuns an' keep out'n udder fokes's chick'n-coops, an' sorter coax 'im inter de idee dat he's got ter feed 'is own chilluns, an' I be blessed ef you ain't got 'im on risin' groun'. Who acts: You, des, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/54/17/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/) / [VIII. Race Improvement](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/54/) / 17 # Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings, VIII. Race Improvement, sentence 17 You slap de law onter a nigger a time er two, an' larn 'im dat he's got fer to look after his own rashuns an' keep out'n udder fokes's chick'n-coops, an' sorter coax 'im inter de idee dat he's got ter feed 'is own chilluns, an' I be blessed ef you ain't got 'im on risin' groun'. **Who acts:** You, des, fer, time er, udder fokes, I · **What happens:** slap, larn, get, look, rashun, keep · **To what, where:** de law, fer, nigger, coax im inter, ter feed, keep own chilluns This is a sentence of «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, VIII. Race Improvement. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (You, des, fer, time er), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg2306:54:17 # text = You slap de law onter a nigger a time er two, an' larn 'im dat he's got fer to look after his own rashuns an' keep out'n udder fokes's chick'n-coops, an' sorter coax 'im inter de idee dat he's got ter feed 'is own chilluns, an' I be blessed ef you ain't got 'im on risin' groun'. 1 You you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 slap slap VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 de de X FW Foreign=Yes 4 compound _ _ 4 law law NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 onter onter X FW Foreign=Yes 2 obl _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 nigger nigger NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ _ 8 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 9 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 compound _ _ 10 er er NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 nsubj _ _ 11 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 10 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 13 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 18 det _ SpaceAfter=No 14 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 15 punct _ _ 15 larn larn VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 18 compound _ _ 16 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 15 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 17 im im ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 18 dat dat NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 conj _ _ 19 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 's be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 21 aux _ _ 21 got get VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 18 acl:relcl _ _ 22 fer fer NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obj _ _ 23 to to PART TO _ 24 mark _ _ 24 look look VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 xcomp _ _ 25 after after ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 27 nmod:poss _ _ 27 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 obl _ _ 28 rashuns rashun VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 7 acl:relcl _ _ 29 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 58 det _ SpaceAfter=No 30 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 31 punct _ _ 31 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 58 compound _ _ 32 out'n out'n CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 33 udder udder NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 compound _ _ 34 fokes foke NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 's 's PART POS _ 34 case _ _ 36 chick'n chick'n NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 37 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 36 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 38 coops coop NOUN NNS Number=Plur 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 40 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 46 det _ SpaceAfter=No 41 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 43 punct _ _ 42 sorter sorter NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 compound _ _ 43 coax coax NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 compound _ _ 44 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 im im X FW _ 46 compound _ _ 46 inter inter NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nmod _ _ 47 de de X FW Foreign=Yes 49 compound _ _ 48 idee idee PROPN NNP Number=Sing 49 compound _ _ 49 dat dat NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 conj _ _ 50 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 52 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 51 's be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 52 aux _ _ 52 got get VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 49 acl:relcl _ _ 53 ter ter NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 compound _ _ 54 feed feed NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 obj _ _ 55 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 52 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 56 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 58 cop _ _ 57 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 58 amod _ _ 58 chilluns chillun NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 59 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 60 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 65 det _ SpaceAfter=No 61 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 65 punct _ _ 62 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 65 nsubj _ _ 63 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 65 cop _ _ 64 blessed blessed ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 65 ef ef NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 conj _ _ 66 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 69 nsubj _ _ 67 ai be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 69 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 68 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 69 advmod _ _ 69 got get VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 65 acl:relcl _ _ 70 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 71 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 71 im im NOUN NN Number=Sing 69 obl _ _ 72 on on ADP IN _ 73 case _ _ 73 risin risin NOUN NN Number=Sing 71 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 74 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 75 punct _ _ 75 groun groun NOUN NN Number=Sing 73 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 76 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 75 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 77 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **slap** | present | You | de law | | | | onter *obl* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent law=Patient | | 2 | **larn** | infinitive | | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **get** | present · passive | des | fer | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **look** | to-infinitive | fer *not said here* | | | | after des's own | | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 5 | **rashun** | present | a time er and a larn dat | a nigger *not said here* | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **keep** | infinitive | | | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **coop** | | udder fokes | a coax im inter and de idee dat | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **get** | present · passive | des | ter feed | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer feed=Stimulus | | 9 | **is a** | present | | a keep own chilluns and a blessed ef | | | | | tree rules | | 10 | **is a** | infinitive | I | a blessed ef | | | | | tree rules | | 11 | **not** **get** | present · passive | you | im on risin | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ef=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:** «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, Project Gutenberg book 2306 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/54/16/) - next →: [sentence 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/54/18/) - ↑ back to [VIII. Race Improvement](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2306/54/)