--- title: Nothing daunted, however, and muttering imprecations upon his unfort… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics description: Nothing daunted, however, and muttering imprecations upon his unfortunate victim, he slowly backed across the yard, drawing John after him,--who meanwhile was giving utterance to the most miserable and unearthly sounds from his bloody jaws, and attempting, with uplifted hands, to arrest the traction --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/13/12/) [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/) / [Negro myths from the Georgia coast, to…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/) / [Opening, part 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/13/) / 12 # Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 12 Nothing daunted, however, and muttering imprecations upon his unfortunate victim, he slowly backed across the yard, drawing John after him,--who meanwhile was giving utterance to the most miserable and unearthly sounds from his bloody jaws, and attempting, with uplifted hands, to arrest the traction of the resolute old man, who refused for an instant to relax his hold,--until he reached a flight of steps which led up to the main room of the smoke-house. **Who acts:** John, resolute old man, steps · **What happens:** daunt, mutter, back, draw, give, attempt · **To what, where:** Nothing, imprecations, John, utterance, miserable sounds, traction 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 (John, resolute old man, steps), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg76586:13:12 # text = Nothing daunted, however, and muttering imprecations upon his unfortunate victim, he slowly backed across the yard, drawing John after him,--who meanwhile was giving utterance to the most miserable and unearthly sounds from his bloody jaws, and attempting, with uplifted hands, to arrest the traction of the resolute old man, who refused for an instant to relax his hold,--until he reached a flight of steps which led up to the main room of the smoke-house. 1 Nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 2 nsubj:pass _ _ 2 daunted daunt VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 3 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 4 however however ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 6 and and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 7 muttering mutter VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 2 advcl _ _ 8 imprecations imprecation NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 obj _ _ 9 upon upon ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 10 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 12 nmod:poss _ _ 11 unfortunate unfortunate ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 amod _ _ 12 victim victim NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 15 slowly slowly ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ _ 16 backed back VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 17 across across ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 yard yard NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 21 drawing draw VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 16 conj _ _ 22 John John PROPN NNP Number=Sing 21 obj _ _ 23 after after ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 24 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 26 -- -- PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 27 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 30 nsubj _ _ 28 meanwhile meanwhile ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 29 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 giving give VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 conj _ _ 31 utterance utterance NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obj _ _ 32 to to ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 34 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 35 advmod _ _ 35 miserable miserable ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 37 cc _ _ 37 unearthly unearthly ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 35 conj _ _ 38 sounds sound NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 obl _ _ 39 from from ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 40 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 42 nmod:poss _ _ 41 bloody bloody ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 42 amod _ _ 42 jaws jaw NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 44 and and CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 45 attempting attempt VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 46 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 47 with with ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 48 uplifted uplift VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 49 amod _ _ 49 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 50 , , PUNCT , _ 52 punct _ _ 51 to to PART TO _ 52 mark _ _ 52 arrest arrest VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 advcl _ _ 53 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 54 traction traction NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 obj _ _ 55 of of ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 56 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 59 det _ _ 57 resolute resolute ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 59 amod _ _ 58 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 59 amod _ _ 59 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 62 punct _ _ 61 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 62 nsubj _ _ 62 refused refuse VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 59 acl:relcl _ _ 63 for for ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 64 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 65 instant instant NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obl _ _ 66 to to PART TO _ 67 mark _ _ 67 relax relax VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 62 xcomp _ _ 68 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 69 nmod:poss _ _ 69 hold hold NOUN NN Number=Sing 67 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 70 , , PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 71 -- -- PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 72 until until SCONJ IN _ 74 mark _ _ 73 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 74 nsubj _ _ 74 reached reach VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 acl:relcl _ _ 75 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 76 det _ _ 76 flight flight NOUN NN Number=Sing 74 obj _ _ 77 of of ADP IN _ 78 case _ _ 78 steps step NOUN NNS Number=Plur 76 nmod _ _ 79 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 80 nsubj _ _ 80 led lead VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 78 acl:relcl _ _ 81 up up ADP RP _ 80 compound:prt _ _ 82 to to ADP IN _ 85 case _ _ 83 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 85 det _ _ 84 main main ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 85 amod _ _ 85 room room NOUN NN Number=Sing 80 obl _ _ 86 of of ADP IN _ 90 case _ _ 87 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 90 det _ _ 88 smoke smoke NOUN NN Number=Sing 90 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 89 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 88 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 90 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 85 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 91 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **daunt** | participle · passive | | Nothing | | | | however *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer | | 2 | **mutter** *speech: assert* | gerund | | imprecations | | | | upon John's unfortunate victim | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent imprecation=Topic | | 3 | **back** | past | John | | | | | across the yard; slowly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme across yard=Trajectory | | 4 | **draw** | gerund | John *not said here* | John | | | after John | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent john=Theme | | 5 | **give** | past · progressive | | utterance | the miserable sounds from John's bloody jaws | | | who *nsubj*; meanwhile *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent utterance=Theme to sound=Recipient | | 6 | **attempt** | gerund | John *not said here* | | | | | with uplifted hands | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **uplift** | participle | | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 8 | **arrest** | to-infinitive | John *not said here* | the traction of the resolute old man | | | | | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent traction=Patient | | 9 | **refuse** | past | the resolute old man | | | | | for a instant | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 10 | **not** **relax** | to-infinitive | the resolute old man *not said here* | John's hold | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus hold=Experiencer | | 11 | **reach** | past | John | a flight of steps | | | | | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent flight=Theme | | 12 | **lead up** | past | steps | | | | | to the main room of the smoke house | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition to room=Patient | | 13 | **hold** | | John | | | | | | nom hold «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/13/11/) - next →: [sentence 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/13/13/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76586/13/)