---
title: Ascending backward three of the steps, and quickly placing his right… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascending backward three of the steps, and quickly placing his right foot upon John’s shoulder, so as to keep him below and thus obtain an additional purchase, with one supreme effort he succeeded in compassing his purpose. Who acts: Ascending, John. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 14

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Ascending backward three of the steps, and quickly placing his right foot upon John’s shoulder, so as to keep him below and thus obtain an additional purchase, with one supreme effort he succeeded in compassing his purpose.

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**Who acts:** Ascending, John · **What happens:** ascend, place, keep, obtain, succeed, compass · **To what, where:** three, right foot, shoulder, John, additional purchase, one supreme effort

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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 (Ascending, John), 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:pg76586:13:14
# text = Ascending backward three of the steps, and quickly placing his right foot upon John’s shoulder, so as to keep him below and thus obtain an additional purchase, with one supreme effort he succeeded in compassing his purpose.
1	Ascending	ascend	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	22	csubj	_	_
2	backward	backward	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	placing	place	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	conj	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
12	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
14	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	John	John	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	’s	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	shoulder	shoulder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
19	so	so	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
20	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
23	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	_
24	below	below	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	obtain	obtain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	conj	_	_
28	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	additional	additional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	purchase	purchase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
32	with	with	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
33	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	35	nummod	_	_
34	supreme	supreme	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	effort	effort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	conj	_	_
36	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
37	succeeded	succeed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	acl:relcl	_	_
38	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	39	mark	_	_
39	compassing	compass	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	37	advcl	_	_
40	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	41	nmod:poss	_	_
41	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	22	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascend** | gerund |  | three of the steps |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme three=Trajectory |
| 2 | **place** | gerund |  | John's right foot |  | John's shoulder |  | quickly *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent foot=Theme upon shoulder=Destination |
| 3 | **keep** | to-infinitive | Ascending | John |  |  |  | below *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 4 | **obtain** | present | Ascending *not said here* | a additional purchase |  |  |  | one supreme effort *conj*; thus *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset purchase=Theme |
| 5 | **succeed** | past | John | one supreme effort *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **compass** | gerund | John *not said here* | John's purpose |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **purpose** |  | John |  |  |  |  |  | nom purpose «cognition intransitive»: 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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