---
title: While snapping at the hook, with its irritating prong, the alligator… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: While snapping at the hook, with its irritating prong, the alligator was in the end securely caught with the barb, and then came the tug of war. Who acts: alligator. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 13, with its depend
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 40

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While snapping at the hook, with its irritating prong, the alligator was in the end securely caught with the barb, and then came the tug of war.

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**Who acts:** alligator · **What happens:** snap, be, catch, come, tug · **To what, where:** hook, end, tug, war

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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 (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:pg76586:13:40
# text = While snapping at the hook, with its irritating prong, the alligator was in the end securely caught with the barb, and then came the tug of war.
1	While	while	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	snapping	snap	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	26	advcl	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	hook	hook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	irritating	irritating	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	prong	prong	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
18	securely	securely	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	acl	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	barb	barb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
25	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	26	advmod	_	_
26	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	tug	tug	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	26	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **snap** | gerund |  |  |  | the hook |  | with hook's irritating prong | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at hook=Location |
| 2 | **is** | past | the alligator |  |  |  | in the end |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **catch** | participle |  | the end *not said here* |  |  |  | with the barb; securely *property* | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **come** | past |  | the tug of war |  |  | then |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location tug=Theme |
| 5 | **tug** |  |  | war |  |  |  |  | nom tug «act transitive»: of=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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