---
title: Instead of getting out upon the bank, which he could readily have do… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Instead of getting out upon the bank, which he could readily have done, he paused, and began to parley with what, in the darkness, he conceived to be a “sperit.” Who acts: middle. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 13, w
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 71

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Instead of getting out upon the bank, which he could readily have done, he paused, and began to parley with what, in the darkness, he conceived to be a “sperit.”

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**Who acts:** middle · **What happens:** get out, do, pause, begin, conceive, be · **To what, where:** bank, parley, sperit · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (middle), 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:pg76586:13:71
# text = Instead of getting out upon the bank, which he could readily have done, he paused, and began to parley with what, in the darkness, he conceived to be a “sperit.”
1	Instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=SCONJ	3	mark	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	1	fixed	_	_
3	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	17	advcl	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obj	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	aux	_	_
14	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	paused	pause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	parley	parley	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	xcomp	_	_
23	with	with	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
30	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
31	conceived	conceive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
33	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	cop	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
35	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	sperit	sperit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get out** | gerund | middle *not said here* |  |  |  |  | upon the bank | vn withdraw-82-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | could · perfect | middle | the bank |  |  |  | readily *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Eventuality |
| 3 | **pause** | past | middle |  |  |  |  |  | vn linger-53.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **begin** | past | middle *not said here* | parley |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 5 | **conceive** | past | middle |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **is a** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | middle *not said here* | a sperit |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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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