---
title: In the confusion which ensued, and amid the struggles and yells of t… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: In the confusion which ensued, and amid the struggles and yells of the negro, the alligator for the moment relaxed its hold, and was attracted by the fallen bag, which it tore in pieces. Who acts: fallen bag, negro, ALLIGATOR. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 76

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In the confusion which ensued, and amid the struggles and yells of the negro, the alligator for the moment relaxed its hold, and was attracted by the fallen bag, which it tore in pieces.

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**Who acts:** fallen bag, negro, ALLIGATOR · **What happens:** ensue, relax, attract, fall, tore, yell · **To what, where:** amid, confusion, alligator, pieces

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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 (fallen bag, negro, 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:pg76586:13:76
# text = In the confusion which ensued, and amid the struggles and yells of the negro, the alligator for the moment relaxed its hold, and was attracted by the fallen bag, which it tore in pieces.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	confusion	confusion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ensued	ensue	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	amid	amid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	struggles	struggle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	yells	yell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	negro	negro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
22	relaxed	relax	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
23	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	hold	hold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	attracted	attract	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	22	conj	_	_
29	by	by	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	32	amod	_	_
32	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
34	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj	_	_
35	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
36	tore	tore	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	acl:relcl	_	_
37	in	in	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ensue** | past |  | amid  the struggles and yells of the negro |  | the confusion |  | which *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 2 | **relax** | past |  | the alligator |  |  | moment | ALLIGATOR's hold *obj* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus hold=Experiencer |
| 3 | **attract** | past · passive |  |  |  |  |  | by the fallen bag | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP» |
| 4 | **fall** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **tore** | past | the fallen bag |  |  | pieces |  | hold *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 6 | **yell** |  | the negro |  |  |  |  |  | nom yell «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
| 7 | **hold** |  | ALLIGATOR |  |  |  |  |  | nom hold «act transitive»: 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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