---
title: Sawney had so completely lost his wits, was so terrified, and was su… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Sawney had so completely lost his wits, was so terrified, and was suffering so much pain, that he neglected to improve the opportunity thus afforded, and betake himself to flight. Who acts: wits, Sawney. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jo
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 77

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Sawney had so completely lost his wits, was so terrified, and was suffering so much pain, that he neglected to improve the opportunity thus afforded, and betake himself to flight.

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**Who acts:** wits, Sawney · **What happens:** lose, be, suffer, neglect, not improve, afford · **To what, where:** Sawney, much pain, opportunity

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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 (wits, Sawney), 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:pg76586:13:77
# text = Sawney had so completely lost his wits, was so terrified, and was suffering so much pain, that he neglected to improve the opportunity thus afforded, and betake himself to flight.
1	Sawney	Sawney	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	advcl	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	wits	wit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	terrified	terrified	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	suffering	suffer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	conj	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	neglected	neglect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	improve	improve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	xcomp	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	opportunity	opportunity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
28	afforded	afford	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	betake	betake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	conj	_	_
32	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	31	obj	_	_
33	to	to	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	flight	flight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past · perfect · passive |  | Sawney |  |  |  | completely *property* | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | past | Sawney's wits |  |  |  |  | terrified *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **suffer** | past · progressive | Sawney's wits *not said here* | much pain |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer pain=Stimulus |
| 4 | **neglect** | past | Sawney |  |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 5 | **not** **improve** | to-infinitive | Sawney *not said here* | the opportunity |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent opportunity=Patient |
| 6 | **afford** | participle |  | the opportunity *not said here* |  |  |  | thus *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **betake** | infinitive | Sawney *not said here* | Sawney |  |  |  | to flight | 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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