---
title: Comparatively few there were who could lift themselves entirely abov… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Comparatively few there were who could lift themselves entirely above the superstitious fears born in Africa and perpetuated by tradition in their new home. Who acts: few. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 13, with its 
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 13, sentence 91

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Comparatively few there were who could lift themselves entirely above the superstitious fears born in Africa and perpetuated by tradition in their new home.

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**Who acts:** few · **What happens:** be, lift, bear, perpetuate · **To what, where:** belief, superstitious fears, Africa

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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 (few), 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:pg76586:13:91
# text = Comparatively few there were who could lift themselves entirely above the superstitious fears born in Africa and perpetuated by tradition in their new home.
1	Comparatively	comparatively	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	nsubj	_	_
3	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	4	expl	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	lift	lift	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
9	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
10	above	above	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	superstitious	superstitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	fears	fear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
14	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	perpetuated	perpetuate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	conj	_	_
19	by	by	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	tradition	tradition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
23	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | comparatively, few *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lift** | could | few | belief |  | the superstitious fears |  | who *nsubj*; entirely *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent themselves=Theme above fear=Destination |
| 3 | **bear** | participle |  | the superstitious fears *not said here* |  | Africa |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **perpetuate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | by tradition in belief's new home | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent |

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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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