---
title: I called one morning to see the old man, to inquire after his health… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: I called one morning to see the old man, to inquire after his health, and to ascertain whether his wants were properly supplied. Who acts: I, man. A sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 14, with its dependency tree and the p
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 14, sentence 85

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I called one morning to see the old man, to inquire after his health, and to ascertain whether his wants were properly supplied.

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**Who acts:** I, man · **What happens:** call, see, inquire, ascertain, supply, want · **To what, where:** old man, wants · **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 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, man), 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:pg76586:14:85
# text = I called one morning to see the old man, to inquire after his health, and to ascertain whether his wants were properly supplied.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	inquire	inquire	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
13	after	after	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	health	health	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
20	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	wants	want	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux:pass	_	_
24	properly	properly	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	supplied	supply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | past | I |  |  |  | morning |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | the old man |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer man=Stimulus |
| 3 | **inquire** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  | after man's health |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **ascertain** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **supply** | past · passive |  | man's wants |  |  |  | properly *property* | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Recipient |
| 6 | **want** |  | man |  |  |  |  |  | nom want «state transitive»: poss=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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