Test 4 · ★★ · Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so…
Taffy says a thin egg would be «a frog that hasn't eaten anything for years». Why is it a joke?
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Taffy, frog, egg · What happens: say, be, not eat · To what, where: thin egg, frog, anything, joke · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 88 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water» of the books course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: the test at school.
The question
Sentence 1: Taffy says a thin egg would be «a frog that hasn't eaten anything for years».
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taffy | Taffy | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 says | nsubj |
| 2 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 egg | det |
| 4 | thin | thin | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 egg | amod |
| 5 | egg | egg | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 says | obj |
| 6 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 10 frog | aux |
| 7 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 10 frog | cop |
| 8 | « | « | PUNCT | _ | 10 frog | punct |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 frog | det |
| 10 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 egg | nmod |
| 11 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 14 eaten | nsubj |
| 12 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 eaten | aux |
| 13 | n't | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 14 eaten | advmod |
| 14 | eaten | eat | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 10 frog | acl:relcl |
| 15 | anything | anything | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 14 eaten | obj |
| 16 | for | for | ADP | _ | 17 years | case |
| 17 | years | year | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 anything | nmod |
| 18 | » | » | PUNCT | _ | 14 eaten | punct |
| 19 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 says | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | present | Taffy | a thin egg | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent egg=Topic | ||||
| 2 | is a in a quote | would | a frog | tree rules | |||||
| 3 | not eat in a quote | present · perfect | a frog | anything | for years | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Patient |
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.
Sentence 2: Why is it a joke?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Why | why | ADV | PronType=Int | 5 joke | advmod |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 joke | cop |
| 3 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 5 joke | nsubj |
| 4 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 joke | det |
| 5 | joke | joke | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 6 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 joke | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | egg | a joke | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
The frog looks silly beside the egg
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 frog | det |
| 2 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 looks | nsubj |
| 3 | looks | look | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | silly | silly | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 looks | xcomp |
| 5 | beside | beside | ADP | _ | 7 egg | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 egg | det |
| 7 | egg | egg | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 looks | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | look | present | the frog | beside the egg; silly property | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent beside egg=Theme |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice
A starving frog is a silly picture for a sound, and Taffy knows Daddy will laugh at her for suggesting it
The tree, 21 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 frog | det |
| 2 | starving | starving | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 frog | compound |
| 3 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 picture | nsubj |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 picture | cop |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 picture | det |
| 6 | silly | silly | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 picture | amod |
| 7 | picture | picture | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 8 | for | for | ADP | _ | 10 sound | case |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 sound | det |
| 10 | sound | sound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 picture | nmod |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 knows | punct |
| 12 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 14 knows | cc |
| 13 | Taffy | Taffy | PROPN | Number=Sing | 14 knows | nsubj |
| 14 | knows | know | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 picture | parataxis |
| 15 | Daddy | Daddy | PROPN | Number=Sing | 17 laugh | nsubj |
| 16 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 17 laugh | aux |
| 17 | laugh | laugh | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 14 knows | ccomp |
| 18 | at | at | ADP | _ | 19 her | case |
| 19 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 laugh | obl |
| 20 | for | for | SCONJ | _ | 21 suggesting | mark |
| 21 | suggesting | suggest | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 17 laugh | advcl |
| 22 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 suggesting | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | a starving frog | a silly picture | for a sound | tree rules | |||
| 2 | know | present | Taffy | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | |||||
| 3 | laugh | future | Daddy | at Taffy | vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 4 | suggest speech: suggest | gerund | Daddy not said here | frog | vn say-37.7-1-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent it=Topic |
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
A starving frog is a silly picture for a sound
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 frog | det |
| 2 | starving | starving | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 frog | compound |
| 3 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 picture | nsubj |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 picture | cop |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 picture | det |
| 6 | silly | silly | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 picture | amod |
| 7 | picture | picture | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 8 | for | for | ADP | _ | 10 sound | case |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 sound | det |
| 10 | sound | sound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 picture | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | a starving frog | a silly picture | for a sound | tree rules |
Option 4
A starving frog is a silly picture for a sound, because the frog has nothing to do with the thin oo at all
The tree, 23 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 frog | det |
| 2 | starving | starving | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 frog | compound |
| 3 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 picture | nsubj |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 picture | cop |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 picture | det |
| 6 | silly | silly | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 picture | amod |
| 7 | picture | picture | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 8 | for | for | ADP | _ | 10 sound | case |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 sound | det |
| 10 | sound | sound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 picture | nmod |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 has | punct |
| 12 | because | because | SCONJ | _ | 15 has | mark |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 frog | det |
| 14 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 has | nsubj |
| 15 | has | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 picture | parataxis |
| 16 | nothing | nothing | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Neg | 15 has | obj |
| 17 | to | to | PART | _ | 18 do | mark |
| 18 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 16 nothing | acl |
| 19 | with | with | ADP | _ | 22 oo | case |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 22 oo | det |
| 21 | thin | thin | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 22 oo | amod |
| 22 | oo | oo | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 do | obl |
| 23 | at | at | ADP | _ | 24 all | case |
| 24 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 18 do | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | a starving frog | a silly picture | for a sound | tree rules | |||
| 2 | have | present | the frog | nothing | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Patient | ||||
| 3 | do | to-infinitive | the frog not said here | nothing not said here | all | with the thin oo | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
Text: the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (world/data/school/), as the course runner gave them to the student. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/t4/