Exam question 3 · The four tones: same sound, different meaning

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the pair mǎi and mài.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern · To what, where: response, pair mǎi

This is exam question 3 of lesson 2 «The four tones: same sound, different meaning» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	xcomp
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 facts	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 mǎi	det
11	pair	pair	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 mǎi	compound
12	mǎi	mǎi	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 concerning	obj
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 mài	cc
14	mài	mài	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 mǎi	conj
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response	consistent property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the pair mǎi and mài		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus mǎi=Experiencer

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.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The dipping form denotes purchasing, whereas the falling form denotes selling

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 form	det
2	dipping	dip	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 form	amod
3	form	form	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 denotes	nsubj
4	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	purchasing	purchase	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	4 denotes	xcomp
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 denotes	punct
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	11 denotes	mark
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 form	det
9	falling	fall	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 form	amod
10	form	form	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 denotes	nsubj
11	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 denotes	conj
12	selling	sell	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 denotes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	roles by
1	dip	gerund		vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	denote	present	the dipping form	vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
3	purchase	gerund	the dipping form not said here	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset
4	fall	gerund		vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme
5	denote	present	the falling form	vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot
6	sell	gerund		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent

Option 2

The dipping form denotes selling, whereas the falling form denotes purchasing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 form	det
2	dipping	dip	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 form	amod
3	form	form	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 denotes	nsubj
4	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	selling	sell	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 denotes	xcomp
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 denotes	punct
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	11 denotes	mark
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 form	det
9	falling	fall	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 form	amod
10	form	form	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 denotes	nsubj
11	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 denotes	conj
12	purchasing	purchase	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 denotes	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	roles by
1	dip	gerund		vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	denote	present	the dipping form	vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
3	sell	gerund	the dipping form not said here	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent
4	fall	gerund		vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme
5	denote	present	the falling form	vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
6	purchase	gerund	the falling form not said here	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset

Option 3

Both forms denote purchasing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	2 forms	det
2	forms	form	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 denote	nsubj
3	denote	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	purchasing	purchase	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 denote	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	both forms						vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
2	purchase	gerund	both forms not said here						vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset

Option 4

Both forms denote scolding

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	2 forms	det
2	forms	form	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 denote	nsubj
3	denote	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	scolding	scolding	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 denote	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	both forms	scolding					vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot scolding=Topic

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.

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