Exam question 3 · Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the term "lǎowài"?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: term

This is exam question 3 of lesson 24 «Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 term	det
10	term	term	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	"	"	PUNCT	_	12 lǎowài	punct
12	lǎowài	lǎowài	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 term	appos
13	"	"	PUNCT	_	12 lǎowài	punct
14	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the term				of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules

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

A colloquial word for a foreigner, mostly without malice

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 word	det
2	colloquial	colloquial	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 word	compound
3	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	for	for	ADP	_	6 foreigner	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 foreigner	det
6	foreigner	foreigner	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 word	nmod
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 malice	punct
8	mostly	mostly	ADV	_	10 malice	advmod
9	without	without	ADP	_	10 malice	case
10	malice	malice	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 word	conj

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 2

It denotes an elderly relative

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 denotes	nsubj
2	denotes	denote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 relative	det
4	elderly	elderly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 relative	amod
5	relative	relative	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj

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

Option 3

It is a grave racial slur, invariably intended to wound the hearer

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 slur	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 slur	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 slur	det
4	grave	grave	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 slur	amod
5	racial	racial	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 slur	amod
6	slur	slur	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 intended	punct
8	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	9 intended	advmod
9	intended	intend	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 slur	acl
10	to	to	PART	_	11 wound	mark
11	wound	wound	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 intended	xcomp
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 hearer	det
13	hearer	hearer	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 wound	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a grave racial slur		tree rules
2	intend	participle		a grave racial slur not said here	invariably property	vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	wound not said to happen	to-infinitive		the hearer		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus hearer=Experiencer

Option 4

It is a formal diplomatic title

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 title	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 title	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 title	det
4	formal	formal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 title	amod
5	diplomatic	diplomatic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 title	amod
6	title	title	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a formal diplomatic title					tree rules

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/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/e3/