Exam question 1 · Yes and no — there is no single word

Identify the principal manner in which affirmative replies are formed in Mandarin.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, form · To what, where: principal manner, affirmative replies

This is exam question 1 of lesson 4 «Yes and no — there is no single word» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 manner	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 manner	amod
4	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	in	in	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 formed	obl
7	affirmative	affirmative	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 replies	amod
8	replies	reply	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 formed	nsubj:pass
9	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 formed	aux:pass
10	formed	form	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 manner	acl:relcl
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 Mandarin	case
12	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 formed	obl
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal manner					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent manner=Theme
2	form	present · passive		affirmative replies		the principal manner		in Mandarin	vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme

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

Affirmation is expressed solely by gesture

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Affirmation	affirmation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 expressed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 expressed	aux:pass
3	expressed	express	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	solely	solely	ADV	_	3 expressed	advmod
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 gesture	case
6	gesture	gesture	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 expressed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	express	present · passive	gesture	Affirmation				solely property	vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 2

A single invariable word signifying «yes» is employed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 word	det
2	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 word	amod
3	invariable	invariable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 word	amod
4	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 employed	nsubj:pass
5	signifying	signify	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	4 word	acl
6	«	«	PUNCT	_	7 yes	punct
7	yes	yes	INTJ	Polarity=Pos	5 signifying	discourse
8	»	»	PUNCT	_	7 yes	punct
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 employed	aux:pass
10	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	signify	gerund	a single invariable word not said here						vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot
2	employ	present · passive		a single invariable word					vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 3

The question is repeated with rising intonation

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 question	det
2	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 repeated	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 repeated	aux:pass
4	repeated	repeat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 intonation	case
6	rising	rise	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	7 intonation	amod
7	intonation	intonation	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 repeated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	repeat	present · passive		the question				with rising intonation	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.subeventuality»: subject=Eventuality with intonation=Subeventuality
2	rise	gerund							vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The verb of the question is repeated in the reply

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 verb	det
2	verb	verb	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 repeated	nsubj:pass
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 question	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 question	det
5	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 verb	nmod
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 repeated	aux:pass
7	repeated	repeat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 reply	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 reply	det
10	reply	reply	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 repeated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	repeat	present · passive		the verb of the question		the reply			vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality

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/4-yes-and-no/e1/