Exam question 2 · Author's choices: why this word, why this way

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of italic type in the sentence «*Don't look back,* she told herself»?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: she · What happens: follow, characteris, not look back, tell · To what, where: function, sentence, herself · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 2 of lesson 21 «Author's choices: why this word, why this way» of the English 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	1 Which	nmod
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 function	det
10	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 type	case
12	italic	italic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 type	amod
13	type	type	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 function	nmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	16 sentence	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 sentence	det
16	sentence	sentence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obl
17	«	«	PUNCT	_	21 look	punct
18	*	*	PUNCT	_	21 look	punct
19	Do	do	AUX	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	21 look	aux
20	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	21 look	advmod
21	look	look	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 characterises	parataxis
22	back	back	ADV	_	21 look	advmod
23	,	,	PUNCT	_	26 told	punct
24	*	*	PUNCT	_	26 told	punct
25	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	26 told	nsubj
26	told	tell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	21 look	parataxis
27	herself	herself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	26 told	obj
28	»	»	PUNCT	_	21 look	punct
29	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the function of italic type	the sentence	accurately property	tree rules
3	not look back in a quote	infinitive · do-support					vn stimulus_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus
4	tell speech: assert in a quote	past	she	herself = she			vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent herself=Recipient

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

It denotes that the words are borrowed from a foreign language and should be pronounced accordingly

The tree, 16 words

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	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 borrowed	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 words	det
5	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 borrowed	nsubj:pass
6	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 borrowed	aux:pass
7	borrowed	borrow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 denotes	advcl
8	from	from	ADP	_	11 language	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 language	det
10	foreign	foreign	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 language	amod
11	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 borrowed	obl
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 pronounced	cc
13	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	15 pronounced	aux
14	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	15 pronounced	aux:pass
15	pronounced	pronounce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 borrowed	conj
16	accordingly	accordingly	ADV	_	15 pronounced	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It				vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot
2	borrow	present · passive		the words	a foreign language		vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from language=Source
3	pronounce	should · passive				accordingly property	vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»

Option 2

It denotes shouting

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	shouting	shout	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 denotes	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It						vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
2	shout speech: express	gerund							vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

It denotes an error

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	4 error	det
4	error	error	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj

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

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

It denotes the character's private thoughts

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	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 character	det
4	character	character	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 thoughts	nmod:poss
5	's	's	PART	_	4 character	case
6	private	private	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 thoughts	amod
7	thoughts	thought	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 denotes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It	the character's private thoughts					vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot thought=Topic
2	think		the character						nom thought «cognition transitive»: poss=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/english/21-authors-choices-why-this-word-why-this-way/e2/