Exam question 2 · Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the ending -cian?

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

This is exam question 2 of lesson 8 «Endings that sound like «shun»: -tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian» 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	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	12 cian	det
10	ending	ending	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 cian	compound
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	12 cian	punct
12	cian	cian	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
13	?	?	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 ending cian				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

It denotes a person's occupation and is formed from a root terminating in c

The tree, 15 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	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 person	det
4	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 occupation	nmod:poss
5	's	's	PART	_	4 person	case
6	occupation	occupation	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 formed	cc
8	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 formed	aux:pass
9	formed	form	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 denotes	conj
10	from	from	ADP	_	12 root	case
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 root	det
12	root	root	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 formed	obl
13	terminating	terminate	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	12 root	acl
14	in	in	ADP	_	15 c	case
15	c	c	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 terminating	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	denote	present	It	a person's occupation		vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot occupation=Topic
2	form	present · passive			a root	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»
3	terminate	gerund	a root not said here		c	vn stop-55.4-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
4	occupy		a person			nom occupation «act transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2

It denotes an action or a process and is invariably formed from a root terminating in the letter t

The tree, 19 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	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 action	det
4	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 denotes	obj
5	or	or	CCONJ	_	7 process	cc
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 process	det
7	process	process	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 action	conj
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 formed	cc
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 formed	aux:pass
10	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	11 formed	advmod
11	formed	form	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 denotes	conj
12	from	from	ADP	_	14 root	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 root	det
14	root	root	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 formed	obl
15	terminating	terminate	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 root	acl
16	in	in	ADP	_	19 t	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 t	det
18	letter	letter	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 t	compound
19	t	t	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 terminating	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	denote	present	It	a action or a process			vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot action=Topic
2	form	present · passive			a root	invariably property	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»
3	terminate	gerund	a root not said here		the letter t		vn stop-55.4-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality

Option 3

It is an obsolete spelling no longer in use

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	5 spelling	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 spelling	cop
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 spelling	det
4	obsolete	obsolete	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 spelling	compound
5	spelling	spelling	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	no	no	ADV	_	7 longer	advmod
7	longer	long	ADV	Degree=Cmp	5 spelling	advmod
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 use	case
9	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 spelling	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a obsolete spelling		use		long property	tree rules

Option 4

It is employed in all words of more than three syllables

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	3 employed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 employed	aux:pass
3	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 words	case
5	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	6 words	det
6	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 employed	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	11 syllables	case
8	more	more	ADJ	Degree=Cmp ExtPos=ADV	10 three	advmod
9	than	than	ADP	_	8 more	fixed
10	three	three	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	11 syllables	nummod
11	syllables	syllable	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 words	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present · passive		It		all words of three syllables			vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	word			three syllables					nom word «communication transitive»: of=patient

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/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/e2/