Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing

Where an individual exclaims "Sugar!" upon suffering a misfortune, determine the principal function of the utterance.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: individual, you · What happens: exclaim, suffer, determine · To what, where: Sugar, misfortune, principal function

This is exam question 4 of lesson 38 «Soft words for hard things: rudeness and swearing» of the euphemisms 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	Where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	4 exclaims	advmod
2	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 individual	det
3	individual	individual	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 exclaims	nsubj
4	exclaims	exclaim	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 determine	advcl
5	"	"	PUNCT	_	6 Sugar	punct
6	Sugar	sugar	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 exclaims	obj
7	!	!	PUNCT	_	6 Sugar	punct
8	"	"	PUNCT	_	6 Sugar	punct
9	upon	upon	SCONJ	_	10 suffering	mark
10	suffering	suffer	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 exclaims	advcl
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 misfortune	det
12	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 suffering	obj
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 determine	punct
14	determine	determine	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 function	det
16	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 function	amod
17	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 determine	obj
18	of	of	ADP	_	20 utterance	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 utterance	det
20	utterance	utterance	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 function	nmod
21	.	.	PUNCT	_	14 determine	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	exclaim speech: express	present	a individual	Sugar	vn say-37.7-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent sugar=Topic
2	suffer	gerund	a individual not said here	a misfortune	vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer misfortune=Stimulus
3	determine	imperative	you not said here	the principal function of the utterance	vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent function=Topic

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

To report the depletion of household provisions

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 report	mark
2	report	report	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 depletion	det
4	depletion	depletion	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 report	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 provisions	case
6	household	household	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 provisions	compound
7	provisions	provision	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 depletion	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	report	to-infinitive		the depletion of household provisions					vn prosecute-33.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent depletion=Patient
2	deplete			household provisions					nom depletion «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

To request a sweetener for a beverage

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 request	mark
2	request	request	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 sweetener	det
4	sweetener	sweetener	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 request	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 beverage	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 beverage	det
7	beverage	beverage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 request	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	request	to-infinitive		a sweetener				for a beverage	vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent sweetener=Recipient

Option 3

To address a loved one affectionately

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 address	mark
2	address	address	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 one	det
4	loved	love	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 one	amod
5	one	one	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 address	obj
6	affectionately	affectionately	ADV	_	2 address	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	address	to-infinitive		a loved one				affectionately property	vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Destination
2	love	participle							vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Experiencer

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

To express vexation whilst avoiding a vulgar oath

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 express	mark
2	express	express	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	vexation	vexation	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 express	obj
4	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	_	5 avoiding	mark
5	avoiding	avoid	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 express	advcl
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 oath	det
7	vulgar	vulgar	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 oath	amod
8	oath	oath	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 avoiding	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	express	to-infinitive		vexation					vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent vexation=Theme
2	avoid	gerund		a vulgar oath					vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent oath=Location

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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