Exam question 1 · Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of accents in written French?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, write · To what, where: function

This is exam question 1 of lesson 3 «Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends» of the French 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 function	det
10	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 accents	case
12	accents	accent	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 function	nmod
13	in	in	ADP	_	15 French	case
14	written	write	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 French	amod
15	French	French	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 accents	nmod
16	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the function of accents in written French	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	write	participle			vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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

They are employed solely upon words borrowed from English

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 employed	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 employed	aux:pass
3	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	solely	solely	ADV	_	3 employed	advmod
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	6 words	case
6	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 employed	obl
7	borrowed	borrow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 words	acl
8	from	from	ADP	_	9 English	case
9	English	English	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 borrowed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present · passive		They				upon words; solely property	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	borrow	participle		words not said here		English			vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent from english=Source

Option 2

They indicate exclusively that a syllable is to be stressed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 indicate	nsubj
2	indicate	indicate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	_	2 indicate	advmod
4	that	that	SCONJ	_	10 stressed	mark
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 syllable	det
6	syllable	syllable	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 stressed	nsubj:pass
7	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 stressed	aux:pass
8	to	to	PART	_	10 stressed	mark
9	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	10 stressed	aux:pass
10	stressed	stress	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 indicate	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	indicate	present	They					exclusively property	vn indicate-78-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot
2	stress	present · passive		a syllable					vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

They form an integral part of the spelling and may alter sound or meaning

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 form	nsubj
2	form	form	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 part	det
4	integral	integral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 part	amod
5	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 form	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 spelling	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 spelling	det
8	spelling	spelling	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 part	nmod
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 alter	cc
10	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	11 alter	aux
11	alter	alter	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 form	conj
12	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 alter	obj
13	or	or	CCONJ	_	14 meaning	cc
14	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 sound	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	form	present	They	a integral part of the spelling					vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location part=Theme
2	alter	may	They not said here	sound or meaning					vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent sound=Patient

Option 4

They are purely decorative and may be omitted without consequence

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 decorative	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 decorative	cop
3	purely	purely	ADV	_	4 decorative	advmod
4	decorative	decorative	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 omitted	cc
6	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 omitted	aux
7	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	8 omitted	aux:pass
8	omitted	omit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 decorative	conj
9	without	without	ADP	_	10 consequence	case
10	consequence	consequence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 omitted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	They					decorative, purely property	tree rules
2	omit	may · passive	They not said here					without consequence	vn neglect-75.1-1 «NP V S_INF»

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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