Test 6 · ★★ · Ancient Egypt: pyramids, mummies and hieroglyphs
A sign is shaped like a bird but stands for a sound. Is that possible in hieroglyphs?
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: that · What happens: shape, stand, be · To what, where: sign, hieroglyphs
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 6 «Ancient Egypt: pyramids, mummies and hieroglyphs» of the history course of Mova's primary school. 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
Sentence 1: A sign is shaped like a bird but stands for a sound.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 sign | det |
| 2 | sign | sign | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 shaped | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 shaped | aux:pass |
| 4 | shaped | shape | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | like | like | ADP | _ | 7 bird | case |
| 6 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 bird | det |
| 7 | bird | bird | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 shaped | obl |
| 8 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 9 stands | cc |
| 9 | stands | stand | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 shaped | conj |
| 10 | for | for | ADP | _ | 12 sound | case |
| 11 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 12 sound | det |
| 12 | sound | sound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 stands | obl |
| 13 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 shaped | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | shape | present · passive | a sign | like a bird | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product | ||||
| 2 | stand | present | for a sound | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for sound=Attribute |
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.
Sentence 2: Is that possible in hieroglyphs?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 possible | cop |
| 2 | that | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 possible | nsubj |
| 3 | possible | possible | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | in | in | ADP | _ | 5 hieroglyphs | case |
| 5 | hieroglyphs | hieroglyph | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 possible | obl |
| 6 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 3 possible | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | that | hieroglyphs | possible property | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
Yes, but only on Tuesdays
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 6 Tuesdays | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 Yes | punct |
| 3 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 6 Tuesdays | cc |
| 4 | only | only | ADV | _ | 6 Tuesdays | advmod |
| 5 | on | on | ADP | _ | 6 Tuesdays | case |
| 6 | Tuesdays | Tuesday | PROPN | Number=Plur | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 2
No, every sign was just a picture of a thing
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | INTJ | Polarity=Neg | 8 picture | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 No | punct |
| 3 | every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 4 sign | det |
| 4 | sign | sign | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 picture | nsubj |
| 5 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 picture | cop |
| 6 | just | just | ADV | _ | 8 picture | advmod |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 picture | det |
| 8 | picture | picture | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 9 | of | of | ADP | _ | 11 thing | case |
| 10 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 11 thing | det |
| 11 | thing | thing | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 picture | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | past | every sign | a picture | of a thing | tree rules |
Option 3
No, hieroglyphs had no birds
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | INTJ | Polarity=Neg | 3 hieroglyphs | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 No | punct |
| 3 | hieroglyphs | hieroglyph | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 had | nsubj |
| 4 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 6 birds | det |
| 6 | birds | bird | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 had | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | have | past | hieroglyphs | no birds | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Patient |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
Yes, many signs stood for sounds like letters
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 5 stood | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 stood | punct |
| 3 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 signs | amod |
| 4 | signs | sign | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 stood | nsubj |
| 5 | stood | stand | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | for | for | ADP | _ | 7 sounds | case |
| 7 | sounds | sound | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 stood | obl |
| 8 | like | like | ADP | _ | 9 letters | case |
| 9 | letters | letter | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 sounds | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | stand | past | many signs | for sounds like letters | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for sound=Attribute |
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/history/6-ancient-egypt-pyramids-mummies-and-hieroglyphs/t6/