Test 5 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…
★★ A Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye and letters. Why did the alphabet spread so fast?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: ★, alphabet · What happens: ★, spread · To what, where: Phoenician ship sails, Carthage, Tyre
This is test 5 · ★★ of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» 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 Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye and letters.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ★ | ★ | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 ★ | nsubj |
| 2 | ★ | ★ | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 sails | det |
| 4 | Phoenician | phoenician | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 sails | amod |
| 5 | ship | ship | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 sails | compound |
| 6 | sails | sail | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 ★ | obj |
| 7 | from | from | ADP | _ | 8 Tyre | case |
| 8 | Tyre | tyre | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 ★ | obl |
| 9 | to | to | ADP | _ | 10 Carthage | case |
| 10 | Carthage | Carthage | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 ★ | obl |
| 11 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 Greece | cc |
| 12 | Greece | Greece | PROPN | Number=Sing | 10 Carthage | conj |
| 13 | with | with | ADP | _ | 14 dye | case |
| 14 | dye | dye | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 ★ | obl |
| 15 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 16 letters | cc |
| 16 | letters | letter | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 dye | conj |
| 17 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 ★ | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ★ | present | ★ | a Phoenician ship sails | Carthage and Greece | Tyre | with dye and letters | 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.
Sentence 2: Why did the alphabet spread so fast?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Why | why | ADV | PronType=Int | 5 spread | advmod |
| 2 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 spread | aux |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 alphabet | det |
| 4 | alphabet | alphabet | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 spread | nsubj |
| 5 | spread | spread | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | so | so | ADV | _ | 7 fast | advmod |
| 7 | fast | fast | ADV | Degree=Pos | 5 spread | advmod |
| 8 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 spread | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | spread | past · do-support | the alphabet | fast property | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
The Phoenicians fought wars to make everyone use it
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 Phoenicians | det |
| 2 | Phoenicians | Phoenician | PROPN | Number=Plur | 3 fought | nsubj |
| 3 | fought | fight | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | wars | war | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 fought | obj |
| 5 | to | to | PART | _ | 6 make | mark |
| 6 | make | make | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 fought | advcl |
| 7 | everyone | everyone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Tot | 6 make | obj |
| 8 | use | use | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 6 make | xcomp |
| 9 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 use | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fight | past | the Phoenicians | wars | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent war=Co-Agent | ||||
| 2 | make | to-infinitive | the Phoenicians not said here | everyone | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | use | infinitive | everyone not said here | it | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
Option 2 · ✓ the right answer
Traders sailed everywhere and needed a quick, easy way to write
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Traders | trader | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 sailed | nsubj |
| 2 | sailed | sail | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | everywhere | everywhere | ADV | PronType=Tot | 2 sailed | advmod |
| 4 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 5 needed | cc |
| 5 | needed | need | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 sailed | conj |
| 6 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 way | det |
| 7 | quick | quick | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 way | amod |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 quick | punct |
| 9 | easy | easy | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 way | amod |
| 10 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 needed | obj |
| 11 | to | to | PART | _ | 12 write | mark |
| 12 | write | write | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 10 way | acl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sail | past | Traders | everywhere property | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 2 | need | past | Traders not said here | a quick easy way | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot way=Theme | ||||
| 3 | write | to-infinitive | Traders not said here | a quick easy way not said here | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
Option 3
It was carved on the ships so everybody saw it
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 carved | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 carved | aux:pass |
| 3 | carved | carve | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | on | on | ADP | _ | 6 ships | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 ships | det |
| 6 | ships | ship | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 carved | obl |
| 7 | so | so | ADV | _ | 9 saw | advmod |
| 8 | everybody | everybody | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Tot | 9 saw | nsubj |
| 9 | saw | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 carved | advcl |
| 10 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 9 saw | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | carve | past · passive | It | the ships | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme on ship=Destination | ||||
| 2 | see | past | everybody | it | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
Option 4
Every king ordered his people to learn it in one day
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 2 king | det |
| 2 | king | king | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 ordered | nsubj |
| 3 | ordered | order | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 people | nmod:poss |
| 5 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 ordered | obj |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 learn | mark |
| 7 | learn | learn | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 ordered | advcl |
| 8 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 learn | obj |
| 9 | in | in | ADP | _ | 11 day | case |
| 10 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 11 day | nummod |
| 11 | day | day | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 learn | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | order | past | every king | king's people | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Theme | ||||
| 2 | learn | to-infinitive | every king not said here | it | day | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |
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/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/t5/