Exam question 1 · What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the phenomenon designated "language"?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: phenomenon · What happens: follow, characteris, designate · To what, where: phenomenon, language

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language 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 phenomenon	det
10	phenomenon	phenomenon	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	designated	designate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 phenomenon	acl
12	"	"	PUNCT	_	13 language	punct
13	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 designated	obj
14	"	"	PUNCT	_	13 language	punct
15	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the phenomenon	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	designate	participle	the phenomenon not said here	language		vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Theme

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 written conventions observed solely by adult persons

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 conventions	det
2	written	write	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 conventions	amod
3	conventions	convention	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
4	observed	observe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 conventions	acl
5	solely	solely	ADV	_	4 observed	advmod
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 persons	case
7	adult	adult	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 persons	amod
8	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 observed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	write	participle							vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	observe	participle		the written conventions not said here				by adult persons; solely property	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent

Option 2

An inventory of words contained exclusively within printed dictionaries of the nation

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 inventory	det
2	inventory	inventory	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 words	case
4	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 inventory	nmod
5	contained	contain	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 words	acl
6	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	_	5 contained	advmod
7	within	within	ADP	_	9 dictionaries	case
8	printed	print	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 dictionaries	amod
9	dictionaries	dictionary	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 contained	obl
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 nation	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 nation	det
12	nation	nation	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 dictionaries	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	contain	participle		words not said here				within printed dictionaries of the nation; exclusively property	vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot
2	print	participle							vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

Any vocal emission produced by a human or other animal

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	3 emission	det
2	vocal	vocal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 emission	amod
3	emission	emission	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	produced	produce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 emission	acl
5	by	by	ADP	_	10 animal	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 animal	det
7	human	human	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 animal	amod
8	or	or	CCONJ	_	9 other	cc
9	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 human	conj
10	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 produced	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	produce	participle		any vocal emission not said here				by a human animal	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

A system of words and rules held in common by a community for the conveyance of meaning

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 system	det
2	system	system	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 held	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 words	case
4	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 system	nmod
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 rules	cc
6	rules	rule	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 words	conj
7	held	hold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 common	case
9	common	common	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 held	obl
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 community	case
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 community	det
12	community	community	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 held	obl
13	for	for	ADP	_	15 conveyance	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 conveyance	det
15	conveyance	conveyance	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 held	obl
16	of	of	ADP	_	17 meaning	case
17	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 conveyance	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	participle	a system of words and rules			common		by a community; for the conveyance of meaning	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in common=Location
2	convey			meaning					nom conveyance «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/language/1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules/e1/