Exam question 4 · What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares

In respect of the alteration of a speaker's manner of speech according to the person addressed, which statement is most accurate?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · What happens: accord, address, be, respect, alter · To what, where: person, respect, alteration, manner

This is exam question 4 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	In	in	ADP	_	2 respect	case
2	respect	respect	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 accurate	obl
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 alteration	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 alteration	det
5	alteration	alteration	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 respect	nmod
6	of	of	ADP	_	10 manner	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 speaker	det
8	speaker	speaker	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 manner	nmod:poss
9	's	's	PART	_	8 speaker	case
10	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 alteration	nmod
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 speech	case
12	speech	speech	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 manner	nmod
13	according	accord	VERB	ExtPos=ADP Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	16 person	case
14	to	to	ADP	_	13 according	fixed
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 person	det
16	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 accurate	obl
17	addressed	address	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 person	acl
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	23 accurate	punct
19	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	23 accurate	nsubj
20	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 accurate	nsubj
21	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	23 accurate	cop
22	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	23 accurate	advmod
23	accurate	accurate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
24	?	?	PUNCT	_	23 accurate	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	accord	gerund				vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent
2	address	participle	the person not said here			vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	is	present		respect of the alteration of a speaker's manner of speech	accord the person; accurate property	tree rules
4	respect		the alteration of a speaker's manner of speech			nom respect «cognition transitive»: of=patient
5	alter		a speaker's manner of speech			nom alteration «event transitive»: of=patient

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 right answer

It constitutes a recognised competence, termed the selection of register

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	2 constitutes	nsubj
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 competence	det
4	recognised	recognise	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 competence	amod
5	competence	competence	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 constitutes	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 termed	punct
7	termed	term	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 constitutes	conj
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 selection	det
9	selection	selection	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 termed	obj
10	of	of	ADP	_	11 register	case
11	register	register	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 selection	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	constitute	present	It	a recognised competence	vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme competence=Pivot
2	recognise	participle			vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer
3	term	past		the selection of register	vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent selection=Theme
4	select			register	nom selection «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

It constitutes evidence of insincerity on the part of the speaker

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	2 constitutes	nsubj
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 constitutes	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 insincerity	case
5	insincerity	insincerity	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 evidence	nmod
6	on	on	ADP	_	8 part	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 part	det
8	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 constitutes	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 speaker	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 speaker	det
11	speaker	speaker	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 part	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	constitute	present	It	evidence of insincerity		the part of the speaker			vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme evidence=Pivot
2	evidence			insincerity					nom evidence «cognition transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

It is a defect which formal instruction ought to eliminate

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	4 defect	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 defect	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 defect	det
4	defect	defect	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 eliminate	obj
6	formal	formal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 instruction	amod
7	instruction	instruction	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 eliminate	nsubj
8	ought	ought	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	10 eliminate	aux
9	to	to	PART	_	10 eliminate	mark
10	eliminate	eliminate	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 defect	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a defect					tree rules
2	eliminate	ought	formal instruction	a defect					vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Patient

Option 4

It is restricted to persons who speak more than one language

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 restricted	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 restricted	aux:pass
3	restricted	restrict	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	to	to	ADP	_	5 persons	case
5	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 restricted	obl
6	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 speak	nsubj
7	speak	speak	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 persons	acl:relcl
8	more	more	ADJ	Degree=Cmp ExtPos=ADV	10 one	advmod
9	than	than	ADP	_	8 more	fixed
10	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	11 language	nummod
11	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 speak	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	restrict	present · passive		It	persons				vn limit-76 «NP V NP S_ING»: subject=Patient to person=Goal
2	speak speech: other	present	persons	one language					tree rules

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/e4/