Exam question 1 · Slang and how it changes with every generation

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the phenomenon of slang?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: phenomenon

This is exam question 1 of lesson 17 «Slang and how it changes with every generation» 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	of	of	ADP	_	12 slang	case
12	slang	slang	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 phenomenon	nmod
13	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the phenomenon of slang				of the following statements; accurately property	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.

The options

Option 1

Vocabulary of fixed meaning which never alters over time

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Vocabulary	vocabulary	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	of	of	ADP	_	4 meaning	case
3	fixed	fix	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 meaning	amod
4	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Vocabulary	nmod
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 alters	nsubj
6	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	7 alters	advmod
7	alters	alter	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Vocabulary	acl:relcl
8	over	over	ADP	_	9 time	case
9	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 alters	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fix	participle							vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient
2	not alter	present	Vocabulary of fixed meaning				time		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

The technical language of scientists and lawyers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 language	det
2	technical	technical	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 language	amod
3	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 scientists	case
5	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 language	nmod
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 lawyers	cc
7	lawyers	lawyer	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 scientists	conj

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Informal vocabulary of a particular group or period, subject to rapid change

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Informal	informal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 vocabulary	amod
2	vocabulary	vocabulary	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 group	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 group	det
5	particular	particular	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 group	amod
6	group	group	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 vocabulary	nmod
7	or	or	CCONJ	_	8 period	cc
8	period	period	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 group	conj
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 subject	punct
10	subject	subject	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 group	appos
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 change	case
12	rapid	rapid	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 change	amod
13	change	change	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 subject	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 4

Vocabulary prohibited from use in every circumstance by schools and courts

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Vocabulary	Vocabulary	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 prohibited	nsubj
2	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	from	from	ADP	_	4 use	case
4	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 prohibited	obl
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 circumstance	case
6	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	7 circumstance	det
7	circumstance	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 prohibited	obl
8	by	by	ADP	_	9 schools	case
9	schools	school	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 prohibited	obl
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 courts	cc
11	courts	court	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 schools	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prohibit	past	Vocabulary			use		in every circumstance; by schools and courts	vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer from use=Eventuality

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/17-slang-and-how-it-changes-with-every-generation/e1/