Exam question 2 · Slang and how it changes with every generation

Identify the principal reason for which slang terms are frequently abandoned by younger speakers.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, younger speakers · What happens: identify, abandon · To what, where: principal reason, slang terms

This is exam question 2 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 abandoned	obl
7	slang	slang	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 terms	compound
8	terms	term	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 abandoned	nsubj:pass
9	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 abandoned	aux:pass
10	frequently	frequently	ADV	_	11 abandoned	advmod
11	abandoned	abandon	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 reason	acl:relcl
12	by	by	ADP	_	14 speakers	case
13	younger	young	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	14 speakers	amod
14	speakers	speaker	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 abandoned	obl
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	abandon	present · passive	younger speakers	slang terms				for the principal reason; frequently property	vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial_location»: agent=Theme subject=Source

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

Their prohibition by national dictionaries after a fixed period

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 prohibition	nmod:poss
2	prohibition	prohibition	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	by	by	ADP	_	5 dictionaries	case
4	national	national	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 dictionaries	amod
5	dictionaries	dictionary	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 prohibition	nmod
6	after	after	ADP	_	9 period	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 period	det
8	fixed	fix	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 period	amod
9	period	period	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 dictionaries	nmod

#	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	prohibit		national dictionaries after a fixed period	Their = they					nom prohibition «communication transitive»: poss=patient by=agent

Option 2

Their replacement by official decree each year

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 replacement	nmod:poss
2	replacement	replacement	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	by	by	ADP	_	5 decree	case
4	official	official	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 decree	amod
5	decree	decree	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 replacement	nmod
6	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	7 year	det
7	year	year	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 replacement	nmod:unmarked

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	replace		official decree	Their = they					nom replacement «act transitive»: poss=patient by=agent

Option 3

Their physical deterioration through excessive use

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 deterioration	nmod:poss
2	physical	physical	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 deterioration	amod
3	deterioration	deterioration	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	through	through	ADP	_	6 use	case
5	excessive	excessive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 use	amod
6	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 deterioration	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	deteriorate		Their = they			excessive use			nom deterioration «state intransitive»: poss=agent through=place

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Their adoption by older speakers diminishes their value as markers of a group

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 adoption	nmod:poss
2	adoption	adoption	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 diminishes	nsubj
3	by	by	ADP	_	5 speakers	case
4	older	old	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	5 speakers	amod
5	speakers	speaker	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 adoption	nmod
6	diminishes	diminish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 value	nmod:poss
8	value	value	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 diminishes	obj
9	as	as	ADP	_	10 markers	case
10	markers	marker	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 diminishes	obl
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 group	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 group	det
13	group	group	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 markers	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	diminish	present	Their adoption by older speakers	speakers's value	as markers of a group	vn caused_calibratable_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer value=Patient
2	adopt		older speakers	Their = they		nom adoption «act transitive»: poss=patient by=agent
3	value		speakers = speaker			nom value «cognition transitive»: poss=agent

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/e2/