Exam question 3 · Is there one proper English? The big arguments

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the regulation of the English language.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern, regulate · To what, where: response, regulation, English language

This is exam question 3 of lesson 20 «Is there one proper English? The big arguments» 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	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	xcomp
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 facts	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 regulation	det
11	regulation	regulation	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 concerning	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	15 language	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 language	det
14	English	English	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 language	amod
15	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 regulation	nmod
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response	consistent property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the regulation of the English language		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus regulation=Experiencer
4	regulate			the English language		nom regulation «communication 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

An academy in London determines all permissible words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 academy	det
2	academy	academy	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 determines	nsubj
3	in	in	ADP	_	4 London	case
4	London	London	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 academy	nmod
5	determines	determine	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	8 words	det
7	permissible	permissible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 words	amod
8	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 determines	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	determine	present	a academy in London	all permissible words					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Topic

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

No official body governs English; dictionaries record usage

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	No	no	DET	PronType=Neg	3 body	det
2	official	official	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 body	amod
3	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 governs	nsubj
4	governs	govern	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	English	English	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 governs	obj
6	;	;	PUNCT	_	8 record	punct
7	dictionaries	dictionary	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 record	nsubj
8	record	record	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 governs	conj
9	usage	usage	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 record	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	govern	present	no official body	English					vn supervision-95.2.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent english=Theme
2	record	present	dictionaries	usage					vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent usage=Theme

Option 3

The BBC is empowered by statute to prohibit words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 BBC	det
2	BBC	BBC	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 empowered	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 empowered	aux:pass
4	empowered	empower	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 statute	case
6	statute	statute	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 empowered	obl
7	to	to	PART	_	8 prohibit	mark
8	prohibit	prohibit	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 empowered	advcl
9	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 prohibit	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	empower	present · passive	statute	the BBC					tree rules
2	prohibit	to-infinitive	statute not said here	words					vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer word=Theme

Option 4

Parliament publishes an annual list of approved words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Parliament	parliament	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 publishes	nsubj
2	publishes	publish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 list	det
4	annual	annual	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 list	amod
5	list	list	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 publishes	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 words	case
7	approved	approve	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 words	amod
8	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 list	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	publish	present	Parliament	a annual list of approved words	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent list=Result
2	approve	participle			vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer
3	list			approved words	nom list «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/20-is-there-one-proper-english/e3/