Test 7 · Words that changed their meaning
In a cartoon a detective says "a clue is a ball of thread, obviously." Could that ever have been right?
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: detective, clue, that · What happens: say, be · To what, where: cartoon, ball · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 7 of lesson 38 «Words that changed their meaning» of the language course of Mova's primary school. 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
Sentence 1: In a cartoon a detective says "a clue is a ball of thread, obviously."
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In | in | ADP | _ | 3 cartoon | case |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 cartoon | det |
| 3 | cartoon | cartoon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 says | obl |
| 4 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 detective | det |
| 5 | detective | detective | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 says | nsubj |
| 6 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 12 ball | punct |
| 8 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 clue | det |
| 9 | clue | clue | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 ball | nsubj |
| 10 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 12 ball | cop |
| 11 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 12 ball | det |
| 12 | ball | ball | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 says | ccomp |
| 13 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 thread | case |
| 14 | thread | thread | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 ball | nmod |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 obviously | punct |
| 16 | obviously | obviously | ADV | _ | 6 says | advmod |
| 17 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 6 says | punct |
| 18 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 6 says | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | present | a detective | a cartoon | obviously property | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent in cartoon=Manner | |||
| 2 | is a in a quote | present | a clue | a ball | of thread | 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.
Sentence 2: Could that ever have been right?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 6 right | aux |
| 2 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 6 right | nsubj |
| 3 | ever | ever | ADV | PronType=Ind | 6 right | advmod |
| 4 | have | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 right | aux |
| 5 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 6 right | cop |
| 6 | right | right | ADV | _ | root | root |
| 7 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 6 right | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | could · perfect | that | ever | right property | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
No, a clue has always meant a footprint or fingerprint
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | INTJ | Polarity=Neg | 7 meant | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 No | punct |
| 3 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 clue | det |
| 4 | clue | clue | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 meant | nsubj:pass |
| 5 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 meant | aux |
| 6 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 7 meant | advmod |
| 7 | meant | mean | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 8 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 footprint | det |
| 9 | footprint | footprint | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 meant | obj |
| 10 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 11 fingerprint | cc |
| 11 | fingerprint | fingerprint | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 footprint | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mean | present · perfect · passive | a clue | always property | tree rules |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
Yes, "clue" comes from "clew", a ball of thread
The tree, 9 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 6 comes | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 6 comes | punct |
| 3 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 4 clue | punct |
| 4 | clue | clue | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 comes | nsubj |
| 5 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 4 clue | punct |
| 6 | comes | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | from | from | ADP | _ | 9 clew | case |
| 8 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 9 clew | punct |
| 9 | clew | clew | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 comes | obl |
| 10 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 9 clew | punct |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 ball | punct |
| 12 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 13 ball | det |
| 13 | ball | ball | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 clew | appos |
| 14 | of | of | ADP | _ | 15 thread | case |
| 15 | thread | thread | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 ball | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | come | present | clue | clew | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme from clew=Initial_Location |
Option 3
No, "clue" was invented by detectives in 1900
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | INTJ | Polarity=Neg | 4 clue | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 clue | punct |
| 3 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 4 clue | punct |
| 4 | clue | clue | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 invented | nsubj:pass |
| 5 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 4 clue | punct |
| 6 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 invented | aux:pass |
| 7 | invented | invent | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 8 | by | by | ADP | _ | 9 detectives | case |
| 9 | detectives | detective | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 invented | obl |
| 10 | in | in | ADP | _ | 11 1900 | case |
| 11 | 1900 | 1900 | NUM | NumForm=Digit NumType=Card | 7 invented | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | invent | past · passive | detectives | clue | 1900 | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Result |
Option 4
Yes, but only in the Welsh language
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 8 language | discourse |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 Yes | punct |
| 3 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 8 language | cc |
| 4 | only | only | ADV | _ | 8 language | advmod |
| 5 | in | in | ADP | _ | 8 language | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 language | det |
| 7 | Welsh | welsh | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 language | amod |
| 8 | language | language | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
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/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/t7/