Exam question 3 · The big language quiz

Which of the following most accurately characterises the distinction between the Mandarin syllables "mā" and "mǎ"?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: distinction · What happens: follow, characteris, syllable · To what, where: mā

This is exam question 3 of lesson 40 «The big language quiz» 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	7 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	SCONJ	_	7 characterises	mark
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 characterises	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 characterises	csubj
5	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	6 accurately	advmod
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	7 characterises	advmod
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 distinction	det
9	distinction	distinction	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 syllables	nsubj
10	between	between	ADP	_	12 Mandarin	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 Mandarin	det
12	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 distinction	nmod
13	syllables	syllable	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 characterises	conj
14	"	"	PUNCT	_	15 mā	punct
15	mā	mā	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 syllables	obj
16	"	"	PUNCT	_	15 mā	punct
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 mǎ	cc
18	"	"	PUNCT	_	19 mǎ	punct
19	mǎ	mǎ	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 mā	conj
20	"	"	PUNCT	_	19 mǎ	punct
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present			accurately property	tree rules
3	syllable	present	the distinction between the Mandarin	mā and mǎ		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

A difference of regional accent, both signifying mother

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 difference	det
2	difference	difference	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 accent	case
4	regional	regional	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 accent	amod
5	accent	accent	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 difference	nmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 mother	punct
7	both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	9 mother	det
8	signifying	signify	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	9 mother	amod
9	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 difference	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	signify	gerund							vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

A difference of spelling, signifying horse and mother respectively

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 difference	det
2	difference	difference	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 spelling	case
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 difference	nmod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 signifying	punct
6	signifying	signify	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 difference	conj
7	horse	horse	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 signifying	obj
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 mother	cc
9	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 horse	conj
10	respectively	respectively	ADV	_	6 signifying	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	signify	gerund		horse and mother				respectively property	vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot horse=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

A difference of tone, signifying mother and horse respectively

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 difference	det
2	difference	difference	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 tone	case
4	tone	tone	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 difference	nmod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 signifying	punct
6	signifying	signify	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 difference	conj
7	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 signifying	obj
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 horse	cc
9	horse	horse	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 mother	conj
10	respectively	respectively	ADV	_	6 signifying	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	signify	gerund		mother and horse				respectively property	vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot mother=Theme

Option 4

A difference of volume alone, without any change of meaning

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 difference	det
2	difference	difference	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 volume	case
4	volume	volume	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 difference	nmod
5	alone	alone	ADV	_	4 volume	advmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 change	punct
7	without	without	ADP	_	9 change	case
8	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	9 change	det
9	change	change	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 difference	conj
10	of	of	ADP	_	11 meaning	case
11	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 change	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	change		meaning						nom change «event intransitive»: of=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/40-the-big-language-quiz/e3/