Exam question 3 · Not unhappy and not half: litotes

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the remark «he's not the brightest», made concerning a third party?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: he · What happens: follow, characteris, not be, make, concern · To what, where: remark, third party

This is exam question 3 of lesson 50 «Not unhappy and not half: litotes» 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 remark	det
10	remark	remark	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	«	«	PUNCT	_	16 brightest	punct
12	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 brightest	nsubj
13	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 brightest	cop
14	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	16 brightest	advmod
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 brightest	det
16	brightest	bright	ADJ	Degree=Sup	10 remark	appos
17	»	»	PUNCT	_	16 brightest	punct
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 made	punct
19	made	make	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 characterises	conj
20	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	19 made	xcomp
21	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	23 party	det
22	third	third	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	23 party	amod
23	party	party	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 concerning	obj
24	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 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		the remark	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	not is in a quote	present	he		bright property	tree rules
4	make	past				tree rules
5	concern	gerund		a third party		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus party=Experiencer

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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A softened expression which nonetheless constitutes a disparagement

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 expression	det
2	softened	soften	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 expression	amod
3	expression	expression	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 constitutes	nsubj
5	nonetheless	nonetheless	ADV	_	6 constitutes	advmod
6	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 expression	acl:relcl
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 disparagement	det
8	disparagement	disparagement	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 constitutes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	soften	participle							vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	constitute	present	a softened expression	a disparagement				nonetheless property	vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme disparagement=Pivot

Option 2

A neutral observation without any judgement

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 observation	det
2	neutral	neutral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 observation	amod
3	observation	observation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	without	without	ADP	_	6 judgement	case
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	6 judgement	det
6	judgement	judgement	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 observation	nmod

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

Option 3

A comment concerning the person's lamp

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 comment	det
2	comment	comment	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 comment	acl
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 person	det
5	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 lamp	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 person	case
7	lamp	lamp	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 concerning	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	concern	gerund	a comment not said here	the person's lamp					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus lamp=Experiencer

Option 4

A compliment upon the person's intelligence

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 compliment	det
2	compliment	compliment	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 intelligence	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 person	det
5	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 intelligence	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 person	case
7	intelligence	intelligence	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compliment	nmod

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.

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