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Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water

Tests: 6 of 17 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 12 of 21 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 88 of the books course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Finn: «Taffy guessed shu-ya cos she saw it raining, that's mid.» (mid = so-so) Is that fair?

  • 1. No: she read it sign by sign first, and the raindrop only made her sure — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. Not really: the rain told her the word before she read it — ← Mova's choice · score 6
  • 3. No: she read it sign by sign first, and the raindrop only made her sure of what the signs already said to her — no support
  • 4. Yes, it is fair, because the clouds gave the whole word away — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 88, line 14: «Taffy says that if she saw «shu-ya» scratched on the wall in the morning, she would know to take her beaver-skin hood.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+4); the same doer «taffy» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · right ✓

Why is writing «yo» better than Taffy's picture-letter way?

  • 1. It gives the exact word, so it can't be read as something else — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. It is prettier — no support
  • 3. It makes the picture bigger and so clearer — no support
  • 4. It saves paint, and needs fewer pictures — no support

Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if they used the plain snake for both s and sh?

  • 1. «Dinner» and «drying-poles» would look the same — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. «Dinner» and «drying-poles» would look the same, so Taffy would be sent to hang hides when she wanted food — score 4
  • 3. «Dinner» and «drying-poles» would look the same, and the whole Tribe would argue about it for years — no support
  • 4. Taffy would get the poles for dinner each day — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 4 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 88, line 9: «Tegumai first thinks of «a spotty snake that hisses sh-sh», but Taffy fears the spots could be left out in a hurry, so for sh they put a picture of the drying-…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «taffy» (+5). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Taffy says a thin egg would be «a frog that hasn't eaten anything for years». Why is it a joke?

  • 1. The frog looks silly beside the egg — score 0
  • 2. A starving frog is a silly picture for a sound, and Taffy knows Daddy will laugh at her for suggesting it — ← Mova's choice · score 5
  • 3. A starving frog is a silly picture for a sound — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. A starving frog is a silly picture for a sound, because the frog has nothing to do with the thin oo at all — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 5, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 88, line 14: «Taffy says that if she saw «shu-ya» scratched on the wall in the morning, she would know to take her beaver-skin hood.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «know» (+3); the same doer «taffy» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Which is TRUE about this part?

  • 1. Daddy reads the snake sign aloud to her — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Taffy writes the rain — no support
  • 3. Tegumai tells Taffy about the rain without saying a word — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Taffy shows Daddy a frog on the wall — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Real life: what is the «rebus» idea?

  • 1. Drawing a whole sentence as one big scene — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Drawing pictures of things — no support
  • 3. Using a picture for its sound, like an eye and a saw for «I saw» — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Using pictures to show the meaning only — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓

Real life: why is an alphabet so powerful?

  • 1. A few sound-signs can write any word at all — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
  • 2. Words are easy to carve in stone — no support
  • 3. A few sound-signs can write any word at all, so nobody needs to learn thousands of pictures — score 7
  • 4. Each word needs its own sign always — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 7, tied with another option at 7 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 88, line 17: «Real life: with a small set of sound-signs you can write ANY word, even words for things you cannot draw, like «ending» or «come». That is why an alphabet is s…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «write» (+4); the same thing acted on «word» (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

Real life: how many letters does English need, and how many characters does Chinese writing use?

  • 1. 26 letters; thousands of characters — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
  • 2. 26 letters; thousands of characters, each one a whole word or syllable in its own box — no support
  • 3. 26 letters; some hundreds of signs — score 5
  • 4. 26 letters, and so many thousands of different characters that nobody has ever counted them all — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 88, line 16: «Real life: using pictures for their SOUNDS, not their meaning, is called the rebus idea; a picture of an eye and a saw can spell «I saw». The first writers in…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «real life» (+3); the same action «use» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Real life, on a dreich (grey, wet) day: where does «sky-water» come from?

  • 1. Water evaporates from the sea, makes clouds in the sky, and then falls again as rain on the hills — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Water evaporates, makes clouds, and falls again, the same water going round and round forever over the whole world — no support
  • 3. Water evaporates, makes clouds, and falls again — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Clouds gather over the far hills — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓

Looking back: the Tribe thought Taffy's picture showed Tegumai being speared. What does Tegumai joke here?

  • 1. «Even Mummy couldn't mistake that for me being killed» — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
  • 2. «Mummy would never think I'd been speared» — score -1
  • 3. «Nobody would believe such a silly drawing» — no support
  • 4. «Ha, not me» — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 85, line 5: «The whole Tribe has come, chiefs and all, armed to the teeth, shouting and frightening every fish for twenty miles. Teshumai hugs Taffy, and the Head Chief gra…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same thing acted on «tegumai» (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: what did Tegumai pay the Stranger-man for the mud?

  • 1. Two skins — score 5
  • 2. Three bundles of dried meat — no support
  • 3. One soft beaver-skin hood — ← Mova's choice · score 9
  • 4. Two soft deerskins with fringes — ✓ the right answer · score 9

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 87, line 6: «Tegumai says: «I had to pay two deerskins, soft ones with fringes, to the Stranger-man for the things we did to him.» Taffy: «We didn't do anything», it was Mu…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «tegumai» (+3); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «pay» (+2); the same thing acted on «two deerskins» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 9. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★ · right ✓

Looking back: why did Tegumai draw a feeler on the carp-mouth?

  • 1. So it would not look like a snake — no support
  • 2. So it would not be mistaken for a perch or trout — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
  • 3. So it would not be mistaken for a perch or trout, which are both common in the pool and stream — score 3
  • 4. So it would not be mistaken for a perch or trout, since Daddy had caught only carp that morning — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 87, line 11: «Tegumai adds «the feeler that hangs across his mouth», because «the perches and trouts haven't got feelers», so everyone will know it is a carp.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «feeler» (+2); a different action (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 13 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Looking back: which earlier character said one word, «Humph!», and got something on his back for it?

  • 1. Cat — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. The Camel — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. The Parrot — no support
  • 4. The Donkey — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 14 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Jake from Bristol: «gurt idea, Tegumai, draw a spear as a whole battle scene.» (gurt = great) What does he actually do?

  • 1. Draws a wavy battle line — ← Mova's choice · score 11
  • 2. Nothing — no support
  • 3. Draws one straight line — ✓ the right answer · score 11
  • 4. Draws a dot — score 11

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 11, tied with another option at 11 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 59, line 11: «From Corsica a ship carried wine to the mainland; at Alassio (a little town on the Italian coast) they «hove» (threw) the wine-casks overboard, «tied one to th…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same action «tie» (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 11. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 15 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Taffy reads «snake, pole, broken egg, carp-tail and carp-mouth». How many signs is that, and how many sounds does «shu-ya» have?

  • 1. Six signs in all: snake, pole, broken egg, carp-tail, carp-mouth, and the thin egg for the oo sound of the word — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Five signs: snake and pole for sh, then oo, y, ah, and s — no support
  • 3. Five signs: snake and pole together for sh, then oo, y and ah — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Four signs: snake alone for sh, then oo, y and ah — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 16 · ★★ · wrong ✗

★★★ Using only the signs from this lesson (carp-mouth ah, carp-tail y, egg o, snake s, drying-poles sh, thin egg oo), which of these could they NOT write yet?

  • 1. «Yo-so-sho-ya» — ← Mova's choice · score 7
  • 2. «Maru» — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. «Shu-ya-so» — score 7
  • 4. «Yo» — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 7, tied with another option at 7 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 88, line 13: «Taffy reads (13.) sign by sign: «Snake, pole, broken egg, carp-tail and carp-mouth ... Shu-ya. Sky-water (rain).»», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «shu ya» (+3). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 17 · ★★ · right ✓

★★★ Careful: «S'pose you saw this scratched by the side of a pool». Who drew the «yo» sign (8.)?

  • 1. The Camel — no support
  • 2. The Stranger-man — no support
  • 3. Tegumai — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
  • 4. Taffy — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 88, line 10: ««Shi» is Tegumai for spear; he draws it as a plain straight line, «We won't have beavers or hills this time».», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same doer «tegumai» (+2); the same action «draw» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the meaning, in the language of the Tribe of Tegumai, of the word «yo».

  • 1. Sweet water, such as that of a stream, which refreshes — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Clean water from a mountain spring — no support
  • 3. Muddy water, such as that of a river, which occasions colds — no support
  • 4. Bad water, such as that of a swamp, which occasions fever — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the reason for which a separate sign was adopted for the sound sh.

  • 1. Lest «so» be confounded with «sho» — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. Lest «shi» be mixed with «so» — no support
  • 3. For clarity — no support
  • 4. To be quick — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

It is given that Tegumai required a sign for the thin oo-sound. Select the response most consistent with his solution.

  • 1. A round egg with a small aperture at one end, and a carp-tail beside it to show that it is sound oo — no support
  • 2. A round egg with a small aperture at one end — ✓ the right answer · score 5
  • 3. A round egg with a small aperture at one end, drawn with a feeler so it is not confused with the plain egg — ← Mova's choice · score 6
  • 4. A plain round egg, exactly as before — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 88, line 3: «Daddy jokes with «shi», the word for spear, and draws it as one straight line: «Even Mummy couldn't mistake that for me being killed.» Taffy asks him not to te…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «draw» (+3); the same thing acted on «round egg» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the advantage of an alphabet over picture-writing?

  • 1. Pictures show the thing more clearly and fully — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. A small number of sound-signs suffices to write any word whatsoever — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Fewer signs are quicker — no support
  • 4. Alphabets are prettier on a cave wall — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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