---
title: What oracular pronouncement did the Black Bird deliver to the Prince? — Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, par… · tree and pragmatics
description: What oracular pronouncement did the Black Bird deliver to the Prince? Exam question 2 of lesson 1917 «Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, part 54: Vivien's bath, the Black Bird's words, and a paper ship» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 2 · Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, part 54: Vivien's bath,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What oracular pronouncement did the Black Bird deliver to the Prince?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** oracular pronouncement, Black Bird · **What happens:** do, deliver · **To what, where:** Prince

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1917 «Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, part 54: Vivien's bath, the Black Bird's words, and a paper ship» of the books 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1917-pg7277-part54/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1917-pg7277-part54:e2:1
# text = What oracular pronouncement did the Black Bird deliver to the Prince?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	oracular	oracular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	pronouncement	pronouncement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Black	Black	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Bird	Bird	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	deliver	deliver	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | oracular pronouncement |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **deliver** | present | the Black Bird |  | the Prince |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to prince=Destination |

<!-- .note -->
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 {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An order to depart at the dawn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1917-pg7277-part54:e2:o1:1
# text = An order to depart at the dawn
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	depart	depart	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **depart** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | dawn |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A riddle concerning a white ship

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1917-pg7277-part54:e2:o2:1
# text = A riddle concerning a white ship
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	riddle	riddle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **concern** | gerund | a riddle *not said here* | a white ship |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus ship=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A prophecy concerning a golden throne

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1917-pg7277-part54:e2:o3:1
# text = A prophecy concerning a golden throne
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prophecy	prophecy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	throne	throne	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **concern** | gerund | a prophecy *not said here* | a golden throne |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus throne=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A statement concerning opposition to his own nature

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1917-pg7277-part54:e2:o4:1
# text = A statement concerning opposition to his own nature
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	opposition	opposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **concern** | gerund | a statement *not said here* | opposition |  |  |  | to his own nature | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus opposition=Experiencer |

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**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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- ← previous: [Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, par…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1917-pg7277-part54/e1/)
- next →: [Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, par…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1917-pg7277-part54/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Yellow Fairy Book, The Black Bird, part 54: Vivien's bath, the Black Bird's words, and a paper ship](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1917-pg7277-part54/)