--- title: Ascertain the meaning of the syllable shí when pronounced with a ris… — The four tones: same sound, different… · tree and pragmatics description: Ascertain the meaning of the syllable shí when pronounced with a rising tone. Exam question 2 of lesson 2 «The four tones: same sound, different meaning» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice w --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/e2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Chinese street](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/) / [The four tones: same sound, different…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/) / e2 # Exam question 2 · The four tones: same sound, different meaning Ascertain the meaning of the syllable shí when pronounced with a rising tone. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, pronounce, rise, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, syllable shí This is exam question 2 of lesson 2 «The four tones: same sound, different meaning» of the Chinese street 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/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/#e2). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:e2:1 # text = Ascertain the meaning of the syllable shí when pronounced with a rising tone. 1 Ascertain ascertain VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 meaning meaning NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 6 syllable syllable NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 compound _ _ 7 shí shí NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _ 8 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 9 advmod _ _ 9 pronounced pronounce VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 7 acl _ _ 10 with with ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 11 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 12 rising rise VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 13 amod _ _ 13 tone tone NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 14 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the syllable shí | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic | | 2 | **pronounce** | participle | | | | | | with a rising tone | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent with tone=Manner | | 3 | **rise** | gerund | | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **mean** | | | the syllable shí | | | | | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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} Excrement ```conllu # sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:e2:o1:1 # text = Excrement 1 Excrement excrement NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 {#o2} To lose ```conllu # sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:e2:o2:1 # text = To lose 1 To to PART TO _ 2 mark _ _ 2 lose lose VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **lose** | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} Ten ```conllu # sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:e2:o3:1 # text = Ten 1 Ten ten NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} To be ```conllu # sent_id = question:chinese-street:2-the-four-tones:e2:o4:1 # text = To be 1 To to PART TO _ 2 mark _ _ 2 be be VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **be** | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | **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. - ← previous: [The four tones: same sound, different…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/e1/) - next →: [The four tones: same sound, different…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/e3/) - ↑ back to [The four tones: same sound, different meaning](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/)