---
title: A Texan speller says, "Y'all, onomatopoeia's fixin' to break me." ("… — Olympiad: the Spelling Bee · tree and pragmatics
description: A Texan speller says, "Y'all, onomatopoeia's fixin' to break me." ("Fixin' to" means about to.) What does onomatopoeia mean? Test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 55 «Olympiad: the Spelling Bee» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

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# Test 8 · ★★★ · Olympiad: the Spelling Bee

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A Texan speller says, "Y'all, onomatopoeia's fixin' to break me." ("Fixin' to" means about to.) What does onomatopoeia mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Texan speller, Fixin, onomatopoeia · **What happens:** say, break, mean · **To what, where:** Y'all, Texan speller · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ of lesson 55 «Olympiad: the Spelling Bee» of the English course of Mova's primary school. 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/english/55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A Texan speller says, "Y'all, onomatopoeia's fixin' to break me."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:1
# text = A Texan speller says, "Y'all, onomatopoeia's fixin' to break me."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Texan	texan	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	speller	speller	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Y'all	Y'all	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	onomatopoeia	onomatopoeia	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	fixin	fixin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
15	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a Texan speller | Y'all |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent y'all=Topic |
| 2 | **break** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | a Texan speller *not said here* | a Texan speller *= speller* |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=Patient |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* ("Fixin' to" means about to.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:2
# text = ("Fixin' to" means about to.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Fixin	Fixin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	3	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	about	about	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Fixin |  |  |  |  | about *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What does onomatopoeia mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:3
# text = What does onomatopoeia mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	onomatopoeia	onomatopoeia	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | onomatopoeia |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A word spelled the same way backwards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:o1:1
# text = A word spelled the same way backwards
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	spelled	spell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	backwards	backwards	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spell** | participle | a word *not said here* | the same way |  |  |  | backwards *property* | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent way=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A word with no vowels in it anywhere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:o2:1
# text = A word with no vowels in it anywhere
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	vowels	vowel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nmod	_	_
8	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A word that sounds like its meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:o3:1
# text = A word that sounds like its meaning
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sound** | present | a word |  |  |  |  | like word's meaning | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **mean** |  | word |  |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Any very long word that comes from Greek

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:55-olympiad-the-spelling-bee:t8:o4:1
# text = Any very long word that comes from Greek
1	Any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
2	very	very	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Greek	Greek	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | any long word |  |  | Greek |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from greek=Initial\_Location |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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