---
title: Why might a shared trade language like Swahili spread across many pe… — Africa: countries and capitals · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a shared trade language like Swahili spread across many peoples? Test 11 of lesson 13 «Africa: countries and capitals» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 11 · Africa: countries and capitals

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a shared trade language like Swahili spread across many peoples?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** shared trade language · **What happens:** share, spread

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 of lesson 13 «Africa: countries and capitals» of the geography 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/geography/13-africa-countries-and-capitals/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:13-africa-countries-and-capitals:t11:1
# text = Why might a shared trade language like Swahili spread across many peoples?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	shared	share	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
5	trade	trade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Swahili	Swahili	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	across	across	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	peoples	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **share** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **spread** | might | a shared trade language like Swahili |  |  |  |  | across many peoples | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme across people=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Traders and travellers from different peoples need one language to understand each other

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:13-africa-countries-and-capitals:t11:o1:1
# text = Traders and travellers from different peoples need one language to understand each other
1	Traders	trader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	travellers	traveller	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	peoples	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
7	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
12	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	11	obj	_	_
13	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	fixed	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Traders from different peoples and travellers | one language |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot language=Theme |
| 2 | **understand** | to-infinitive | Traders from different peoples and travellers *not said here* | each |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer each=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is the only language that can be written

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:13-africa-countries-and-capitals:t11:o2:1
# text = It is the only language that can be written
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | the only language |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **write** | can · passive |  | the only language |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is the oldest language on Earth, so all other African languages grew out of it

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:13-africa-countries-and-capitals:t11:o3:1
# text = It is the oldest language on Earth, so all other African languages grew out of it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
11	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
15	out	out	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | the oldest language |  | Earth |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow out** | past | all other African languages | it |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A king ordered everyone in the world to speak it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:13-africa-countries-and-capitals:t11:o4:1
# text = A king ordered everyone in the world to speak it
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	ordered	order	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	3	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **order** | participle | a king | everyone |  | the world |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent everyone=Theme |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | a king *not said here* | world |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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