--- title: ★★★ The Phoenicians had 22 letters. The Greeks added 5 new letters a… — How writing began: from tally marks an… · tree and pragmatics description: ★★★ The Phoenicians had 22 letters. The Greeks added 5 new letters at the end and later dropped 3 old ones they did not need. How many letters has the Greek alphabet? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» of the history course of Mova's primary --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/t11/) [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/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/) / [How writing began: from tally marks an…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/) / t11 # Test 11 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al… ★★★ The Phoenicians had 22 letters. The Greeks added 5 new letters at the end and later dropped 3 old ones they did not need. How many letters has the Greek alphabet? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ★, Greeks, letters, many letters · **What happens:** have, add, drop, not need · **To what, where:** 22 letters, 5 new letters, end, 3 old ones, Greek alphabet This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» of the history 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/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/#t11). ## The question {#question} *Sentence 1:* ★★★ The Phoenicians had 22 letters. ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:1 # text = ★★★ The Phoenicians had 22 letters. 1 ★ ★ PROPN NNP Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 2 ★ ★ X FW Foreign=Yes 1 dep _ SpaceAfter=No 3 ★ ★ ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 Phoenicians Phoenician PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 1 nmod _ _ 6 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 22 22 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 8 nummod _ _ 8 letters letter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | past | ★ ★ the Phoenicians | 22 letters | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=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. *Sentence 2:* The Greeks added 5 new letters at the end and later dropped 3 old ones they did not need. ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:2 # text = The Greeks added 5 new letters at the end and later dropped 3 old ones they did not need. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Greeks Greek PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 3 nsubj _ _ 3 added add VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 5 5 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 6 nummod _ _ 5 new new ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 letters letter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ _ 7 at at ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 end end NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 11 later late ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 12 advmod _ _ 12 dropped drop VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 13 3 3 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 15 nummod _ _ 14 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 amod _ _ 15 ones one NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 obj _ _ 16 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 17 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 aux _ _ 18 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 19 need need VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **add** *speech: assert* | past | the Greeks | 5 new letters | | | at the end | | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Patient | | 2 | **drop** | past | the Greeks *not said here* | 3 old ones | | | | late *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme | | 3 | **not** **need** | past · do-support | letters *= letter* | 3 old ones *not said here* | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot one=Theme | *Sentence 3:* How many letters has the Greek alphabet? ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:3 # text = How many letters has the Greek alphabet? 1 How how ADV WRB PronType=Int 2 advmod _ _ 2 many many ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 letters letter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj _ _ 4 has have VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 6 Greek Greek ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 alphabet alphabet NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 8 ? ? PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | present | many letters | the Greek alphabet | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent alphabet=Patient | ## The options {#options} ### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1} 22 ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:o1:1 # text = 22 1 22 22 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2} 24 ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:o2:1 # text = 24 1 24 24 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 {#o3} 30 ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:o3:1 # text = 30 1 30 30 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} 27 ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t11:o4:1 # text = 27 1 27 27 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. **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: [How writing began: from tally marks an…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/t10/) - next →: [How writing began: from tally marks an…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/t12/) - ↑ back to [How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/)