---
title: «writing came from cave paintings, cave people wrote stories on the… — How writing began: from tally marks an… · tree and pragmatics
description: «writing came from cave paintings, cave people wrote stories on the walls» What would you say? Test 12 · ★★ of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Test 12 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«writing came from cave paintings, cave people wrote stories on the walls» What would you say?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** writing, cave people, you · **What happens:** come, write, say · **To what, where:** cave paintings, stories, walls · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★★ 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/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t12:1
# text = «writing came from cave paintings, cave people wrote stories on the walls» What would you say?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	paintings	painting	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
16	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	obj	_	_
17	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** *in a quote* | past | writing |  |  | cave paintings |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from painting=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **write** *in a quote* | past | cave people | stories |  | the walls |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent story=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | would | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
Cave paintings are much older but are pictures, not writing; writing began with counting records

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t12:o1:1
# text = Cave paintings are much older but are pictures, not writing; writing began with counting records
1	Cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	paintings	painting	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	amod	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	writing	write	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
13	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	counting	count	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	compound	_	_
17	records	record	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Cave paintings |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Cave paintings *not said here* | pictures |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **write** | gerund | Cave paintings *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **begin** | past | older writing |  |  |  |  | with counting records | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with record=Subeventuality |
| 5 | **count** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, cave paintings were made after writing was invented

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t12:o2:1
# text = No, cave paintings were made after writing was invented
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	paintings	painting	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past · passive |  | cave paintings |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 2 | **invent** | past · passive |  |  |  |  | after writing |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V» |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, every cave painting can be read word for word today

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t12:o3:1
# text = Yes, every cave painting can be read word for word today
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
4	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	painting	painting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	read	read	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | can · passive |  | every cave painting |  |  | today | word for word *obl* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, cave people wrote whole stories in letters on the walls, which we can still read today

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t12:o4:1
# text = Yes, cave people wrote whole stories in letters on the walls, which we can still read today
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	obj	_	_
15	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	still	still	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	acl:relcl	_	_
19	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | past | cave people | whole stories |  | letters on the walls |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent story=Theme in letter=Destination |
| 2 | **read** | can | we | the walls |  |  | still; today |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Topic |

<!-- div src -->

**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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