---
title: ★★ A Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye… — How writing began: from tally marks an… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★ A Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye and letters. Why did the alphabet spread so fast? Test 5 · ★★ 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 o
---

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# Test 5 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★ A Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye and letters. Why did the alphabet spread so fast?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ★, alphabet · **What happens:** ★, spread · **To what, where:** Phoenician ship sails, Carthage, Tyre

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★ A Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye and letters.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t5:1
# text = ★★ A Phoenician ship sails from Tyre to Carthage and Greece with dye and letters.
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Phoenician	phoenician	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	sails	sail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Tyre	tyre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Carthage	Carthage	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	Greece	Greece	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	dye	dye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **★** | present | ★ | a Phoenician ship sails | Carthage and Greece | Tyre |  | with dye and letters | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* Why did the alphabet spread so fast?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t5:2
# text = Why did the alphabet spread so fast?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	alphabet	alphabet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spread** | past · do-support | the alphabet |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Phoenicians fought wars to make everyone use it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t5:o1:1
# text = The Phoenicians fought wars to make everyone use it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Phoenicians	Phoenician	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	fought	fight	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	wars	war	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
7	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	6	obj	_	_
8	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fight** | past | the Phoenicians | wars |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent war=Co-Agent |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | the Phoenicians *not said here* | everyone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **use** | infinitive | everyone *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Traders sailed everywhere and needed a quick, easy way to write

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t5:o2:1
# text = Traders sailed everywhere and needed a quick, easy way to write
1	Traders	trader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sailed	sail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	everywhere	everywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	needed	need	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	quick	quick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sail** | past | Traders |  |  |  |  | everywhere *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **need** | past | Traders *not said here* | a quick easy way |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot way=Theme |
| 3 | **write** | to-infinitive | Traders *not said here* | a quick easy way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was carved on the ships so everybody saw it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t5:o3:1
# text = It was carved on the ships so everybody saw it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	carved	carve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	everybody	everybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	9	nsubj	_	_
9	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	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 | **carve** | past · passive |  | It |  | the ships |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme on ship=Destination |
| 2 | **see** | past | everybody | it |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every king ordered his people to learn it in one day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t5:o4:1
# text = Every king ordered his people to learn it in one day
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	ordered	order	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **order** | past | every king |  | king's people |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Theme |
| 2 | **learn** | to-infinitive | every king *not said here* | it |  |  | day |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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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