---
title: «my teacher says the Greeks invented the alphabet» What is the faire… — How writing began: from tally marks an… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my teacher says the Greeks invented the alphabet» What is the fairer answer? Test 7 · ★★ 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 each option; Mova's
---

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# Test 7 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my teacher says the Greeks invented the alphabet» What is the fairer answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** teacher, Greeks · **What happens:** say, invent, be · **To what, where:** alphabet, fairer answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t7:1
# text = «my teacher says the Greeks invented the alphabet» What is the fairer answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Greeks	Greek	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	invented	invent	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	alphabet	alphabet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
11	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	15	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	fairer	fair	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	15	amod	_	_
15	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | my teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **invent** *in a quote* | past | the Greeks | the alphabet |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** *speech: assert* | present |  | the fairer answer |  |  |  |  | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They borrowed it from the Phoenicians and added vowels

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t7:o1:1
# text = They borrowed it from the Phoenicians and added vowels
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	borrowed	borrow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Phoenicians	Phoenician	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	added	add	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	vowels	vowel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **borrow** | past | They | it |  | the Phoenicians |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent it=Theme from phoenician=Source |
| 2 | **add** *speech: assert* | past | They *not said here* | vowels |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent vowel=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it came from China along the Silk Road

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t7:o2:1
# text = No, it came from China along the Silk Road
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	along	along	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Silk	Silk	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Road	Road	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | it |  |  | China |  | along the Silk Road | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from china=Initial\_Location along road=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, the Romans gave it to the Greeks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t7:o3:1
# text = No, the Romans gave it to the Greeks
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Romans	Roman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Greeks	Greek	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | the Romans | it | the Greeks |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Theme to greek=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, the Greeks made every single letter from nothing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t7:o4:1
# text = Yes, the Greeks made every single letter from nothing
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Greeks	Greek	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the Greeks | every single letter |  | nothing |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP.product PP.material»: agent=Agent letter=Product from nothing=Material |

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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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