---
title: Why could Kipling's Tegumai not really have written letters in Stone… — How writing began: from tally marks an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why could Kipling's Tegumai not really have written letters in Stone Age Surrey? Test 8 · ★★ 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; Mov
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why could Kipling's Tegumai not really have written letters in Stone Age Surrey?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** not write · **To what, where:** letters

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t8:1
# text = Why could Kipling's Tegumai not really have written letters in Stone Age Surrey?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
3	Kipling	Kipling	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	Tegumai	Tegumai	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux	_	_
9	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
10	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	Stone	Stone	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl:agent	_	_
14	Surrey	Surrey	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **write** | could · perfect |  | letters |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Writing reached Britain only with the Romans, thousands of years later

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t8:o1:1
# text = Writing reached Britain only with the Romans, thousands of years later
1	Writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	Britain	Britain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Romans	Roman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	thousands	thousand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
12	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | past | Writing | Britain |  |  |  | with the Romans; thousands of years *obl*; late *property* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent britain=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There was no birch-bark anywhere in Stone Age Britain then

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t8:o2:1
# text = There was no birch-bark anywhere in Stone Age Britain then
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
4	birch	birch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
7	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	6	advmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	Stone	Stone	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	Britain	Britain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	flat	_	_
12	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | no birch bark in Stone Age |  |  | there | then |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It always rained too hard to write outside

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t8:o3:1
# text = It always rained too hard to write outside
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	rained	rain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	outside	outside	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rain** | past | It |  |  |  |  | always, hard *property* | vn weather-57 «It V PP.theme» |
| 2 | **write** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | outside *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stone Age people were not clever enough to learn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet:t8:o4:1
# text = Stone Age people were not clever enough to learn
1	Stone	Stone	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | Age people |  |  |  |  | clever, enough *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **learn** | to-infinitive | Age people *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [How writing began: from tally marks an…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/t7/)
- next →: [How writing began: from tally marks an…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/82-how-writing-began-from-tally-marks-and-pictures-to-the-alphabet/t9/)
- ↑ 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/)