---
title: Gran goes "back in my day babies just made noise till you taught 'em… — What language is: sounds, words and ru… · tree and pragmatics
description: Gran goes "back in my day babies just made noise till you taught 'em words." What is true? Test 5 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Test 5 · What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gran goes "back in my day babies just made noise till you taught 'em words." What is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Gran, you · **What happens:** go, make, teach, be · **To what, where:** noise, day babies, words, 'em · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 1 «What language is: sounds, words and rules everyone shares» of the language 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/language/1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Gran goes "back in my day babies just made noise till you taught 'em words."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t5:1
# text = Gran goes "back in my day babies just made noise till you taught 'em words."
1	Gran	gran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
11	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	taught	teach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
15	'em	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | Gran |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **make** *in a quote* | past |  | noise |  | my day babies |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset noise=Product |
| 3 | **teach** *speech: other* *in a quote* | past | you | words | 'em *= they* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent they=Recipient word=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t5:2
# text = What is true?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gran is right, babbling is meaningless noise with no purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t5:o1:1
# text = Gran is right, babbling is meaningless noise with no purpose
1	Gran	Gran	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	babbling	babbling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	meaningless	meaningless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Gran |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | babbling | meaningless noise |  |  |  | with no purpose | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Babies only learn words from flashcards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t5:o2:1
# text = Babies only learn words from flashcards
1	Babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	learn	learn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	flashcards	flashcard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present | Babies | words |  | flashcards |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent word=Topic from flashcard=Source |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Babies practise speech sounds by babbling before words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t5:o3:1
# text = Babies practise speech sounds by babbling before words
1	Babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	practise	practise	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	babbling	babble	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
7	before	before	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **practise** | present | Babies | speech sounds |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **babble** | gerund | Babies *not said here* |  |  | words |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme before word=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Babies cannot hear speech sounds until age two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:1-what-language-is-sounds-words-and-rules:t5:o4:1
# text = Babies cannot hear speech sounds until age two
1	Babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	until	until	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	flat	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **hear** | can | Babies | speech sounds |  |  | until age |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer sound=Stimulus |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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