---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Is there one proper English? The big a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the process of change in the English language? Exam question 1 of lesson 20 «Is there one proper English? The big arguments» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of
---

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# Exam question 1 · Is there one proper English? The big arguments

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the process of change in the English language?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, process · **To what, where:** process, English language, change

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 20 «Is there one proper English? The big arguments» of the language course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/20-is-there-one-proper-english/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the process of change in the English language?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	process	process	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the process of change |  | the English language |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **process** |  |  | change |  |  |  |  | nom process «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A complete cessation of change since 1712

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e1:o1:1
# text = A complete cessation of change since 1712
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cessation	cessation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	since	since	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	1712	1712	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cease** |  |  | change |  |  |  |  | nom cessation «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Alteration directed annually by royal command

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e1:o2:1
# text = Alteration directed annually by royal command
1	Alteration	alteration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	directed	direct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	annually	annually	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	royal	royal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **direct** | participle |  | Alteration *not said here* |  |  |  | by royal command; annually *property* | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.predicate»: agent=Agent by command=Eventuality |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Continuous alteration, which does not in itself constitute deterioration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e1:o3:1
# text = Continuous alteration, which does not in itself constitute deterioration
1	Continuous	continuous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	alteration	alteration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obl	_	_
9	constitute	constitute	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	deterioration	deterioration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **do** | present |  |  |  |  |  | in alteration | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **constitute** | infinitive | Continuous alteration | deterioration |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme deterioration=Pivot |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A steady decline toward eventual unintelligibility within a century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:20-is-there-one-proper-english:e1:o4:1
# text = A steady decline toward eventual unintelligibility within a century
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	steady	steady	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	toward	toward	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	eventual	eventual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	unintelligibility	unintelligibility	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	within	within	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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