--- title: Determine which language possesses the greatest number of native spe… — Where English came from · tree and pragmatics description: Determine which language possesses the greatest number of native speakers. Exam question 4 of lesson 22 «Where English came from» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/e4/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/) / [Where English came from](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/) / e4 # Exam question 4 · Where English came from Determine which language possesses the greatest number of native speakers. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, language · **What happens:** determine, possess · **To what, where:** greatest number This is exam question 4 of lesson 22 «Where English came from» 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/22-where-english-came-from/#e4). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:e4:1 # text = Determine which language possesses the greatest number of native speakers. 1 Determine determine VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 which which DET WDT PronType=Int 3 det _ _ 3 language language NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 possesses possess VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 1 acl:relcl _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 6 greatest great ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 7 amod _ _ 7 number number NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 8 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 native native ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ _ 10 speakers speaker NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **possess** | present | which language | the greatest number of native speakers | | | | | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot number=Theme | 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} Mandarin Chinese ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:e4:o1:1 # text = Mandarin Chinese 1 Mandarin Mandarin PROPN NNP Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 2 Chinese Chinese PROPN NNP Number=Sing 1 flat _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 {#o2} Spanish ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:e4:o2:1 # text = Spanish 1 Spanish Spanish ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 {#o3} English ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:e4:o3:1 # text = English 1 English English PROPN NNP Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} Hindi ```conllu # sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:e4:o4:1 # text = Hindi 1 Hindi Hindi PROPN NNP Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. **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. - ← previous: [Where English came from, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/e3/) - next →: [Borrowed words: French, Norse and Latin, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/23-borrowed-words-french-norse-and-latin/t1/) - ↑ back to [Where English came from](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/)