---
title: In a game, a knight in 1300 says "bite" exactly like we do. What's o… — Where English came from · tree and pragmatics
description: In a game, a knight in 1300 says "bite" exactly like we do. What's off? Test 6 · ★ 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Where English came from

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a game, a knight in 1300 says "bite" exactly like we do. What's off?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** knight, we · **What happens:** say, do · **To what, where:** bite, game · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 22 «Where English came from» 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/22-where-english-came-from/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a game, a knight in 1300 says "bite" exactly like we do.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t6:1
# text = In a game, a knight in 1300 says "bite" exactly like we do.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	1300	1300	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nmod	_	_
9	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	bite	bite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
14	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a knight in 1300 | bite |  | a game |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | present | we |  |  |  |  | exactly *property* | vn act-114-1 «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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's off?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t6:2
# text = What's off?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Knights could not speak, they only wrote

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t6:o1:1
# text = Knights could not speak, they only wrote
1	Knights	knight	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **speak** *speech: other* | could | Knights |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **write** | past | Knights *= knight* |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In 1300 "bite" sounded a bit like "beet"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t6:o2:1
# text = In 1300 "bite" sounded a bit like "beet"
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	1300	1300	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	obl	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	bite	bite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	sounded	sound	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	beet	beet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sound** | past | bite | a bit like beet |  | 1300 |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in 1300=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Knights only spoke Latin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t6:o3:1
# text = Knights only spoke Latin
1	Knights	knight	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Latin	Latin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | Knights | Latin |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, the sounds of words never change over time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:22-where-english-came-from:t6:o4:1
# text = Nothing, the sounds of words never change over time
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	over	over	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **change** | present | Nothing |  |  |  | time |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ← previous: [Where English came from, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/22-where-english-came-from/t5/)
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