---
title: Your uncle says "kowtow is about cows bowing". What's true? — Borrowed words from far away: Hindi, A… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your uncle says "kowtow is about cows bowing". What's true? Test 10 of lesson 24 «Borrowed words from far away: Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Ukrainian and more» 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 r
---

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# Test 10 · Borrowed words from far away: Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Ukra…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your uncle says "kowtow is about cows bowing". What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** uncle, kowtow · **What happens:** say, bow, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 24 «Borrowed words from far away: Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Ukrainian and more» 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/24-borrowed-words-from-far-away/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your uncle says "kowtow is about cows bowing".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:24-borrowed-words-from-far-away:t10:1
# text = Your uncle says "kowtow is about cows bowing".
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	kowtow	kowtow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
7	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	bowing	bow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your uncle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **bow** *in a quote* | present · progressive | kowtow |  |  |  |  |  | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «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 true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:24-borrowed-words-from-far-away:t10:2
# text = What's true?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It comes from Chinese for "knock head", a deep bow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:24-borrowed-words-from-far-away:t10:o1:1
# text = It comes from Chinese for "knock head", a deep bow
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Chinese	Chinese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	knock	knock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	bow	bow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | It |  |  | Chinese |  | for knock head and a deep bow | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from chinese=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's from Arabic for "milk"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:24-borrowed-words-from-far-away:t10:o2:1
# text = It's from Arabic for "milk"
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Arabic	Arabic	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	milk	milk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, it's about cows

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:24-borrowed-words-from-far-away:t10:o3:1
# text = He's right, it's about cows
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	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	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | about cows | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's a Scottish word for a cowshed on a windy hill farm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:24-borrowed-words-from-far-away:t10:o4:1
# text = It's a Scottish word for a cowshed on a windy hill farm
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Scottish	Scottish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cowshed	cowshed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	windy	windy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a Scottish word |  | a windy hill farm |  | for a cowshed | tree rules |

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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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