---
title: Identify the principal finding of the "wug test" devised by Jean Ber… — How babies learn to talk · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal finding of the "wug test" devised by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958. Exam question 2 of lesson 31 «How babies learn to talk» 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.
---

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# Exam question 2 · How babies learn to talk

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal finding of the "wug test" devised by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, devise, find · **To what, where:** principal finding, wug test, 1958

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 31 «How babies learn to talk» 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/31-how-babies-learn-to-talk/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal finding of the "wug test" devised by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	finding	finding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	wug	wug	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	devised	devise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	Jean	Jean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	Berko	Berko	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl:agent	_	_
15	Gleason	Gleason	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	flat	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	1958	1958	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal finding of the wug test |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent finding=Theme |
| 2 | **devise** | participle |  | the wug test *not said here* |  | 1958 |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **find** |  |  | the wug test |  |  |  |  | nom finding «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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children apply grammatical rules to words they have never previously heard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:e2:o1:1
# text = Children apply grammatical rules to words they have never previously heard
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	apply	apply	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	grammatical	grammatical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
8	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	previously	previously	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** | present | Children | grammatical rules |  |  |  | to words | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rule=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **hear** | present · perfect | Children *= child* | words *not said here* |  |  |  | previously *property* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children prefer drawings to words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:e2:o2:1
# text = Children prefer drawings to words
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	prefer	prefer	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	drawings	drawing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prefer** | present | Children | drawings |  |  |  | to words | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer drawing=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children cannot form plurals before the age of ten

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:e2:o3:1
# text = Children cannot form plurals before the age of ten
1	Children	child	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	form	form	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	plurals	plural	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **form** | can | Children | plurals |  |  | before the age of ten |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location plural=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children reproduce only those words which they have previously heard from adults

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:31-how-babies-learn-to-talk:e2:o4:1
# text = Children reproduce only those words which they have previously heard from adults
1	Children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reproduce	reproduce	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	those	that	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	previously	previously	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl:relcl	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reproduce** | present | Children | that words |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **hear** | present · perfect · passive |  | that words |  |  |  | from adults; previously *property* | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Topic from adult=Source |

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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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