---
title: In a cartoon, a signer keeps a totally blank face while asking a que… — Sign language · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a signer keeps a totally blank face while asking a question. What's missing? Test 5 of lesson 32 «Sign language» 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 5 · Sign language

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a signer keeps a totally blank face while asking a question. What's missing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** signer · **What happens:** keep, ask, be · **To what, where:** blank face, cartoon, question

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 32 «Sign language» 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/32-sign-language/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a signer keeps a totally blank face while asking a question.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:32-sign-language:t5:1
# text = In a cartoon, a signer keeps a totally blank face while asking a question.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	signer	signer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	totally	totally	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	blank	blank	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | a signer | a blank face |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent face=Theme in cartoon=Location |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund | a signer *not said here* | a question |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent question=Recipient |

<!-- .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 missing?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:32-sign-language:t5:2
# text = What's missing?
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	missing	missing	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 |  |  |  |  |  | missing *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Facial grammar, like raised eyebrows for a question

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:32-sign-language:t5:o1:1
# text = Facial grammar, like raised eyebrows for a question
1	Facial	facial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	grammar	grammar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	raised	raise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	eyebrows	eyebrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A second person

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:32-sign-language:t5:o2:1
# text = A second person
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	amod	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A hat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:32-sign-language:t5:o3:1
# text = A hat
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hat	hat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because faces don't matter at all in signing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:32-sign-language:t5:o4:1
# text = Nothing, because faces don't matter at all in signing
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	faces	face	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	matter	matter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl:relcl	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	obl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	signing	signing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **matter** | present · do-support | faces |  |  | all |  | in signing | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

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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.

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- ← previous: [Sign language, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/32-sign-language/t4/)
- next →: [Sign language, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/32-sign-language/t6/)
- ↑ back to [Sign language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/32-sign-language/)