---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Words that changed their meaning · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the history of the word "silly"? Exam question 2 of lesson 38 «Words that changed their meaning» 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 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Words that changed their meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the history of the word "silly"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** history

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 38 «Words that changed their meaning» 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/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the history of the word "silly"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	history	history	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the history of the word |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has signified foolish since the very earliest days of Old English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:e2:o1:1
# text = It has signified foolish since the very earliest days of Old English
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	signified	signify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	foolish	foolish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	since	since	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	very	very	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	earliest	early	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	9	amod	_	_
9	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | present · perfect · passive |  | It |  |  | day | foolish *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was borrowed from French in the twentieth century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:e2:o2:1
# text = It was borrowed from French in the twentieth century
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	borrowed	borrow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	French	French	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	twentieth	twentieth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **borrow** | past · passive |  | It |  | French | century |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from french=Source |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It formerly signified angry, and only later foolish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:e2:o3:1
# text = It formerly signified angry, and only later foolish
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	formerly	formerly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	signified	signify	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
9	foolish	foolish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | past | It |  |  |  |  | angry, formerly *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It formerly signified blessed or happy, and only later foolish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:e2:o4:1
# text = It formerly signified blessed or happy, and only later foolish
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	formerly	formerly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	signified	signify	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	blessed	blessed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	11	advmod	_	_
11	foolish	foolish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | past | It |  |  |  |  | blessed, formerly *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |

<!-- div src -->

**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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