---
title: Your bro says "spam was always about emails, that's what the word me… — Words that changed their meaning · tree and pragmatics
description: Your bro says "spam was always about emails, that's what the word means." What's true? Test 6 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 6 · Words that changed their meaning

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your bro says "spam was always about emails, that's what the word means." What's true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** bro, spam, that, word · **What happens:** say, be, mean · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 38 «Words that changed their meaning» 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/38-words-that-changed-their-meaning/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your bro says "spam was always about emails, that's what the word means."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t6:1
# text = Your bro says "spam was always about emails, that's what the word means."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	bro	bro	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	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	spam	spam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	emails	email	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	9	parataxis	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your bro |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | spam |  |  |  |  | about emails; always *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | that |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | the word |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: 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:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t6:2
# 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's an old Latin word for rubbish

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t6:o1:1
# text = It's an old Latin word for rubbish
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	Latin	Latin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's short for "special mail" from the post office

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t6:o2:1
# text = It's short for "special mail" from the post office
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|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	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	mail	mail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	office	office	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  | the post office |  | for special mail; short *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's a tinned meat brand whose name a comedy sketch made into a word for junk

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t6:o3:1
# text = It's a tinned meat brand whose name a comedy sketch made into a word for junk
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	tinned	tinned	ADJ	JJ	_	6	amod	_	_
5	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	brand	brand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	comedy	comedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	sketch	sketch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	appos	_	_
12	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl	_	_
13	into	into	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	junk	junk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a tinned meat brand and a tinned meat brand and a tinned meat brand's name's name |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | participle |  | a comedy sketch *not said here* |  | a word for junk |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: agent=Agent into word=Product |
| 3 | **name** |  | a tinned meat brand and a tinned meat brand and name's name |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, it was invented by the first email company to name junk messages

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:38-words-that-changed-their-meaning:t6:o4:1
# text = He's right, it was invented by the first email company to name junk messages
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	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	12	amod	_	_
11	email	email	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	company	company	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	name	name	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
15	junk	junk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	messages	message	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **invent** | past · passive | the first email company | it |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Result |
| 3 | **name** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | junk messages |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent message=Theme |

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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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