---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises the distinction… — The big language quiz · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises the distinction between the Mandarin syllables "mā" and "mǎ"? Exam question 3 of lesson 40 «The big language quiz» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's 
---

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# Exam question 3 · The big language quiz

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises the distinction between the Mandarin syllables "mā" and "mǎ"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** distinction · **What happens:** follow, characteris, syllable · **To what, where:** mā

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 40 «The big language quiz» 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/40-the-big-language-quiz/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:40-the-big-language-quiz:e3:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises the distinction between the Mandarin syllables "mā" and "mǎ"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
10	between	between	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	syllables	syllable	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	mā	mā	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	mǎ	mǎ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 |  |  |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **syllable** | present | the distinction between the Mandarin | mā and mǎ |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
A difference of regional accent, both signifying mother

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:40-the-big-language-quiz:e3:o1:1
# text = A difference of regional accent, both signifying mother
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	regional	regional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	amod	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A difference of spelling, signifying horse and mother respectively

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:40-the-big-language-quiz:e3:o2:1
# text = A difference of spelling, signifying horse and mother respectively
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
7	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	respectively	respectively	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | gerund |  | horse and mother |  |  |  | respectively *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot horse=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A difference of tone, signifying mother and horse respectively

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:40-the-big-language-quiz:e3:o3:1
# text = A difference of tone, signifying mother and horse respectively
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	tone	tone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
7	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
10	respectively	respectively	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **signify** | gerund |  | mother and horse |  |  |  | respectively *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot mother=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A difference of volume alone, without any change of meaning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:40-the-big-language-quiz:e3:o4:1
# text = A difference of volume alone, without any change of meaning
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	volume	volume	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	without	without	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** |  | meaning |  |  |  |  |  | nom change «event intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- 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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