en(A)

Twelfth International Olympiad in Linguistics

Beijing (China), July 2125, 2014

Individual Contest Problems

Do not copy the statements of the problems. Write down your solution to each problem
on a separate sheet or sheets. On each sheet indicate the number of the problem, the number
of your seat and your surname. Otherwise your work may be mislaid or misattributed.
Your answers must be well-supported by argument. Even a perfectly correct answer will
be given a low score unless accompanied by an explanation.

Problem #1 (20 points). Here are some verb forms of Benabena and their English translations:

nohobe
kahalune
nokoho'ibe
nolenufu'inagihe
noli'ibe
nofunagihe
none
nila'ibe
nonahatagihe
lenahalube
nahalanagihe
lahala'ibe
nofutagihe
lenilu'ibe
noho'inagihe

I am striking him
we will strike yousg
we both are striking yousg
because we both are piercing youpl
you both are piercing us
because I am piercing him
yousg are piercing him
you both will pierce me
because yousg are striking me
I will strike youpl
because youpl will strike me
you both will strike us
because we are piercing him
we both will pierce youpl
because we both are striking him

(a) Translate into English:

nonibe, halu'ibe, lilatagihe, nokufune, nolahanagihe.

(b) Translate into Benabena:
you both are striking him;
we will pierce yousg ;
because we are striking youpl ;
because youpl will pierce him.

! The Benabena language belongs to the Trans-New Guinea family. It is spoken by

approx. 45,000 people in Papua New Guinea.

Ivan Derzhanski

Twelfth International Olympiad in Linguistics (2014).

Individual Contest Problems

Problem #2 (20 points). Here are the singular, dual and plural forms of some Kiowa
nouns and their English translations. Not all forms are given, although all exist.
singular

dual

plural

adO
math Onsjan
kO
th otolagO
aufi
ph jaboadO
math On
kOnbohodO
tO

a
math Onsjan
kO
th otola

alOsOhjegO
?
alOgukogO
?
kh OdO
kOdO
?
?
?
Olsun
?
?

?
tsegun
alOguko
kaph th O
kh O
?
alO
ph O
?
?
pitso
th Oph paa

a
math OnsjadO
kOgO
th otolagO
aufigO
ph jaboa
math OdO
kOnbohon
tOgO
e
alOsOhjegO
tsegudO
?
kaph th OgO
?
kOdO
?
?
sadO
?
?
?

tree
little girl
knife
orange
sh
street lamp
girl
hat
spoon
bread
plum
dog
lemon
old man
blanket
tomato
apple
bualo
child
comb
fork
chair

Fill in the cells with the question marks.

! The Kiowa language belongs to the KiowaTanoan family. It is an endangered lan
guage, only spoken by a few hundred people in Oklahoma, USA.
The Kiowa words are given in a simplied transcription. k, t, p, kh , ph , th are
consonants; O is a vowel.
Aleksejs Peguevs

Twelfth International Olympiad in Linguistics (2014).

Individual Contest Problems

Problem #3 (20 points). Once upon a time in the Tangut Empire (the Great State of

the White and the Lofty) there lived two brothers and two sisters. They each had a son and
a daughter.

( = man, = woman)

Below you see statements in the Tangut language concerning the relations between these
people. The name Lhie nyn belongs to a man.
1. Ldiu e

2. Lhie nyn
3.

 
Sei na

4. Ldiu

Nie tse
.

'yn

k
.j


Ngwi mbyn

Wa


e


nie


'yn



an nia

ngu .


'yn


ndon


ndon



Syn mei


'yn


wej

6. Ldiu


e



Syn mei


'yn


wej

7. Ldiu


e

8.


Kei ey
.

9. Ldiu


e

Wa

ngu .

ngu .


nie


'yn


wej


e


'yn


wej


'yn


wej

Ldiu


Kei ey
.

10. Lhie nyn



Syn mei

11. Lhie nyn



Sie tsie


'yn


'yn

ngu .

ngu .


wia


'i@

12.

Wa


nie


'yn

lio

13.


Kei ey



Sie tsie


'yn


wej

14. Lhie nyn


Kei ey



Syn mei


tse

15.

16. Ngon
17.

Nie


ngwe



Syn mei

18. Ldiu


e

Mbe


'yn

ngu .

ngu .
.


'yn

wiej


wej


phon

ngu .


'yn

 
Sei na


'yn


kj



Sie tsie


'yn


ndon

ngu .

ngu .


kj
.

ngu .

ngu .

ngu .

wia


wej


nie

 
Sei na


'yn


mu



an nia

Wa


ngwe

24. Lhie nyn


phon


'yn

Ldiu


e

Ldiu

Nie

27. Lhie nyn


tse
.



an nia



Sie tsie

ngu .


'yn


'yn


'yn


ma

lio

30. Lhie nyn


'yn

wiej


tse


'yn


mu

32. Lhie nyn

33. Ngon
34.


ngwe



Syn mei

35. Mbe
36. Nie


'yn


Kei ey
.



an nia


phon


tse



Sie tsie



Sie tsie


'yn

ngu .
ngu .
ngu .

ny


wej


'yn

ngu .

ngu .


'i@


'yn


'yn

ngu .

 
Sei na



an nia

ngu .

mu


'i@

Ldiu

Nie

ngu .

ngu .


'yn

29. Lhie nyn



an nia

ngu .

mu


'i@


'yn

ngu .

la


'yn


'yn


e

ngu .


ngwe

Ngon

ngu .

we
.j


phon

e


nie

Mbe

26. Lhie nyn

31.

ngu .

'yn


'yn

23. Ngon

28.

 
Sei na

25. Mbe


Kei ey
.

ngu .

22.

Wa nie


e

20. Ldiu
21. Wa

ngu .



an nia

5.

ngu .

ngu .


'yn

lio

19. Lhie nyn


ma

ngu .

ngu .
ngu .

ngu .

(a) Reconstruct the family tree.

(b) Fill in the blank in the last sentence (there is only one way to do this).
!

Tangut is an extinct language of the Tibeto-Burman family that was spoken in the Tangut
Empire (10381227, present-day central China). There is no agreement among scholars on
what it sounded like, therefore the transcription is based on one of the reconstructions. The
superscript numbers indicate its two tones ( = at, = rising); in particular, the words for
`father' and `mother' are in the rst tone. ., , e., o., y, @ are vowels; , , ' are consonants.
Ivan Derzhanski

Twelfth International Olympiad in Linguistics (2014).

Individual Contest Problems

Problem #4 (20 points). Here are some short dialogs in Engenni and their English translations:
1.

2.

ed no nw.ses ozy le.lem ? ed n wei ga k nwa.sese ozy le.lem.

Will this man frighten the deceived thief?

This man said that hethis man would not frighten the deceived thief.

a.vrm ki.nono amemr n ? a.vrm wei ga k ki.nono amemr n.

Did the woman resemble this girl?

The woman said that shethe woman did resemble this girl.

3.

a.m le.lem .n wuese a.vrm ? a.modhym wei ga wuese a.vrm.

4.

ed dhia gbnon a.m ? a.vrm kolom wei ga o gbnon a.m.

5.

amemr dhi ki.nono opilopo n ? a.vrm wei ga . ki.nono opilopo n.

Did this deceived child not kill the woman?

The youth said that hethis deceived child did kill the woman.

Will the evil man heal the child?

The coughing woman said that hethe evil man would heal the child.

Did the evil girl not resemble this pig?

The woman said that shethe evil girl did not resemble this pig.

6.

ozy gbunono ok nu.am .n ? ozy wei ga k gbunono ok nu.am .n.

7.

ozyi no k.non ed kolom ? a.m .n wei ga . ki.nono ed kolom.

Did the thief heal this beaten old man?

The thief said that hethe thief did not heal this beaten old man.

Will this thief resemble the coughing man?

This child said that hethis thief would not resemble the coughing man.

(a) Translate into English:

8.
9.

ed n nwa.sese ozyi ? amemr wei ga . nwa.sese ozyi.

amemr le.lemu wes a.modhym .n ?
amemr le.lem wei ga ki wes a.modhym .n.

Here is also an answer in Engenni without a question for it:

10.

ozyi n wei ga a.m gbunono ed.

Translate it into English. If it can be translated in more than one way, provide all
translations and explain your reasoning.

(b) Translate into Engenni:

11. Will the old man resemble this coughing youth?
The child said that hethe old man would not resemble this coughing youth.
12. Did this beaten woman not frighten the man?
This beaten woman said that shethis beaten woman did not frighten the man.

(c) If you were to compile an Engenni dictionary, what would the base forms of the words
`thief' and `girl' be? Explain your answer.

Twelfth International Olympiad in Linguistics (2014).

Individual Contest Problems

The Engenni language belongs to the BenueCongo family. It is spoken by approx. 20,000
people in Nigeria.
The mark . underneath a word's rst vowel indicates that all of the word's vowels are
pronounced with a slightly lowered tongue. The marks
, and  indicate high, low, and
falling tone, respectively; if none is present, the syllable has middle tone.
Art
urs Semenuks

Problem #5 (20 points). Here are some words and word combinations in Northwest
Gbaya and their English translations in arbitrary order:

P
a
a, P
a
a n
ang n
u k`
o, P
a
a s`
e`
e, b
um
a yk, b
um
a z`
u yk, d
ang g`
ok, d f`
o, d s`
e`
e,
k`
o yk, k`
o z`
ok, n
ang w, n
u f`
o, n
u l
eb
e, s`
e`
e w, yk, yk w, z`
u
at the surface; eye socket; eyebrow; eyelash; eyes/face;
eld edge; foot; happiness; liver; good eld; nostril;
above, on; poisonous snake; tip of the tongue;
to be dying; to envy; to put

(a) Determine the correct correspondences.

(b) Translate into English: b
um
a z`
u, k`
o, l
eb
e g`
ok, l
eb
e w.
(c) Translate into Northwest Gbaya: at the center; head; displeasure; nose.
!

The Northwest Gbaya language belongs to the Ubangian family. It is spoken by approx.
200,000 people in the Central African Republic.
The Northwest Gbaya words are given in a simplied transcription. P is a consonant.
Boris Iomdin

Editors: Bozhidar Bozhanov, Ivan Derzhanski, Hugh Dobbs, Dmitry Gerasimov,

Ksenia Gilyarova, Stanislav Gurevich, Gabrijela Hladnik, Boris Iomdin, Bruno L'Astorina,
Jae Kyu Lee (editor-in-chief), Elitsa Milanova, Aleksejs Peguevs, Alexander Piperski,
Maria Rubinstein, Daniel Rucki, Estere einkmane, Art
urs Semenuks, Pavel Sofroniev,
Milena Veneva.
English text: Ivan Derzhanski, Boris Iomdin, Aleksejs Peguevs, Art urs Semenuks.
Good luck!