#lingproblems
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Linguistics problems #4
The solution to yesterday’s problem is: concordaus, chicolatz, chuntas, eclixes, ferfetz.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the fourth linguistics problem, known as Japanese Braille.
Braille is a tactile writing system, based on a series of raised dots, that is widely used by the blind. It was invented in 1821 by Louis Braille to write French, but has since been adapted to many other languages. English, which uses the Roman alphabet just as French does, required very little adaptation, but languages that do not use the Roman alphabet, such as Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, are often organized in a very different
manner.
Here is a Japanese word written in the tenji (“dot characters”) writing system. The large dots represent the raised bumps; the tiny dots
represent empty positions:
1. The following tenji words represent atari, haiku, katana, kimono, koi, and sake . Which is which?
2. What are the following words?
3. Write the following words in tenji characters:
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Japanese, Braille or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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11:00am
I should be on my way to work now. I'm too tired to deal with kids today. I woke up to bullshit. And now I'm heading into more bullshit. Then more bullshit later. I'm so tired.
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Ling Problems #2
Got caught up trying to figure out why I mistook 'aging' for 'Asian' while listening to a sermon at church. Then I proceeded to oo and ah and the voiced palato-alveolar affricate disguising itself as a 'g.'
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Linguistics problems #1
This is the first linguistics problem, known as Georgian countries.
These are the names of some countries in South America written in the Georgian language, together with their translations to English:
What are the names in English of the two untranslated countries?
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Georgian or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #11
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. uvixá; arukã; akuã; manduvi; peté; henú; pyrã; teju; a’é; juru; ku’a; ybyrá; erepytá; ybaté; erekér; jaguá; potár
2. 7a 15b 5c 4d 9e 8f 11g 13h 6i 1j 3k 14l 2m 10n 12o.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the eleventh linguistics problem, known as Inuktitut numbers.
Inuktitut is one of the main languages of the Inuit people, which live in several areas in northern Canada and Alaska. A few years ago, students from a school in the small town of Kaktovik invented a new way of writing numbers, more appropriate for the way numbers are expressed in the Inuktitut language.
Imagine that you are traveling through northern Canada and find some Inuit students that know nothing about English, Latin script or Indo-Arabic numerals. Then, in order to start communication, one of the students offers you a list of mathematical operations, shown below (in the left column). This version of the table uses the Indo-Arabic symbols for the operations.
1. Seeing that you understood the table, the student challenges you to write down the answers of another series of operations, shown in the right column. Give the answers in Inuktitut numerals.
2. To assure the student that you understood the system, you decided to write down the date of today (day, month and year) in Inuktitut numerals, assuming they used Gregorian calendar. What did you write down?
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Inuktitut or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems contest
I just found the coolest thing ever for a language/linguistics geek like me (and hopefully some of you)! It’s a set of language and linguistics problems that can be solved even without prior knowledge either of the language they are about or of linguistics. You just need logic and patience.
I’m going to be posting them every day to try to make your quarantine/self-isolation more enjoyable and I will post the solution the following day with a new problem.
How to take part
You can reblog with or comment the solution. The deadline for the answer to count for the contest will be until the new problem with the answers from the previous one is posted the following day, but you are welcome to try even if you are past the deadline.
Since there are 18 problems, the contest will start tomorrow (April 15) and finish on May 2 (with the answer from that day’s problem being published on May 3).
This is a preview of the problems:
Easy problems
Georgian (April 15)
Ancient Greek (April 16)
Aragonese (April 17)
Japanese Braille (April 18)
Lalana Chinantec (April 19)
Molistic (April 20)
Persian (April 21)
Intermediate problems
Kazakh (April 22)
Taikyoku shōgi (April 23)
Tupí and Guaraní (April 24)
Inuktitut (April 25)
Basque (April 26)
Basque (April 27)
Hard problems
Icelandic (April 28)
Manam (April 29)
Guaraní (April 30)
Aymara (May 1)
Toki Pona (May 2)
Prizes
Whoever gets more problems right will win a prize and there will also be a prize for everyone who tries to solve every problem (they don’t need to be right, just by answering coherently every day, you can win something).
By the way, ideas for prizes are more than welcome, since I have never hosted a contest here, so I don’t know what you would like. I would prefer it to be something I can send virtually (given the current situation) and made by me (so that it is more personal). Maybe the winners can choose what they’d like (a song translation at their request, a vocabulary list, a grammar explanation, a shoutout for their blog...).
What do you think? Please, send me your feedback, ideas for prizes, and whether you’d be interested in participating. Let me know in the comments!
Disclaimers: I have taken the problems from an external source which I won’t reveal not to spoil the competition and not to give any advantage, but I would ask you to refrain from looking it up and cheating, because this is only for fun and no one gains anything from such behavior. I will post the source at the end of the contest.
I have tried to solve some of the problems myself, namely the first seven ones, and I have managed to solve most of them, so it is feasible.
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Linguistics problems #9
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. f i. segiz ben elüw; a ii. bir men bes; b iii. bir men segiz; i iv. elüw eki men on; e v. žeti men elüw; h vi. otız ben eki; d vii. tört pen žeti; c viii. üš pen eki; g ix. on üš pen otız
2. a) bes pen otız segiz b) on men tört c) žeti men elüw üš d) otız segiz ben bes.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the ninth linguistics problem, known as Taikyoku shōgi.
Japanese chess (shōgi), played on a board of size 9 by 9 and with a total of 40 men, is the most popular intellectual game in contemporary Japan, where it entertains between 10 and 20 million people. But between the 8th and 18th century many other variants of the game were invented in that country, some on smaller and some on larger boards.
The largest of all Japanese chess games (and generally the largest chess game in history) is taikyoku shōgi (more or less “ultimate chess”), in which the board is of size 36 by 36 (or 1296 squares in all) and every player has in the beginning an army of 402 men of 208 different types.
This is a table which contains the names of some of the men in taikyoku shōgi (in Japanese and in English), as well as the name of the man to which each of them promotes upon reaching one of the farthest 11 ranks of the board.
Fill the gaps.
Note: A bar above a vowel letter indicates length.
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about taikyoku shōgi, Japanese, or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #8
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. a) the stool at the table
b) the book under the bookcase
2. c) sang zir-e āb (if the stone is completely covered by water)/sang pāin-e āb (if it’s, say, at a waterfall )
d) ja'abe pāin-e deraxt (if the box lies on the ground)/ja'abe zir-e deraxt (if the box is buried).
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the eighth linguistics problem, known as Kazakh.
Several phrases have been translated into Kazakh (written in Roman script here), but the translations are given in random order. Some of the words are missing.
1. Match each phrase with its correct translation and supply the missing words.
2. Translate into Kazakh:
a. five and thirty-eight
b. ten and four
c. seven and fifty-three
d. thirty-eight and five
Note: i, ö, ü, and ı are specific Kazakh vowels. The letter ž has the sound of s in the word “usual”.
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Kazakh or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #7
The solution to yesterday’s problem is: 1. c) 2. d).
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the seventh linguistics problem, known as Persian.
Several Persian phrases are presented together with their translations:
1. Translate into English:
2. Here are two English phrases and their Persian translations (with gaps):
Fill the gaps. If you think that some of them can be filled in more than one way, give all possible answers.
Note: ā, å, š, č, ğ, and ' represent specific Persian sounds.
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Persian or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems contest
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. kiwen suno - jelo gold; tomo tawa telo - boat; jan Powi - Boris; ilo suno - lantern; telo jelo - piss; jan ilo - robot; jan toki - prophet; supa lape - bed; supa moku - dinner table; ma tomo - city; wile moku - hungry; tawa - movement; nasin linja - orthodoxy; wile pona - well-intentioned; telo kiwen - ice; lipu toki - book; wile lawa - dominant, linja lawa - hair, tomo moku - restaurant, linja kiwen - thorn
2. kiwen - rocky, solid object; jan - person; lipu - flexible surface; suno - light, bright, sun; ilo - thing, tool; wile - will, desire; jelo - yellow; toki - word, to speak; ma - land, soil, earth; tomo - shelter, house, vehicle; supa - horizontal surface; nasin - path; tawa - movement; lape - to sleep; linja - (straight) line; telo - water; moku -to eat
3. good language.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
Thank you so much to everyone for participating! I hope you found the problems interesting. I wanted to thank personally every one who took part and submitted their answers. Thank you, @bringonthehayl, @busyfollowingbees, @captaincanute, @doughygraduatestudent, @holyfunnyhistoryherring, @kattitude130, @kiragecko, @lang0weilig, @languagekat5288, @missowieoop, @nakimushi16, @oh-bitch-you-wary, @randomaj-aferoj, @reyneclaw, @rurubot, and @zoueriemandzijnopmars.
And special thanks to @lang0weilig for participating every single day.
The source where I got these problems is the International Linguistics Olympiad, where you can find not only these sample problems and their solutions, but also the puzzles of every year it has been hosted with their solutions, so you can try to solve them if you are bored during quarantine/self-isolation.
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Linguistics problems #2
The solution to yesterday’s problem is: Argentina and Colombia, as all of you guessed. If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the second linguistics problem, known as Ancient Greek.
Consider these phrases in Ancient Greek (in a Roman-based transcription) and their unordered English translations:
1. Match the Ancient Greek phrase (A-H) with the corresponding English translation (1-8).
2. Translate into Ancient Greek:
a) the houses of the merchants
b) the donkeys of the slave
Note: the letter ō stands for a long o
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Ancient Greek or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #12
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1.
2.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the twelfth linguistics problem, known as Basque numbers.
Basque is spoken by 500,000 to 600,000 people in France and Spain and by about 170,000 people in South America. It has not been proven to be related to any other language.
Several multiplications have been written out in Basque. There are gaps in the last two lines.
1. Fill in the gaps.
2. Write in figures:
3. Write out in Basque:
Note: The letter s has the sound of English -sh-, z of -s-, tz of -ts- in “cats”. The letter h is mute.
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Basque or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #3
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. E1, C2, D3, H4, A5, B6, G7, F8
2. a) hoi tōn emporōn oicoi b) hoi tu dulu onoi
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the third linguistics problem, known as Aragonese.
In the Iberian Peninsula, there are several languages, apart from Portuguese and Spanish (Castilian), that share the same romanic origin, such as Catalan, Galician, Mirandese, Asturian, Leonese and Aragonese. The list below brings a list of words in Aragonese, their plural forms and their translations to English. Write down the missing words.
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Aragonese or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #6
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. beautiful(ly)
2. ripe
3. a) kalali:Ɂ mo:h ʤö {PAST-(become beautiful) pineapples (good/well)ADJ}
b) ʤö mɨlane kwɨ ro:h kya {(well)ADV [PRES.PERF-(yellow) corn (ripe)ADJ (my)]}
4. c) The yellow corn has ripened. d) The corn grew beautifully.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the sixth linguistics problem, known as Molistic.
Imagine that you have heard these sentences:
Jane is molistic and slatty.
Jennifer is cluvious and brastic.
Molly and Kyle are slatty but danty.
The teacher is danty and cloovy.
Mary is blitty but cloovy.
Jeremiah is not only sloshful but also weasy.
Even though frumsy, Jim is sloshful.
Strungy and struffy, Diane was a pleasure to watch.
Easy though weasy, John is strungy.
Carla is blitty but struffy.
The salespeople were cluvious and not slatty.
1. Then which of the following would you be likely to hear?
a) Meredith is blitty and brastic.
b) The singer was not only molistic but also cluvious.
c) May found a dog that was danty but sloshful.
2. What quality or qualities would you be looking for in a person?
a) blitty
b) weasy
c) sloshful
d) frumsy
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Molistic or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #5
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. a) haiku b) sake c) katana d) kimono e) koi f) atari
2. g) karate h) anime
3. i)
j)
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the fifth linguistics problem, known as Lalana Chinantec.
Lalana Chinantec is a language spoken by approximately 10,000 people who live in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. In the following orthography, a colon (:) marks a long vowel, and the Ɂ symbol marks a glottal stop (like the sound in the middle of “uh-oh”).
1. What does the word li:Ɂ mean?
2. What does the word ro:h mean?
3. Translate the following sentences into Lalana Chinantec:
a) The good pineapples became beautiful.
b) My ripe corn has yellowed well.
4. Translate the following sentences into English:
c) mɨlaro:h kwɨ: ne
d) li:Ɂ kalakwa: kwɨ:
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Lalana Chinantec or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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Linguistics problems #14
The solution to yesterday’s problem is:
1. Ines is Mikel’s wife. Kontxi is Monika’s sister. Felix is Mikel’s brother. Andres is Emilio and Miren’s son.
2. We know that Monika is ahizpa (“a woman’s sister”) to Kontxi; therefore, Kontxi is female.
3. a) Monikaren b) seme-alabak dira c) arreba da d) neba da e) alaba da f) Mirenen.
If anyone wants the detailed explanation, send me a direct message and I will give it to you.
This is the fourteenth linguistics problem, known as Icelandic kinship.
Guðrún Eriksdóttir Hrafnhildardóttir and Jakob Christiansson had three kids, from which they are very proud, for their successes and for all of them have given them grandsons or granddaughters. In order to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary, the long-lived couple had a party with all their descendants: sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, great-grandsons and great-granddaughters. Naturally, some of their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, as well as grandsons-in-law and granddaughters-in-law, were also invited. Here is the list of all the people in the party:
Christian Kristínsson
Daniel Guðrúnarson Jakobsson
Daniel Steinunnarson Đorarinssonar
Eva Emilsdóttir Kvaran
Gunnar Gunnarsson
Hrafn Kristínsson Viktorsson
Ingimundur Sigurðarson Bergmann
Jakob Đorarinsson
Jón Oddsson Bergmann
Kristín Guðrúnardóttir Aronsdóttir
Margret Steinunnardóttir Jakobsdóttir
Ragnheiður Jakobsdóttir
Rakel Ragnheiðardóttir Bergmann
Robert Bergmann Gunnarsson
Sara Jakobs Đorarinssonar
Sigurður Jóns Bergmann
Stefan Gunnarsson Gunnarssonar
Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Viktor Danielsson Jakobssonar
Viktoría Viktorsdóttir
1. Among the participants, who is the older descendant of an immigrant?
2. Which of the sons/daughters of Guðrún and Jakob has no grandsons/granddaughters?
3. How many kids had Viktor?
4. How many kids had Steinum?
5. Which of the sons/daughters of Rakel didn’t inherit any of her surnames?
6. Write five possibilities of name and surname for the son that Eva and Christian are waiting, knowing that his first name will be the same as the father of the pop singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir.
7. Steinunn liked very much his grandmother (mother of her mother), so that she gave her name to the daughter she had with Björn Annasson, before she married her present husband. Give two possibilities for the name of this girl.
Note: j is pronounced as -y- in “you”; Đ and ð are pronounced as -th- in “this”.
Either reblog the post with the answer (using #lingproblems) or write it in a comment. Only answers posted before tomorrow’s post will be counted for the prizes, but you can try to solve it even if the deadline has passed.
Remember that there is no need to know anything about Icelandic or linguistics to solve it, you just need logic and patience.
Good luck!
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