Swahili

 
 
f.  
d.  
e.  
c.  
a.  
b.  
 
Strategy:  
The  tricky  bit  is  to  figure  out  which  of  pili  and  nne  is  2nd  and  which  one  is  4th.    The  
numbers  do  not  just  show  up  in  the  dates  but  also  in  the  names  of  the  days  of  the  
week.   For   October   5th,   we   have   Monday,   Wednesday,   and   Sunday,   and   they   are  
called   juma-­pili,   juma-­tatu,   and   juma-­tano.   How   do   we   figure   out   which   one   is  
which?  We  know  that  tano  is  5th    and  tatu  is  3rd.  If  pili    was  4th,  then  we  would  have  3  
adjacent   days   (3,4,5)   which   can’t   be,   since   the   actual   days   are   not   all   adjacent  
(Mon/Wed/Sun).   So   it   must   be   the   case   that   pili   is   2,   and   that   the   counting   of   the  
days  starts  with  Saturday=1  (jumamosi),  Sunday=2  (jumapili),  Monday=3  (jumatatu)  
and  Wednesday=5  (jumatano).  So  pili  is  2nd  and  nne  is  4th.  
 
Tajik  
 
1.  дyycти  =  friend  
2.  xaмcoaй  =  neighbour  
3.  xyби  =  good  
4.  cyмo  =  your  
 
Strategy:  
1.  Which  two  words  are  adjacent  in  the  first  two  phrases  but  not  in  the  third?  These  
words,  ‘дyycти  xyби’  must  be  the  two  words  ‘good  friend’.  However,  we  do  not  yet  
know  which  of  them  corresponds  to  ‘good’  and  which  one  to  ‘friend’.  By  elimination,  
we   also   know   that   ‘xaмcoaй   cyмo’   must   be   ‘your   neighbor’,   but   again,   we   do   not  
know  which  word  is  which.    
 
2.  However,  we  can  treat  ‘дyycти  xyби’  as  a  chunk  that  means  ‘good  friend’,  which  
means  that  our  two  options  for  sentence  one  are:1    
1A.  [good-­‐friend]  (of)  neighbour  your    
2B.  [good-­‐friend]  (of)  your  neighbour  
 
                                                                                                               
1  Note:  We  know  that  ‘of’,  despite  the  fact  that  it  does  not  correspond  to  an  actual  word  in  Tajik,  must  

be  filled  in  between  good-­‐friend  and  neighbour  in  the  English  versions,  so  I  have  added  it  here  based  
on  that  rule.    
These  correspond  to  the  following  two  options  for  sentence  two.    
2A.  neighbor  (of)  [good-­‐friend]  your  
2B.  your  [good-­‐friend]  (of)  neighbor  
 
However,  only  option  2A  makes  sense  given  the  English  translation  that  we  have  for  
sentence   2,   ‘a   neighbor   of   your   good   friend.’   Since   we   are   assuming   that   the   word  
order  is  always  consistent,  2B  would  have  to  be  interpreted  ‘your  good  friend  of  a  
neighbour,’  which  is  not  what  the  question  says.  Therefore,  we  can  conclude  that  the  
A  option  is  correct,  and  that:  
 
xaмcoaй  =  neighbour  
cyмo  =  your  
 
3.   Now   let’s   try   to   break   up   the   chunk   good-­‐friend,   using   sentence   3.   Since   we’ve  
established   the   words   for   ‘neighbor’   and   ‘your’,   we   can   fill   those   in,   and   we   are  
therefore   left   with   two   possibilities   (I   have   not   filled   in   ‘of’   here,   because   it   not  
necessary).    
 
3A.  neighbour  good  friend  your  
3B.  neighbour  friend  good  your  
 
The  translation  that  we  are  given  for  sentence  3  is  ‘a  good  neighbour  of  your  friend’.  
Since   we   know   that   when   ‘good’   modifies   ‘friend’,   these   two   words   are   directly  
beside  each  other,  we  want  ‘good’  to  be  beside  ‘neighbor’  when  we’re  talking  about  a  
good   neighbor.   The   only   option   where   this   happens   is   3A.   We   can   thus   conclude  
that:  
 
xyби  =  good  
дyycти  =  friend  
 
Based   on   this,   we   would   expect   ‘good’   to   occur   after   ‘friend’   in   ‘good   friend’,   and   we  
can  see  that  it  does  so  in  sentences  1  and  2.    
 
Alternative  explanation  for  part  3:  
We   know   that   дyycти   xyби   must   be   either   ‘good   friend’   or   ‘friend   good’,   and   we  
know   that   sentence   3   begins   with   the   word   ‘neighbor.’   Since   ‘neighbor’   is   the   first  
word   in   sentence   3,   we   know   that   the   order   must   be   ‘neighbor   good’   not   ‘good  
neighbor.’   In   order   to   be   consistent,   дyycти   xyби   must   be   ‘friend   good’,   not   ‘good  
friend.’  
 
Conclusion:   in   Tajik,   adjectives   follow   the   nouns   they   modify   (friend   good)   and  
possessive  pronouns  do  so  as  well  (friend  your),  which  is  different  from  English.  The  
possessor   follows   what   it   possesses,   which   is   similar   to   the   English   ‘of’   construction  
as  in:  A  good  friend  of  your  neighbor.    
Luvian  
 
1.  Varpalava  
 
2.  Kurkuma  
 
3.  Tuvarnava  
 
4.  Palaa  
 
5.  Tarkumuva  
 
6.  Khamatu  
 
 
Strategy:  
There   are   two   regions,   two   cities,   two   kings.   Among   the   6   words,   there   are   three  
pairs   of   words   that   end   with   the   same   symbol,   so   chances   are   these   symbols  
correspond   to   the   words   for   ‘region’,   ‘city’,   and   ‘king’   respectively.   Looking   at   the  
last  symbol  but  one  in  each  word,  we  see  that  three  of  them  end  in  the  same  symbol  
(the   pipe   with   two   dots).   Three   of   the   words   we’re   looking   for   end   in   the   syllable  
‘va’,  so  chances  are  this  is  the  symbol  for  the  syllable  ‘va’,  and  the  writing  system  is  
syllable  based.    This  is  further  confirmed  that  each  of  these  3  words  has  4  symbols,  
corresponding  to  the  4  syllables  of  the  words  ending  in  [va].  If  that’s  correct,  we  just  
need   to   figure   out   what   syllables   the   other   symbols   stand   for.   Word   1   has   a   very  
similar  symbol  in  the  first  syllable  as  in  the  last  syllable  ‘va’.  The  little  extra  squiggle  
might   be   the   symbol   for   adding   an   [r]   to   make   the   syllable   [var],   so   this   might   be  
Varpalava.   And   then   3   would   be   Tuvarnava,   and   consequently   5   (the   last   word  
ending   in   [va])   must   be   Tarkumuva.   The   second   syllable   [ku]   is   also   the   second  
syllable  of  Kurkuma,  so  2  but  have  to  be  that—and  this  example  further  confirms  the  
idea   that   the   squiggle   really   stands   for   [r].   Then   Kamatu   is   easy   to   find   (last   syllable  
of  6  is  the  same  as  first  syllable  of  Tuvarnava  in  3)  and  Palaa  must  be  4.  
 
Another  hint  is  that  the  symbol  for  ‘region’  looks  like  two  of  the  symbol  for  ‘city’  
stuck  together.  This  makes  sense,  since  there  are  probably  several  cities  in  a  region.