Newsgroups: sci.lang
From: philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk (Phil Hunt)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!udel!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!peernews.demon.co.uk!storcomp.demon.co.uk!philip
Subject: Re: Linguistics for Kids
References: <3j3jg9$gh4@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
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Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 22:20:57 +0000
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SPOILER - my answers follow
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In article <3j3jg9$gh4@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
           asolovyo@silver.ucs.indiana.edu "ariadna a solovyova" writes:
> I'd like to post something that may be fun for you to look at. These are 
> linguistic problems that I've translated from Russian. Problems of this 
> kind have been offered to kids at Moscow State University Linguistic 
> Olimpiades for 30 years now. Tell me how you like them!

About what age are the kids taking this exam?

> Problem 1
> 
> Below you see words taken from several closely related languages. They can
> be grouped into pairs or triplets of words that have common origin and the
> same (or similar) meaning. 
> 
> a_k, dagr, bo_k, leib, fo_tr, wazzar, buoh, d@z^, plo_gr, ha_m, w@ter,
> hleifr, pfluog, eih, heimr, fuoz, plo_z^
> 
> 1. Group the words so that one group will have words of one language,
> another group the words of another language, and so on. How many languages
> are represented here? Point out which words of different languages
> correspond to each other. 
> 
> 2. (optional) Guess what the words mean. Guess what languages these are. 

meaning    A        B        C
-------    -----    -----    -----
plow       plo_gr   pfluog   plo_z^
day        dagr              d@z^
I          a_k      eih
home       heimr             ha_m
book       bo_k     buoh
life       hleifr   lieb    
water      fotr     wazzar   w@ter

I think A=Old Norse, B=Old High German, C=Old English.
I wouldn't be surprised if "fotr" is a red herring.
 
> Problem 2
> 
> Below you see some calculations in Danish. The numbers are given in their
> full form, only used in official documents. The spelling of the words is
> not always standard (but consistent). 
> 
> fem * fir = tyve
> fem * fem = femotyve
> fireofirsinstyve + seks = halvfemsinstyve
> seksotresinstyve + niden = femofirsinstyve
> femden + femotresinstyve = firsinstyve
> treden +        = niotyve
sekden (16)

> seks * ni =    
fireohalvtresinstyve (54)

> niotresinstyve + fireotyve = 
treohalvfemsinstyve (93)


> Problem 3
> 
> Below are three phrases from the Tadzhik language (one of the Central
> Asian languages of the former Soviet Union) with their English
> translations [in my transliteration - A.S.]: 
> 
> 1. dusti hubi xamsoai sumo    --    a good friend of your neighbour
> 2. xamsoai dusti hubi sumo    --    a neighbour of your good friend
> 3. xamsoai hubi dusti sumo    --    a good neighbour of your friend
> 
> Find out which English word corresponds to which of the Tadzhik words.

dusti = friend
hubi = good
xamsoai = neighbour
sumo = your

-- 
Phil Hunt...philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk
Majority rule for Britain!
