NACLO 2023 - Problem QWhat to Wear

Invitational round | 5 points | 94.52% | Problem statement | Official solution | Tags: Phrase translation

Group the sentences by the piece of clothing mentioned.

• Skirt:
  • khat sàa nang aa. She wears a skirt.
  • khat sàa qhot ang. I wash a skirt.
  • u khat sàa lak chak aa. She forgets her skirt.
• Hat:
  • níing kho pok pok aa. She wears their hat.
  • kho pok pok aa. She wears a hat.
  • i kho pok qhat aa. My hat falls down.
  • kho pok rí u. You (singular) buy a hat.
• Blanket:
  • khat sam sám aa. She wears a blanket.
  • khat sam koq i. We give a blanket.
  • í khat sam huq aa. She steals our blanket.
• Earrings:
  • naa tsong tsong aa. She wears earrings.
  • baa naa tsong tsong aa. She wears your (sg.) earrings.
  • naa tsong hún aa. She makes earrings.
• Shoes:
  • jàa qhòng qhòng aa. She wears shoes.
  • jàa qhòng bì íin. You (pl.) search for shoes.
  • niìm jàa qhòng kap aa. She finds your (pl.) shoes.

Identify the common words in each group:

• Skirt: khat sàa
• Hat: kho pok
• Blanket: khat sam
• Earrings: naa tsong
• Shoes: jàa qhòng

How are we sure that both of these words are the same phrase? Because they don't appear anywhere else. For example, in "naa tsong tsong aa", if only "naa" means earrings, then we would expect to see "tsong" somewhere else among other sentences unrelated to earrings, but we don't, so "tsong" must pertain to earrings as well.

Usually, the clothing phrase comes first in the sentence:

• First:
  • khat sàa nang aa. She wears a skirt.
  • khat sàa qhot ang. I wash a skirt.
  • kho pok pok aa. She wears a hat.
  • kho pok rí u. You (sg.) buy a hat.
  • khat sam sám aa. She wears a blanket.
  • khat sam koq i. We give a blanket.
  • naa tsong tsong aa. She wears earrings.
  • naa tsong hún aa. She makes earrings.
  • jàa qhòng qhòng aa. She wears shoes.
  • jàa qhòng bì íin. You (pl.) search for shoes.
• Not first:
  • u khat sàa lak chak aa. She forgets her skirt.
  • níing kho pok pok aa. She wears their hat.
  • i kho pok qhat aa. My hat falls down.
  • í khat sam huq aa. She steals our blanket.
  • baa naa tsong tsong aa. She wears your (sg.) earrings.
  • niìm jàa qhòng kap aa. She finds your (pl.) shoes.

The big differentiator here is whether the clothing is part of a possessive. In the second group, the clothing is always possessed by someone. So now we know the possessive pronouns:

• i = my
• baa = your (sg.)
• u = her
• í = our
• niìm = your (pl.)
• níing = their

Only two words remain in each sentence. Notice that the last word is only "aa" when the subject is "she" (or "my hat"); so this likely stands for the subject. Then:

• ang = I
• u = you (sg.)
• aa = she
• i = we
• íin = you (pl.)

The word in the middle must be verb. But the verb is different for each type of clothing—this is fine. Wearing different types of things probably uses different verbs (like Chinese 穿 chuān for clothes and 戴 dài for accessories).

• nang = wear (skirt)
• pok = wear (hat)
• sám = wear (blanket)
• tsong = wear (earrings)
• qhòng = wear (shoes)
• qhot = wash
• rí = buy
• koq = give
• hún = make
• bì = search for
• lak chak = forget
• qhat = fall down
• huq = steal
• kap = find

The word order is [object] [verb] [subject] when the subject is a pronoun, and [subject] [verb] [subject] when the subject is a noun ("my hat falls down"). The final marker in the latter case is probably just an agreement marker based on the subject's gender. The possessive pronouns come before the noun itself.

a. jàa qhòng qhòng ang. = [shoes] [wear] [I] = I wear shoes
b. u kho pok pok u. = [her hat] [wear] [you (sg.)] = You (sg.) wears her hat
c. í jàa qhòng kap íin. = [our shoes] [find] [you (pl.)] = You (pl.) find our shoes
d. baa kho pok lak chak u. = [your (sg.) hat] [forget] [you (sg.)] = You (sg.) forget your (sg.) hat
e. Your (sg.) hat falls down. = [your (sg.) hat] [fall down] [she] = baa kho pok qhat aa
f. We buy your (sg.) earrings. = [your (sg.) earrings] [buy] [we] = baa naa tsong rí i
g. I forget our shoes. = [our shoes] [forget] [I] = í jàa qhòng lak chak ang
h. I forget my shoes. = [my shoes] [forget] [I] = i jàa qhòng lak chak ang