NACLO 2025 - Problem NSomething That Is Solved

It's not hard to see that there are groups of related words, based on both their meanings and their spellings. Then, a clear derivation pattern occurs, which I've annotated next to them:

Word 1	Pattern	Word 2	Pattern
hakuãt to hang (something) up	V[tran] 'To make hanged'	hinkuãt a hook (e.g. on a wall)	N 'Instrument for making hanged'
rac hot	Adj	harac to heat (something)	V[tran] 'To make hot'
ta level, flat	Adj	hata to level (something) out	V[tran] 'To make level'
haʔɛh̃ to approach (something)	V[tran]	humʔɛh̃ to cause (something) to approach	V[tran] 'To make approach'
pahuaʔ to fear, be scared	V	pumhuaʔa a scared person	N 'Something that is scared'
rɯk to arrive	V[tran]	ranɯk a vehicle	N 'Instrument for arriving'
sahuaŋ cool	Adj	sinhuaŋ (some) ice; sumhuaŋ to cool (something) down	N 'Instrument for cooling'; V[tran] 'To make cool'
tinkoʔ a prodding stick;	N 'Instrument for prodding'	tikoʔa something that is prodded	N 'Something that is prodded'
tiyəh new	Adj	tumyəh to renew (something)	V[tran] 'To make new'
ʔittət to wipe (something)	V[tran]	ʔinttət a wipe	N 'Instrument for wiping'

So there are the following categories:

Predicates: either adjectives, verbs that describe a state (be scared), or transitive verbs that's a concrete action (wipe)
Transitive verbs that's X making Y into some state
Nouns that are instruments for doing some action
Nouns that are objects of some action

Reordering the table above, and only highlighting the parts of each word that differs between categories:

Pred	V[cause]	N[inst]	N[obj]
	hakuãt	hinkuãt
rac	harac
rɯk		ranɯk
ta	hata
haʔɛh̃	humʔɛh̃
pahuaʔ			pumhuaʔa
sahuaŋ	sumhuaŋ	sinhuaŋ
		tinkoʔ	tikoʔa
tiyəh	tumyəh
ʔittət		ʔinttət

There are two groups of patterns:

V[cause] is formed by taking the predicate and either prefixing ha- to the predicate or replacing the first vowel with -um-.
N[inst] is formed by taking the predicate—or V[cause] if predicate is an adjective—and either adding -an- before the first vowel or replacing the first vowel with -in-.
N[obj] is formed by taking the predicate—or V[cause] if predicate is an adjective (the two cases both lack the explicit V[cause] form, but this can be inferred from the V[cause] derivation rules)—and suffixing -a.

When there are two derivations possible, the first one is used for single-syllable roots, and the second one is used for multi-syllable roots.

Therefore:

(a) fue = fanue string - -an- [inst] = to tie (something)
(b) fuea = fue to tie (something) + -a [obj] = something that is tied
(c) hapin = ha- [cause] + pin thick = to thicken (something)
(d) kuãt = hakuãt to hang (something) up - ha- [cause] = hanging
(e) harɯk = ha- [cause] + rɯk to arrive = to cause (something) to arrive
(f) a beverage = top to drink (something) + -a [obj] = topa
(g) a cup = top to drink (something) + -an- [inst] = tanop
(h) to float (something) = ha- [cause] + teh to float = hateh
(i) to fly = haneh airplane - -an- [inst] = heh
(j) a knife = kuah to shave + -an- [inst] = kanuah
(k) to make (something) prod = tikoʔa something that is prodded - -a [obj] + -um- [cause] = tumkoʔ
(l) near = haʔɛh̃ to approach (something) - ha- [cause] = ʔɛh̃ (yes, so humʔɛh̃ is a double causative—gasps)
(m) to saw (e.g. wood) = kintal a saw - -in- [inst] = kXtal (don't know what the original vowel is)
(n) something loose = paloʔ loose + -um- [cause] + -a [obj] = pumloʔa
(o) a throat = calɯak to swallow + -in- [inst] = cinlɯak
(p) a trap = kasɯ to trap + -in- [inst] = kinsɯ
(q) to turn (something) over = saput to turn (oneself) over + -um- [cause] = sumput

In N2, the four words don't have their roots given to us, but we can still identify the morphology:

kahay has no morphological affixes, so it's a root word.
kumfec has -um- [cause], so it's a causative.
mahelepa has -a [obj], so it's a recipient noun.
tanian has -an- [inst], so it's an instrumental noun.

to feel empty (in the heart) is a predicate; a file (tool) is an instrument; to make (something) tiny is a causative; something that is made to fit is a recipient. Therefore the matching is 1 = A, 2 = C, 3 = D, 4 = B.

NACLO 2025 - Problem NSomething That Is Solved

It's not hard to see that there are groups of related words, based on both their meanings and their spellings. Then, a clear derivation pattern occurs, which I've annotated next to them:

Word 1

Pattern

Word 2

Pattern

hakuãt to hang (something) up

V[tran] 'To make hanged'

hinkuãt a hook (e.g. on a wall)

N 'Instrument for making hanged'

rac hot

Adj

harac to heat (something)

V[tran] 'To make hot'

ta level, flat

Adj

hata to level (something) out

V[tran] 'To make level'

haʔɛh̃ to approach (something)

V[tran]

humʔɛh̃ to cause (something) to approach

V[tran] 'To make approach'

pahuaʔ to fear, be scared

pumhuaʔa a scared person

N 'Something that is scared'

rɯk to arrive

V[tran]

ranɯk a vehicle

N 'Instrument for arriving'

sahuaŋ cool

Adj

sinhuaŋ (some) ice; sumhuaŋ to cool (something) down

N 'Instrument for cooling'; V[tran] 'To make cool'

tinkoʔ a prodding stick;

N 'Instrument for prodding'

tikoʔa something that is prodded

N 'Something that is prodded'

tiyəh new

Adj

tumyəh to renew (something)

V[tran] 'To make new'

ʔittət to wipe (something)

V[tran]

ʔinttət a wipe

N 'Instrument for wiping'

So there are the following categories:

Predicates: either adjectives, verbs that describe a state (be scared), or transitive verbs that's a concrete action (wipe)

Transitive verbs that's X making Y into some state

Nouns that are instruments for doing some action

Nouns that are objects of some action

Reordering the table above, and only highlighting the parts of each word that differs between categories:

Pred

V[cause]

N[inst]

N[obj]

hakuãt

hinkuãt

rac

harac

rɯk

ranɯk

hata

haʔɛh̃

humʔɛh̃

pahuaʔ

pumhuaʔa

sahuaŋ

sumhuaŋ

sinhuaŋ

tinkoʔ

tikoʔa

tiyəh

tumyəh

ʔittət

ʔinttət

There are two groups of patterns:

V[cause] is formed by taking the predicate and either prefixing ha- to the predicate or replacing the first vowel with -um-.

N[inst] is formed by taking the predicate—or V[cause] if predicate is an adjective—and either adding -an- before the first vowel or replacing the first vowel with -in-.

N[obj] is formed by taking the predicate—or V[cause] if predicate is an adjective (the two cases both lack the explicit V[cause] form, but this can be inferred from the V[cause] derivation rules)—and suffixing -a.

When there are two derivations possible, the first one is used for single-syllable roots, and the second one is used for multi-syllable roots.

Therefore:

In N2, the four words don't have their roots given to us, but we can still identify the morphology:

kahay has no morphological affixes, so it's a root word.

kumfec has -um- [cause], so it's a causative.

mahelepa has -a [obj], so it's a recipient noun.

tanian has -an- [inst], so it's an instrumental noun.