NACLO 2026 - Problem FMeowing in Māori

Open round | 15 points | N/A | Problem statement | Official solution | Tags: Phrase translationSyntax

Notice that the sentences can be of one of four types: simple present, present perfect, negative simple present, and negative present perfect. The sentences are as follows:

Apparently, "Kāhore" is the negation marker. In positive sentences, all simple aspect sentences begin with "Kei" and all perfect aspect sentences begin with "Kua". In negative ones, all simple aspect sentences contain "i" (only other word that repeats) and all perfect aspect sentences contain "kia" (the "ki", as evidenced by the simple positive and simple negative cases, probably means "to"). In fact, "kei" is always followed by "te" and so is "i", so the perfect marker is probably "kei te" and "i te". On the other hand, although all "kua" is followed by "kite", not all "kia" is followed by "kōrero", so the perfect marker is just "kua" and "kia".

Take these functional words away and list the rest according to the verb:

• Go to
  • haere āku ngeru ki tāna tāne — My cats go to her husband
  • haere tāu ngeru ki ngā whare — Your cat go to the houses
  • tāku tāne ... haere ki te wahine — My husband (not) go to the woman
  • ngā tāne ... haere ki tōu whare — The men (not) go to your house
• See
  • kite tōku matua tāne i āu ngeru — My father see your cats
  • kite au i tētahi whare — I see a house
  • kite koe i a ia — You see her
  • kite te ngeru i ōna whare — The cat see her houses
  • au ... kite i a koe — I (not) see you
• Speak to
  • koe ... kōrero ki ahau — You (not) speak to me
  • tāku tamawahine ... kōrero ki āku tamatāne — My daughter (not) speak to my sons

Compare the common words. It looks like the verbs are "haere", "kite", and "kōrero". The verb is always immediately after the aspect marker, which is after the "..." for negative sentences. The "ki" appears iff the verb contains "to", so it probably means "to", and the word(s) following it is the goal or indirect object. Similarly, the "i" would introduce the direct object because it's in a similar position (the antepenultimate word of the phrase). Since there are only 2 noun phrases in each sentence, the other one is now easily identifiable.

So we can say that the sentence phrase structure is as follows:

• Positive: [aspect] [verb] [subject] [i/ki] [object]
• Negative: Kāhore [subject] [aspect] [verb] [i/ki] [object]

Where:

• Positive [aspect]:
  • "kei te" = simple
  • "kua" = perfect
• Negative [aspect]:
  • "i te" = simple
  • "kia" = perfect
• [verb]:
  • "haere" = go
  • "kite" = see
  • "kōrero" = speak
• i/ki:
  • "ki" = to (introduces indirect object)
  • "i" = (introduces direct object)

We can take out all subjects and objects to analyze the noun phrase structure.

First the pronouns:

• au — I
• ahau — me
• koe — you
• a koe — you (object)
• a ia — her (object)

All object pronouns are the same as the subject pronouns but with "a" in front; "a au" becomes "ahau".

Then the other noun phrases, grouped by head noun:

• Cat
  • te ngeru — the cat
  • tāu ngeru — your cat
  • āku ngeru — my cats
  • āu ngeru — your cats
• Husband/man
  • tāku tāne — my husband
  • tāna tāne — her husband
  • ngā tāne — the men
• House
  • tōu whare — your house
  • tētahi whare — a house
  • ōna whare — her houses
  • ngā whare — the houses
• Others
  • te wahine — the woman
  • tōku matua tāne — my father
  • tāku tamawahine — my daughter
  • āku tamatāne — my sons

So we have the following concrete nouns (with no variation in the noun itself): "ngeru" = cat, "tāne" = husband/man, "whare" = house, "wahine" = woman, "matua tāne" = father ("male parent"), "tamawahine" = daughter ("female child"), "tamatāne" = son ("male child"). As for the determiner:

• "te" = the (sg)
• "ngā" = the (pl)
• "tētahi" = a (sg)
• "tāku"/"tōku" = my (sg)
• "āku" = my (pl)
• "tāu"/"tōu" = your (sg)
• "āu" = your (pl)
• "tāna" = her (sg)
• "ōna" = her (pl)

So obviously, plural determiners have the extra "t-" prefix (except for "the", for which the singular has "t-" but plural doesn't). Then, for possessives, there's some variation in the next vowel: either "ā" or "ō". This isn't gender agreement, because both "my daughter" and "my sons" use "ā". However, the vowel is always consistent within the head noun, so there's probably some noun class marking going on.

• "ā": ngeru (cat), tāne (husband), tamawahine (daughter), tamatāne (son)
• "ō": whare (house), matua tāne (father)

(It could also be a phonological process, but here it doesn't look like there could be any harmony to explain this. So more likely is that "ā" is used for things "around" you: pets, spouse, children, while "ō" is used for things "above" from you: house and parents.)

Finally, the possessor is marked by the ending: "-ku" = my, "-u" = your, "-na" = her.

1. Kei te kite au i ētahi wahine. = [Present] see I [direct] a.PL woman = I see some women.
2. Kua haere ia ki te whare. = [Perfect] go she to the.SG house = She has gone to the house.
3. Kāhore āna ngeru kia kite i ōku whare. = [Neg] her.PL cat [Perfect] see [direct] my.PL house = Her cats have not seen my houses.
4. Kei te kōrero tōu matua wahine ki a ia. = [Present] speak your.SG parent woman to her = Your mother speaks to her.
5. I have not seen your houses. = [Neg] I [Perfect] see [direct] your.PL house = Kāhore au kia kite i ōu whare.
6. Some men have seen me. = [Perfect] see a.PL man [direct] me = Kua kite ētahi tāne i ahau.
7. Her parents go to my house. = [Present] go her.PL parent to my.SG house = Kei te haere ōna matua ki tōku whare. (using "ōna" because "matua tāne" is in the "ō" class)
8. Your wife has spoken to you. = [Perfect] speak your.SG wife to you = Kua kōrero tāu wahine ki a koe. (using "tāu" because "tāne" is in the "ā" class)