NACLO 2026 - Problem LHide and Seek in Hunzib

Invitational round | 10 points | N/A | Problem statement | Official solution | Tags: Phonology

Within the data, the singular to plural can involve one of the following changes:

• Insertion of ȧ́
• Insertion of bá
• Insertion of yȧ́
• Insertion of wȧ́
• Insertion of á
• Replacement of a vowel with á

There are two other obvious changes which I won't discuss in more detail: word-final ə → e, and the existing stress is removed.

ȧ́	bá	wȧ́	yȧ́	á	V → á
ȧ́qʼu → ȧȧ́qʼu	ãqáa → ãqabáa ĩzáa → ĩzabáa	čóqe → čowȧ́qe ə́qʼə → əwȧ́qʼe gúše → guwȧ́še λɨ̃́qʼə → λɨ̃wȧ́qʼe	ékʼe → eyȧ́kʼe éže → eyȧ́že gíčʼ → giyȧ́čʼ λíše → λiyȧ́še		hȧ́hel → hȧhál ĩčox → ĩčáx kʼékʼel → kʼekʼál
				ékle → ekále ə́cʼkʼə → əcʼákʼe gúkʼle → gukʼále ɨ̃́cʼlə → ɨ̃cʼále ɨ́qʼkʼə → ɨqʼákʼe ɨ́qʼlə → ɨqʼále ɨ́xkʼə → ɨxákʼe	ȧ́hukʼ → ȧhákʼ éžel → ežál háldukʼ → haldákʼ háldul → haldál ɨ̃́qəl → ɨ̃qál λíšel → λišál réλekʼ → reλákʼ

The place of insertion is always before the last syllable (long vowels like "áa" are treated as two syllables). If replacement of a vowel occurs, it's the last vowel that's replaced.

Now look for some complementary distributions (changes that happen if and only if an environment is present):

• The "V → á" condition is the only one where singular forms end in VC where V is unstressed (because "gíčʼ" also ends in a consonant).

• The "bá" condition is the only one where singular forms end in a long vowel (VV).

• The "á" condition is the only one where singular forms end in CCV.

• All other conditions have the singular forms ending in V́C(V).

  • ȧ́: after ȧ
  • wȧ́: after o, ə, u, ɨ̃
  • yȧ́: after e, i

  So this is a three-way split based on the identity of V́.

L1:

• íƛʼe: ends in íCV, apply yȧ́: iyȧ́ƛʼe
• koxáa: ends in VV, apply bá: koxabáa
• ƛʼə́qʼə: ends in ə́CV, apply wȧ́ (and change ə to e): ƛʼəwȧ́qʼe
• óčʼokʼ: ends in VC, apply V → á: óčákʼ
• ṹqʼe: ends in ṹCV, apply wȧ́: ũwȧ́qʼe
• ṹxel: ends in VC, apply V → á: ũxál

In L2, we now need to understand the verbalizer/causative suffix rules. Namely, when do we add each kind of suffix.

-l/-kʼ	-lə/kʼə	-le/-kʼe
ȧ́hu-kʼ éže-l háldu-kʼ háldu-l ɨ̃́qə-l λíše-l réλe-kʼ	ə́cʼ-kʼə ɨ̃́cʼ-lə ɨ́qʼ-kʼə ɨ́qʼ-lə ɨ́x-kʼə	ék-le gúkʼ-le

The conclusion is that if the word ends in a vowel, we add -l/-kʼ. If it ends in a consonant and the previous vowel is ə or ɨ, we add -lə/kʼə. If it ends in a consonant and the previous vowel is e or u, we add -le/-kʼe.

• dress s. up = dress up + causative = λɨ̃́qʼə-kʼ. Ends in VC, plural uses V → á: λɨ̃qʼákʼ.
• put s. on = put s. on to s. － causative = gúkʼ. Ends in úC, plural uses wȧ́: guwȧ́kʼ.
• put the fire on = burn + verbalizer = ékʼe-l. Ends in VC, plural uses V → á: ekál.
• renew s. = new + causative = be renewed － verbalizer + causative = ɨ̃́cʼ-kʼə. Ends in CCV, plural uses á: ɨ̃cʼákʼe.
• take s. off = make s. take s. off － causative = ȧ́hu. Ends in ȧ́CV, plural uses ȧ́: ȧȧ́hu.
• warm up = be warm + verbalizer = warm s. － causative + verbalizer = ɨ́xlʼə. Ends in CCV, plural uses á: ɨxálʼe.

Lastly in L4:

• úhle ends in CCV, so it should use á condition: uhálé. Instead wȧ́ is used, which should be for úCV.
• gíčʼkʼe ends in CCV, so it should use á condition: gičákʼe. Instead yȧ́ is used, which should be for íCV.

In both of these cases, the two final consonants are treated as a single one. That's what I would put here. However, the analysis given is that the order in which we do causative/verbalizer suffixation and pluralization is flipped.

• When first doing causative/verbalize:
  • úh + le = úhle. Plural: uhále.
  • gíčʼ + causative = gíčʼkʼe. Plural: gičákʼe.
• When first doing pluralization:
  • úh + wȧ́ = uwȧ́h. Causative: uwȧ́h-le.
  • gíčʼ + yȧ́ = giyȧ́čʼ. Verbalized: giyȧ́č-kʼe.