2023 · open round · H · 15 points

My Grandmother and I

Michael Salter · semantics · morphology · rule discovery

Pronouns are words like us or she that refer to a person or group relevant to the conversation. This problem is about the system of pronouns in the language Lardil, which is spoken on Mornington Island, off the north coast of Australia. Lardil's pronoun system may seem complex at first, but it is organized around a systematic and logical set of principles.

Below are thirteen groups of people, followed by pronouns that could refer to them in Lardil. Note that the Lardil words are not translations of the English—they are pronouns that could refer to the group described in English, similar to how the English pronoun us is not defined as "Alex and me" but might refer to "Alex and me" in a particular context. The English and Lardil are in the same order as each other, not scrambled.

English	Lardil
my grandmother and I	nyarri
he, his brother, and his sister	bili
you, your sister, and your grandson	kili
my great-grandfather and I	nyaanki
you and your brother	kirri
my grandparents and I	nyali
you and your aunt	nyiinki
you, your father, and your mother	kilmu
my son, my mother, and I	nyalmu
she and her grandparents	bili
my son and I	nyaanki
my sister, my grandson, and I	nyali
she and her great-granddaughter	niinki

H1. Match up the following groups and pronouns:

a. you and your parents	1. nyalmu
b. my grandfather and I	2. bili
c. you and your grandchildren	3. kilmu
d. she, her grandmother, and her brother	4. kili
e. he and his sister	5. nyarri
f. my daughter, my mother, and I	6. birri

H2. What would be the correct Lardil pronoun for:

my father and I
you and your granddaughter
my uncle, my aunt, and I
he and his parents
she and her mother
you and your cousin

H3. Circle all of the following groups that would be designated as birri. The number of answers that should be circled could be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

my uncle and I
you, your brother, and your grandfather
she and her sister

H4. There is another pair of pronouns in Lardil, ngakuli and ngakulmu, which are used to refer to groups made of "you, I, and one other person." Assuming that "I" and "you" are brother and sister, which word would you use to refer to:

you, I, and our grandfather
you, I, and our aunt

H5. What Lardil word would refer to "you and I", where "I" refers to the speaker and "you" refers to the speaker's sister?

TimerminutesOptional. Set whatever limit suits you.

Questions

0 of 18 correct

Match up the groups and pronouns. Give the number (1-6) of the Lardil pronoun that could refer to each group.

a. you and your parents

b. my grandfather and I

c. you and your grandchildren

d. she, her grandmother, and her brother

e. he and his sister

f. my daughter, my mother, and I

What would be the correct Lardil pronoun for each group?

a. my father and I

b. you and your granddaughter

c. my uncle, my aunt, and I

d. he and his parents

e. she and her mother

f. you and your cousin

The booklet asks you to circle every group that would be called birri. Answer yes or no for each one; the number of yes answers could be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

my uncle and I

you, your brother, and your grandfather

she and her sister

Lardil also has ngakuli and ngakulmu, used for groups made of "you, I, and one other person." Assuming "I" and "you" are brother and sister, which word would you use?

a. you, I, and our grandfather

b. you, I, and our aunt

Answer the final question.

What Lardil word would refer to "you and I", where "I" refers to the speaker and "you" refers to the speaker's sister?

Explanation

Try the questions first. Use the Hint button next to any part if you need a nudge.

Reading the explanation costs no XP. Worth 15 points in the real exam.