Problem:IOL/2012/i4/en

IOL 2012 Problem #4 Teop
One linguist decided to write a grammar of the Teop language. First she asked her informants to translate separate sentences into their mother tongue. Here is what she got:

(a) Translate into English:
 * 13. Eam paa ani a overe.
 * 14. Ean paa tasu a oraoraa bona kae.
 * 15. Eove paa tara ameam.

(b) Translate into Teop:
 * 16. We gave the food to you (sg.).
 * 17. He called me a child.
 * 18. I killed him with it (lit. with him).
 * 19. The sorcerer gave the fish to the boy.

Later the linguist recorded spontaneous speech in Teop and added some information into the grammar. Here are some extracts from the dialogues in Teop as well as their English translations. The context in which the sentences were uttered is given in brackets.

(c) Translate the sentences outside the brackets into Teop:
 * 24. (Why was the sorcerer offended?) They called the sorcerer a woman.
 * 25. (Why is this axe wet?) The boy killed the fish with the axe.

⚠ The Teop language belongs to the Austronesian family. It is spoken by approx. 5000 people in Papua New Guinea.

—Maria Konoshenko