Classified Advertisements SpecGram Vol CLIX, No 1 Contents
   
The solution to the second Ling-Ken puzzle is below.
s t i m e
e m t i s
m i e s t
m i e s t
t e s m i
i s t e m
     
s t i e m
e m t i s
m i e s t
m i e s t
t e s m i
i s t m e
     
s t e i m
e m i t s
m i s e t
m i e t s
t e s m i
i s t m e

The prize-winning puzzlemeisters below will each receive a SpecGram magnet of their choice.

  • Jessie Sams
  • Philip Newton
  • Kathryn Taylor
  • Luke Lindemann
  • Joachim Mugdan
  • Christina Castedo
In addition, the following puzzlemeisters receive honorable mentions (Oh, the glory! The glory!) for correctly completing the puzzle!

  • Scott Horne
  • Keith Slater
  • Bryan Allen
  • Kristin Kopf
  • Shawn Boyd
  • Adam Bernard
  • Nynke de Haas
  • Adam Hesterberg
Congratulations to all!

Vallelz Noun Class Word Search

Keith Slater and Trey Jones

Friends, what is fieldwork? What is satisfying about it? Is it not an activity that combines all the best of human capabilities? The search for data, the analysis of data, the throwing out of once promising “data” that turns out not to be data at all...

This puzzle emulates all the stages of fieldwork, without the inconvenience of leaving your friends, colleagues, and familiar restaurants behind. You must find data. You must evaluate the suitability of the data, throwing out what turns out to be irrelevant. You must analyze the data. Based on this analysis, you must repeat the cycle, discovering new data and throwing out old hypotheses. Finally, you must write up a tolerably insightful, reasonably complete, decently clear, passably convincing, adequately lengthy and satisfyingly pithy account of what the data tells you about the language and the minds of its speakers.

Below is a small corpus of data from the language Vallelz, representing fourteen of its numerous semantically-grouped noun classes. The Vallelz glosses provided are for the unmarked, indefinite singular form of each noun. The sub-list of capitalized words at the beginning of the first column of the corpus is comprised of language names, some of which you may not have been familiar with.


Benhirloŋtam  benhirroŋtam
Englishæŋliʒ
Frenchfræɴze
Germanæledʒeɽdoɪtθ
Italianitaliano
Latinɢɽɜēk
Oboioboioboiwikantsitstil  oʙoioʙoioʙoivikannittiɭ
Pirahãpirahã
Ple Nvæn-ilaplenvænila
Portuguesepɤɹʈɯkɜs
Russianʀʀũʉsɢɨ
Spanishɛsbaɲoʟ
Swedishsvediʃ
Vallelzvalleʟz
Winodanugaivinodanugai
Xoŋryɣoŋʀʏ
artichokeūǁæɛʒ
bambooŋỹīʐĩɓʔō
bedbugynɯʃ
beeʈɤcχōħ
big barnɭɯθʊɴɜrɒɴʉʔ
blueberryɢœχɞqã
calculuspølɜχɸʋǣrỹʟ
cardinal (bird)  ʌɗɔɸcɐ
catɓa
      
chickeneɖʎɔʒɛʈkʃīɟ
childaɘðjīʀʋoz
combineɵɴɠœʔβɘ
cottonʙəʕɑʁ
cowʏʟrā
dogʝɞūǂæɖfʊʙyɶ
donkeyʐʌmmũɴʒīiŋ
duckɢœ
elephantǃæɰucɖʉt
farmeraʏʐzʘəǁūɠ
frisbeeǀɵɦfɘɖīç
garlicɭɯlɽɐ
goatɤðħɪ
gooseŋəɻɻoū
harvesterrāʂʟȳŋɶχ
hay balerɜne
hoeɳĩūɭɐǁnãʔ
horseeɓūʁōʙŋȳ
laptopʈæʕβēũɵǃ
lawnmower  ʄɤōɣæɢɵʛỹɦɽɑg
linguistβīẽɻɒkiz
llamafāʂ
locustĩɣyððōɣɖōʐ
manʙo
mouseāmʊmŋ
orangeɴɨõøɣɔeqʊ
      
pigçɨɘ
plowkɐǂʊǀỹɭə
pumpkinʌʛõfūgiȳ
rabbitʋōʐēɓōɖ
rakeʔɔffʉɻɒʀ
riceʙɶɢŋɵẽʟɵɨrɞ
scarecrowfēcɭēʕʙøɽhōɸ
scythelūūdĩɹoɹŋǣ
sheepɢɛʝnoħɤɹ
silosʏỹħpænɪʟ
solar panelɓāɴʃãǀʎɸoo
strawberryeãoββỹ
sudokubeǀɞlup
sunfloweroɖʉʁɜnøʝk
tomatoʁɔɳɦĩçæfɜɣ
toy wagonʀʌʌʏeǂɞŋɸẽɓ
tractorō
tractor tireʁɨpʌʏ
tulipɲuçīaʕɱã
wagon wheelχet
water pumpoʄceɔ
weevilyēpɣʁœʛa
wheatɑɖʏvis
wheelbarrow  ǂøōcȳɟ
womanes

Below is a word search grid, containing the Vallelz definite singular forms of each of the nouns above. The definite forms of the various noun classes are marked with various affixes, which are also subject to various phonological rules. Your task is to find the Vallelz nouns in the word search grid, determine the affixes used to mark the noun classes, and then provide the following information:

If you manage to get all that done by June 15th, 2010, then send your answers to the editors of SpecGram, and you could win a SpecGram magnet. The information described above and the contest winners, if any, will be announced in an upcoming issue of Speculative Grammarian.

 ɜ ŋ m t h ʉ ʙ i e ō ʁ ǀ ɹ e ʝ ʙ ō v u u ē p ɣ ʁ œ ʛ a ɦ ā o k ū ʟ ɔ
 ɴ n e ɑ ɓ ɓ ē ɑ ē ɹ ã p ɸ ǣ ʌ o u a ɘ ð j ī ʀ ʋ o z ɽ ẽ ɟ ɟ ǁ y ē ɖ
 y χ e ɖ v u β ī ẽ ɻ ɒ k i z ɦ ā ā e ɽ e k ɓ ū ʁ ō ʙ ŋ ȳ ɸ æ ɤ ɔ a ǃ
 ʌ ɓ ɤ θ ə ɭ ỹ ǀ ʊ ǂ ɐ k ʟ ɢ m ɦ ɞ ʟ ɴ ɐ ʄ ā ə ð ʘ ʐ ʉ ɤ ɛ ð e c ā p
 ỹ ʁ ɴ ɢ ɤ k u ǣ ɣ k ǂ ē ɛ ʊ ʃ ʐ ʊ ō i y ʀ ɴ y ŋ e l ē ʒ ɱ c ʔ e u χ
 u β ɨ ỹ œ ɓ p ō i v ǁ ɱ m ɯ ɟ ō e ʁ e ʕ z ʃ f ỹ ð ɸ ŋ ɓ ʄ y y l a ɓ
 e ʟ β p ɳ ʘ ʁ ỹ ǂ ɓ y ŋ n ē θ ɖ ʊ ɔ r ʝ ɜ ã ē ī e ĩ i o ō ɐ t ʂ ɦ ǂ
 ø o ɪ ɹ ʌ ø ɑ ɽ ʔ t ɦ u ŋ ɤ y ɣ q ð u ø ɣ ǀ ɑ ʐ a ɣ ī ɘ ī ɖ ɛ ð z ɓ
 ɵ ɳ o ī ɔ ʏ ʘ ʁ ʝ ā u ɽ ɓ ɤ a ō e ɔ i ʊ o ʎ ā ĩ i p ʒ ū y ɹ ʘ ɶ ħ h
 p ĩ ɔ ē ɱ ð ū n e v ʀ ʌ ʌ ʏ e ð ɔ ɹ ǂ ɞ ŋ ɸ ẽ ɓ a t ɴ ɞ ɛ q ŋ ɑ a ɪ
 l ū ū d ĩ ɹ o ɹ ŋ ǣ ɗ ʉ ʐ t t ð ɣ ɳ ɑ ɨ ʀ o ɽ ʔ ʈ ʌ ũ r ʁ l ỹ ʝ ʁ ʟ
 e ɭ ɦ ʙ v ħ ɻ ã y ʐ q z ɹ ɹ ʐ y ø ɦ ɢ ɢ ʏ o ɖ ō ɤ ð m ɨ ɑ ʈ ǣ ʉ n ɑ
 n ɐ ħ ɹ ɤ ə ɻ ɔ e ʟ ʘ ū y ɜ ɦ ɣ õ ĩ ɔ s ʟ ē a ŋ ɽ ɔ m ɵ ʘ ǣ ǣ ɭ ɢ ŋ
 v ǁ v ɹ k ɑ ə ø e ə ã ʟ ʟ ō ɒ ĩ ɨ ç ʁ ʉ y ʝ h ĩ e ɹ k ʟ ɟ e ɔ ɯ q ç
 æ n ɓ ɦ ɑ ɹ ŋ ʙ ǁ q ʃ h m r ə u ɴ æ ẽ ũ ɹ ǣ ʌ i k ɗ e ẽ ī a s l ō a
 n ã ɤ ɜ ʝ ʔ ə ū ɞ i ɔ ɱ a ʙ ɽ v ʌ f ɶ q ɘ ʝ n ǣ c ɔ ɽ ɵ ʃ ǃ ū ɽ a ā
 i ʔ θ ũ ʙ ʕ ɠ χ d ĩ ē ʟ t r i k ē ɜ ɽ q q ɘ ǣ h χ ɸ ʌ ŋ k æ s ɐ ẽ i
 l ɗ χ n ɑ ɽ œ e ǁ k ɨ n ŋ n i g ǣ ɣ i ɘ ɟ z m ɘ ō c ʐ ɢ ʈ ɽ i ū ʙ ɟ
 a ʉ ɶ ʁ ẽ ɢ v ǣ ʉ k ɴ ɑ o ʁ b p ʝ t θ ǣ ʉ ẽ ē h ħ ɐ ð ɶ ɛ e v ɻ r o
 ʟ β ŋ ɟ ʉ s ɲ ŋ θ ʝ ɵ d r ʊ p ʉ a t a h ɤ ẽ ɽ ð a ŋ o ʙ ʒ k ʏ ɵ ɔ œ
 y ĩ ȳ ʝ æ q y ʂ ʒ ø a ī r p f l ɪ ŋ ʏ r h ø ʁ o ɓ y ō ʉ ɔ k ɖ θ ʙ ʌ
 ɹ y ʟ ɭ i t t i n n a k i v i o ʙ o i o ʙ o i o ʙ o ɢ ʝ ʎ u ɑ χ ʟ ǀ
 ī ʒ ʂ b θ y l ǂ u ɜ q ð h a d ĩ ŋ ã ɱ ʕ a ī ç u ɲ k p ū ɖ c ʉ ð ʝ ɵ
 o ē ā k ɱ ŋ ø g ǣ ʁ i n n ɽ ē ǃ ɵ ũ ē β ʕ æ ʈ ī p ŋ l l e ɖ ʝ l ɴ ɦ
 k t r ā æ ō a ā b ʉ ŋ o e ʙ ɶ k ū ɭ ɯ ð ɔ ɹ θ ʊ ɴ ɜ r ɒ ɴ ʉ ʔ ɠ ǁ f
 ɽ ʘ f q c i r ǣ ɽ ɖ i ʒ b χ ʏ y c b ʔ ʟ ɪ n æ p ħ ỹ ʏ s ʌ t œ ã ɦ ɘ
 h ʐ ɘ ȳ ʟ ʟ i r æ o d θ ɯ ʁ æ ē p u l ɞ ǀ e b ī p ɔ ʔ ʛ æ ʔ y ɨ ɔ ɖ
 ʁ ǣ ɟ y t ʝ ɞ ū ɽ e k ǂ æ ɖ f ʊ ʙ y ɶ ʀ l ə ʀ t l ū õ ɣ β e u ɱ n ī
 h ɗ ɹ y ʟ z ʟ e l l a v ʎ ʁ r ə β ə ʘ ç e z ɴ æ r f q ɘ ǣ h ʟ ʌ a ç
 ʉ ɪ ɱ ʄ ɤ ō ɣ æ ɢ ɵ ʛ ỹ ɦ ɽ ɑ g ɗ ʉ o v ɓ l ʃ v ū ū θ ō ŋ ɶ ɻ ə ɪ ɓ
 ɶ ʏ ɣ h ǣ ɘ q p ɤ ɹ ʈ ɯ k ɜ s ʘ ħ ā ŋ ʟ ɨ ð t g ʌ ɤ ǂ ȳ ō ɽ ɖ ʕ ɽ ȳ
 r m n ʁ ʀ ɘ ɤ ʘ ʙ ā ɖ ʐ ǀ ɨ ɹ ʟ ɘ ɒ ʙ i ʝ ỹ i c ɓ a y ʕ ɔ ɜ ɴ ð ɑ ō
 ē ʟ ỹ r ǣ ʋ ɸ χ ɜ l ø p ī p ɢ v ā ɨ ɽ ȳ z ȳ ʉ ɗ ʀ ɒ ɻ ʉ f f ɔ ʔ ɦ k
 p v ʝ h ǣ ɘ q ɛ s b a ɲ o ʟ ʉ c i ỹ ç ɢ ȳ ʉ ŋ ɓ œ ǣ ʙ r e æ o ɤ ð ŋ

Classified Advertisements
SpecGram Vol CLIX, No 1 Contents