Re: Deciphering Conlangs

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:49:18 -0400, John Crowe
<johnxcrowe@...> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>There appears to be no search feature on the archive, so... have there been
>or is there such a contest or puzzle where one tries to "decipher" conlangs
>(or any lang) given a translation in a known language? (like how Egyptian
>heiroglyphics were deciphered using Rosetta stone)
>
>Here is one that I made which hopefully isn't too hard:
>
>Text to be deciphered in conlang created just for this purpose:
>------------------------------------------------------
>
>torem kuf kysepapel y? o gi torem kif e kyysepal e kysepapal o torem kif
>kysepapel. torem kof kyypapes. e tilum kif kapapaf e tipam kepapaf.
>
>Text that has already been translated to English (below):
>-------------------------------------------
>
>topam kif. tapam kof kapapaf. tipam kuf kapapas. talum kif kapapaf; tapam
kos
>kepapaf y. talum kif kapapas; topam kos kepapas. torem kuf kapapes; o talum
>kof kepapes o gi tapam kof kapapes. gi torem kif e kysepapel e kypapas.
>torem kif kyypas.
>
>English translation of above text:
>--------------------------------------------
>
>I eat. He ate an apple. You will eat some apples. Did they eat the apple I
>touched? They always eat the apples that I touch. She touched the oranges
>that you like, but she didn't eat them. I don't like orange juice and
>apples. I like some fruits.
>
>
>--------------------------------
>-John
Assuming:

topam kif.
I eat.

tapam kof kapapaf.
He ate an apple.

tipam kuf kapapas.
You will eat some apples.

talum kif kapapaf; tapam kos kepapaf y.
Did they eat the apple I touched?

talum kif kapapas; topam kos kepapas.
They always eat the apples that I touch.

torem kuf kapapes; o talum kof kepapes o gi tapam kof kapapes.
She touched the oranges that you like, but she didn't eat them.

gi torem kif e kysepapel e kypapas.
I don't like orange juice and apples.

torem kif kyypas.
I like some fruits.

Then:

torem kuf kysepapel y?
Does she like orange juice?

o gi torem kif e kyysepal e kysepapal o torem kif kysepapel.
But I don't like fruit juice and orange juice, but I like fruit juice.

torem kof kyypapes.
You like some apples.

e tilum kif kapapaf e tipam kepapaf.
And he touched an apple and he ate that apple.

-----------------

How'd I do?  There were some nuances I'll bet I missed, plus some words I just
guessed at.

Reply