Problem:IOL/2005/i4/en

IOL 2005 Problem #4 Yoruba

Below you see phrases in the Yoruba language (in phonetic transcription) and their literal English translations:

1.	[aɟɔ ɔkɔ]	the husband's dog
2.	[i̇̀lé elu]	the stranger's city
3.	[igi i̇̀yá]	the mother's tree
4.	[ɔka àɟέ]	the witch's husband
5.	[i̇̀fó owó]	the love of money
6.	[ὲbó ori̇́]	the vicinity of the head (i.e. near the head)
7.	[i̇̀yá alé]	the house's mother (i.e. mistress of the house, elder wife)
8.	[àɟέ ὲlú]	the city's witch (i.e. the city witch)
9.	[àké egi]	the axe of the tree (i.e. a wooden axe)
10.	[owó olé]	the money of the house (i.e. rent)
11.	[i̇̀lú ùfέ]	the city of love
12.	[orá aɟá]	the dog's head
13.	[igɔ ɔkɔ]	the husband's tree

(a) Translate into English:

14.	[owá àké]
15.	[ὲbá àlú]
16.	[ɔkɔ ɔ̀yá]
17.	[aɟé elu]

(b) Translate into Yoruba:

18.	the head of the tree (i.e. the top of the tree)
19.	the witch's city
20.	the house of love (venue of the creation of the first human beings in Yoruba mythology
21.	the husband's axe

⚠ ɟ and y are specific consonants, ε and ɔ are specific vowels of the Yoruba language (similar to e and o respectively). The marks « ´ » and « ` » indicate the so-called tones (a higher or lower level of the voice during the pronunciation of the syllable). The Yoruba language belongs to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken by more than 20 million people in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries.

—Ivan A. Derzhanski