Once upon a time in the Tangut Empire ("the Great State of the White and the Lofty") there lived two brothers and two sisters. They each had a son and a daughter.
Below you see statements in the Tangut language concerning the relations between these people. The name Lhie2nyn2 belongs to a man.
1.
Ldiu2śe1 Nie2tsẹ1 'yn1 kậj1 ngu2.
2.
Lhie2nyn2 Ngwi1mbyn2 'yn1 lio2 ngu2.
3.
Sei1na1 Wa2nie1 'yn1 ndọn1 ngu2.
4.
Ldiu2śe1 Śan1nia1 'yn1 ndọn1 ngu2.
5.
Śan1nia1 Syn1mei1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
6.
Ldiu2śe1 Syn1mei1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
7.
Ldiu2śe1 Wa2nie1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
8.
Kẹi1źey2 Ldiu2śe1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
9.
Ldiu2śe1 Kẹi1źey2 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
10.
Lhie2nyn2 Syn1mei1 'yn1 wia1 ngu2.
11.
Lhie2nyn2 Sie1tsie1 'yn1 'iə1 ngu2.
12.
Kẹi1źey2 Wa2nie1 'yn1 lio2 ngu2.
13.
Kẹi1źey2 Sie1tsie1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
14.
Lhie2nyn2 Kẹi1źey2 'yn1 wiej2 ngu2.
15.
Syn1mei1 Nie2tsẹ1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
16.
Ngon2ngwe1 Mbe2phon1 'yn1 kậj1 ngu2.
17.
Syn1mei1 Sei1na1 'yn1 kậj1 ngu2.
18.
Ldiu2śe1 Sie1tsie1 'yn1 ndọn1 ngu2.
19.
Lhie2nyn2 Wa2nie1 'yn1 wia1 ngu2.
20.
Ldiu2śe1 Sei1na1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
21.
Wa2nie1 Sei1na1 'yn1 mu1 ngu2.
22.
Śan1nia1 Wa2nie1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
23.
Ngon2ngwe1 Ldiu2śe1 'yn1 la2 ngu2.
24.
Lhie2nyn2 Mbe2phon1 'yn1 mu1 ngu2.
25.
Mbe2phon1 Ldiu2śe1 'yn1 ma1 ngu2.
26.
Lhie2nyn2 Nie2tsẹ1 'yn1 'iə1 ngu2.
27.
Lhie2nyn2 Ngon2ngwe1 'yn1 mu1 ngu2.
28.
Śan1nia1 Sie1tsie1 'yn1 lio2 ngu2.
29.
Lhie2nyn2 Ldiu2śe1 'yn1 'iə1 ngu2.
30.
Lhie2nyn2 Sei1na1 'yn1 wiej2 ngu2.
31.
Śan1nia1 Nie2tsẹ1 'yn1 mu1 ngu2.
32.
Lhie2nyn2 Śan1nia1 'yn1 'iə1 ngu2.
33.
Ngon2ngwe1 Kẹi1źey2 'yn1 ny1 ngu2.
34.
Syn1mei1 Śan1nia1 'yn1 źwẹj1 ngu2.
35.
Mbe2phon1 Sie1tsie1 'yn1 ma1 ngu2.
36.
Nie2tsẹ1 Sie1tsie1 'yn1 _______ ngu2.
(a) Reconstruct the family tree.
(b) Fill in the blank in the last sentence (there is only one way to do this).
⚠ Tangut is an extinct language of the Tibeto-Burman family that was spoken in the Tangut Empire (1038-1227, present-day central China). There is no agreement among scholars on what it sounded like, therefore the transcription is based on one of the reconstructions. The superscript numbers indicate its two tones (1 = flat, 2 = rising); in particular, the words for 'father' and 'mother' are in the first tone. ậ, ê, ẹ, ọ, y, ə are vowels; ś, ź, ' are consonants.
—Ivan Derzhanski
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