Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek
Consider these phrases in Ancient Greek (in a Roman-based transcription) and

their
unordered English translations:
(A) ho t!n hyi!n dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master
(B) hoi t!n dul!n cyrioi ____ (2) the brothers of the merchant
(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi ____ (3) the merchants of the donkeys
(D) hoi t!n on!n emporoi ____ (4) the sons of the masters
(E) ho tu cyriu onos ____ (5) the slave of the sons
(F) ho tu oicu cyrios ____ (6) the masters of the slaves
(G) ho t!n adelph!n oicos ____ (7) the house of the brothers
(H) hoi t!n cyri!n hyioi ____ (8) the master of the house
1. Match the Ancient Greek phrase (A-H) with the corresponding English
translation (1-8).
2. Translate into Ancient Greek:
a) the houses of the merchants
____________________________
b) the donkeys of the slave.
____________________________
Note: the letter ! stands for a long o.
Ancient Greek IOL solution
Ancient Greek
Consider these phrases in Ancient Greek (in a Roman-based transcription) and

their unordered English translations:
(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master

(B) hoi tn duln cyrioi ____ (2) the brothers of the merchant
(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi ____ (3) the merchants of the donkeys
(D) hoi tn onn emporoi ____ (4) the sons of the masters
(E) ho tu cyriu onos ____ (5) the slave of the sons
(F) ho tu oicu cyrios ____ (6) the masters of the slaves
(G) ho tn adelphn oicos ____ (7) the house of the brothers
(H) hoi tn cyrin hyioi ____ (8) the master of the house
1. Match the Ancient Greek phrase (A-H) with the corresponding English
translation (1-8).
2. Translate into Ancient Greek:
a) the houses of the merchants
____________________________
b) the donkeys of the slave.
____________________________
Note: the letter stands for a long o.
!!!
To start, it helps to list the structures of the translations, whether the nouns of the
subject and owners are singular or plural.
(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

(B) hoi tn duln cyrioi ____ (2) the brothers of the merchant PS
(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi ____ (3) the merchants of the donkeys PP
(D) hoi tn onn emporoi ____ (4) the sons of the masters PP
(E) ho tu cyriu onos ____ (5) the slave of the sons SP
(F) ho tu oicu cyrios ____ (6) the masters of the slaves PP
(G) ho tn adelphn oicos ____ (7) the house of the brothers SP
(H) hoi tn cyrin hyioi ____ (8) the master of the house SS
Looking the elements of the phrases, clearly the last two words are the nouns,
and the first two are "the ... of the" with variable endings depending on the
number of the nouns they attach to.
An immediate observation is that there are only three occurrences of "tu" and
three translations with singular owners. Take these aside:
the donkey of the master SS

the brothers of the merchant PS
the master of the house SS
hoi tu emporu adelphoi

ho tu cyriu onos
ho tu oicu cyrios
One in each group has different structure, so we conclude that:
(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant
This also shows that the phrase "the B of the A" is structured as "the of-the-A B"
in Ancient Greek.

Now there's only one other "adelph-", so:
(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant SS

(G) ho tn adelphn oicos = (7) the house of the brothers SP

Now there's only one other "oic-"

(F) ho tu oicu cyrios = (8) the master of the house SS

Now there's only one "cyri-" in a position matching "masters"

(B) hoi tn duln cyrioi = (6) the masters of the slaves PP

So "dul-" = word stem for "slave"

( A) ho tn hyin dulos = (5) the slave of the sons SP

So "hyi-" matches "son"

(A) ho tn hyin dulos = (5) the slave of the sons SP
(H) hoi tn cyrin hyioi = (4) the sons of the masters PP

And now we know enough to finish:
(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant

(G) ho tn adelphn oicos = (7) the house of the brothers
(F) ho tu oicu cyrios = (8) the master of the house
(B) hoi tn duln cyrioi = (6) the masters of the slaves
(A) ho tn hyin dulos = (5) the slave of the sons
(H) hoi tn cyrin hyioi = (4) the sons of the masters
(E) ho tu cyriu onos = (1) the donkey of the master
(D) hoi tn onn emporoi = (3) the merchants of the donkeys
We can see that the structure is:
"the B of the A" is written as "the of-the-A B" in Ancient Greek

"ho" = "the" (singular), and "hoi" = "the" (plural)
"tu" = "of the" (singular), "tn" = "of the" (plural)
"-os" = singular noun, "-oi" = plural noun
"-u" = singular genitive ending, -"n" = plural genitive ending
So:
The houses of the merchants = "hoi tn emporon oicoi"

The donkeys of the slave = "hoi tu dulu onoi"
In this problem, a bit of general knowledge can short-cut the process. Knowing
that "Philadelphia" means "brotherly love", and that an emporium is a store or
marketplace, immediately gives clues to "adelph-" and "empor-", and I can't
pretend that this didn't somewhat steer the direction of my initial guesses.
However, the majority of International Linguistics Olympiad puzzles don't have
such back doors.

Ancient Greek

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Ancient Greek

Consider these phrases in Ancient Greek (in a Roman-based transcription) and

Ancient Greek IOL solution

Consider these phrases in Ancient Greek (in a Roman-based transcription) and

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master

Note: the letter stands for a long o.

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

the donkey of the master SS

hoi tu emporu adelphoi

One in each group has different structure, so we conclude that:

(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

Now there's only one other "adelph-", so:

(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant SS

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

Now there's only one other "oic-"

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

Now there's only one "cyri-" in a position matching "masters"

(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant SS

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

So "dul-" = word stem for "slave"

(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant SS

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

So "hyi-" matches "son"

(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant SS

(A) ho tn hyin dulos ____ (1) the donkey of the master SS

And now we know enough to finish:

(C) hoi tu emporu adelphoi = (2) the brothers of the merchant

We can see that the structure is:

"the B of the A" is written as "the of-the-A B" in Ancient Greek

The houses of the merchants = "hoi tn emporon oicoi"

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