Ifli Enigma

IFLI ENIGMA

David composed the following linguistic puzzle for the Michaelmas 1998 edition of Oxford Today, the Oxford University alumni magazine. Apart from the academic setting and the puns, the Oxford connection is the unexpected solution.

Miss Tree, the new Research fellow in Linguistics had just finished studying the Bambri language on the remote tropical island of Okson and had started investigating the Ifli tongue further south. Sadly, almost as soon as she had begun, disaster struck. The River Aisis flooded destroying her data notebooks and a lightning strike corrupted what was stored in her computer. All that could be recovered was a list of eleven English sentences and the transcription (without word breaks) of ten of them translated into Ifli. Unfortunately, it was no longer possible to tell which English sentence corresponded to which Ifli transcription. Here they are. Both lists are in alphabetical order.

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)

A man is buying two bananas at the market.
A woman is going to the trade-store.
Tomorrow, a man will buy a coconut at the market.
Tomorrow, a woman will buy a banana at the trade-store.
Tomorrow, two women will go to the market.
Two men are going to the market.
Two women are buying two coconuts at the market.
Yesterday, a man went to the trade-store.
Yesterday, a woman bought a coconut at the market.
Yesterday, a woman went to the trade-store.
Yesterday, two men went to the trade-store.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

bafmaminrozikozonayinomea
bafminlumizonayinomea
bafminrokozonayinomea
gibafizalumizonayin
gibafmaizarozikonatin
gidoizahuzikirokonati
gidomaizauzisilluziminati
wabafmaluziminatinambiki
wadohukilumizonayiambiki
wadousilrokonatiambiki

What is the missing Ifli transcription, and which English sentence does it translate?

David Bevan, Oxford Today Volume 11 No. 1 (Michaelmas 1998) p. 56

Click here for the solution.

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