16
$\begingroup$

(This is part of a series of puzzles written for Timwi for a Secret Santa puzzle exchange, themed around various custom modules for the game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. No KTaNE knowledge is necessary for any of these puzzles except the final meta; each puzzle resolves to a single word or short phrase.)

On The Subject of Regular Crazy Talk

enter image description here

  • bontiwiseke
  • kelempi kubaro
  • kelempi sampin
  • kubarowusän
  • sampinguru
  • sampinseke bontiwi
  • sampinzanga kubaronga sedi
  • sedunga kubaro kelempi
  • sedunga sampinendo'ondo
  • seduwu bonti

bonti'endozasanguru sedi (za)

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
4
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Are you okay? This would be concerning if I didn't know it was a puzzle. $\endgroup$
    – ThePuzzlingPlatypus
    Feb 17, 2020 at 20:31
  • $\begingroup$ As opposed to Irregular crazy talk? $\endgroup$
    – dcfyj
    Feb 17, 2020 at 20:41
  • $\begingroup$ The word "regular" usually means rot13(erthyne rkcerffvbaf), at least in some other puzzles I've seen. Don't see how that could possibly apply though $\endgroup$
    – ThePuzzlingPlatypus
    Feb 17, 2020 at 20:57
  • $\begingroup$ Someone Identify and translate the languages in here. It might be easier once it's in English. $\endgroup$
    – ThePuzzlingPlatypus
    Feb 17, 2020 at 20:57

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
10
$\begingroup$

The answer is

Year

The meanings of the words are

sampin=flower
kubaro=tree
sedi=sun
bonti=circle
kelempi=square
san=0
endo=1
wu=2
seke=3
za=4
guru=5

The latter words are generally around the former ones unless there is the "nga" ending meaning just "and"
The final message therefore reads sun around 1405 circles or sun making 1405 circles (4), i.e. a year once you note that $1405_6=365_{10}$.

You can find out the meanings of the words by noticing that there are five occurences of sampin and five occurences of flowers. Everything else follows pretty straightforward.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
6
  • $\begingroup$ You were ahead of me by three seconds. I wish I hadn't bothered checking whether Nautilus's answer actually answered the question, now :-). $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Feb 17, 2020 at 21:45
  • $\begingroup$ Also, I think your explanation of "nga" is more likely than mine. $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Feb 17, 2020 at 21:45
  • $\begingroup$ That's correct, nicely done! (The wording is more general: the second word acts as an 'adjective', or something to be 'applied' to the preceding word. The space can be loosely translated as "of". Some of the examples are meant to illustrate this flexibility, in particular the "square of a tree" and "square of flowers".) $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Feb 17, 2020 at 22:00
  • $\begingroup$ Additionally, there are some 'irregularities' with the vowels that @GarethMcCaughan seems to have noticed, but you skipped over. The puzzle was intended to be fully solvable without resolving that, but in case you're curious: There's a "vowel harmony" system going on. There are three 'front' vowels (i, e, a) and three 'back' vowels (u, o, ä). Any vowel changes all vowels afterwards to be of its type, up until a consonant cluster or the end of the word. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Feb 17, 2020 at 22:06
  • $\begingroup$ @Deusovi Thanks for explaining the space, I figured it was something like that but couldn't put it in words exactly. I did notice a vowel change based on the last vowel of a word but for some reason decided not to mention it. $\endgroup$
    – user39583
    Feb 17, 2020 at 22:37
8
$\begingroup$

I believe the answer is

YEAR.

Translations:

bonti = circle, kelempi = square
sampin = flower, kubaro = tree, sed = sun
sän = 0, endo=ondo=nga = 1, wu=wi = 2, seke = 3, za = 4, guru = 5
Numbers are base 6, written most-significant to least-significant like we do.

The bit at the bottom then says

circle 1405 sun (4) where 1405 means the number we write as 365; the (4) is an enumeration, though there's something a bit fishy about writing an enumeration for an English word in this other language :-).

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.