Huliganov's 2008 Christmas Linguistic Quiz

[dulmiradika]

Try to flirt and meet Asian women online lushfmlk.info

[allmetaliswelcome]

the first one sounds like a dutch dialect, which i can hear because i'm dutch... but i don't know which one!

[usenetposts]

@allmetaliswelcome If you read through the comments you will see the answers emerge in the comments. You'll have the most fun if you select viewing all comments, which will bring them up in a rough semblance of order.

[allmetaliswelcome]

@usenetposts yea i realised right when i pressed "comment" :)

[MatT3431433]

hahaha big fun!

no idea not even sure about Zhirinovsky. Thought i heard Dutch about 3 times, except i couldn't actually understand a word, and Swedish sing-song at least twice.

[Olekander]

Very difficult, I got most of the right language groups, but only actually got 1 language spot on lol.

[fkriuk]

Thanks to everyone who participated and thanks to Huliganov for a fun quiz. We should do this more often, and not just on Chrismas.

[greybear2006]

Congratulations and kudos fkriuk!! Very well done, I might have helped a bit with question 7 but then you helped me with all the others. Happy Crimbo to all the quiztakers and thanks again to the professor for a very challenging quiz!!

[babaleanne]

I am very happy with 70%! What a loverly quiz.

OCHIN MALADYETS HULIGANOV!! Happy Christmas.

[usenetposts]

Many thanks, Leanne, and HC2U2.

[Quaddrator]

I'm just amazed you got a Manx sample. There are probably only a handful of Manx speakers in existence here on the IOM.

[usenetposts]

It's truly amazing what you can find on YouTube these days. It has become the premiere resource for whatever you like!

[dasilva94]

I'm surprised too! I always knew Irish, Scots and Manx Gaelic were related as opposed to the other branch consisting of Welsh,Breton and Cornish. I.e the P & Q celtic divergence.

When I heard it, I thought it was Scots.

Old Valdimir Zhirinovsky ranting away was a big give away though :)

Anway excellent quiz Davey!

[usenetposts]

Thanks, friend. I tried to choose either exotic or interesting pieces, as far as I had a choice, but I thought one or two languages had to be "easier" ones, or people might end up getting none at all at the outset and get a bit downcast by it.

I think I'd be pretty surprised if anybody anywhere got the whole quiz without building on the teamwork of other answers, but if you know a remarkable linguist, then run this by them without letting them see the comments and prove me wrong!

[usenetposts]

OK. Well done fkriuk, well done everybody. Hope it was fun. I had fun.

I'm going to use the annotation technology now to try to prolong the usefulness of the quiz for fun purposes to subsequent viewers even though it is now answered, and also at the same time I'm going to give the credits using the annotation technology. You'll be able (unless they disappear) to see the clips from youtube I used in compiling this quiz. Bear with me while I do those annotations.

[lordmoggy]

1. Frisian

2. Maltese

3. Slovene

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Romansh

7. Kurdish

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10. English

[usenetposts]

Another 90% score.

The "visual clue" by the way, in the seventh clip, that I mentioned in the final clue, is the crucifix on the wall. I really wish you'd find that in a mobile phone advert in Kurdish language TV. Maybe one day.

[jcswindle]

1. Frisian 2. Maltese 3. Slovene 4. Manx 5. Khmer 6. Romansh 7. Guaraní 8. Swedish 9. Russian 10. English Hey, I gotta try, right?

[usenetposts]

Indeed! But you already know the answer.

[fkriuk]

thanks greybear2006 for zeroing in on the last language

[fkriuk]

1. Frisian

2. Maltese

3. Slovene

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Romansch

7. Quechua

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10. Anglo-Saxon

[usenetposts]

You've got it. 100% Well done. A well deserved win. On the one hand, you had help from other players, but I remember well that it was the other way round last year, when you didn't win but helped other players along a great deal. I'm pleased you had the win this time, and only regret that there's nothing in the prize fund. Hope it'll be a different story next year.

[babaleanne]

Fries

Maltese

Serbo Croat

Manx

Khmer

Urdu

Swedish

Russian

English

[usenetposts]

70%, Leanne.

[babaleanne]

OyOyOyOy! Could the lst one really be Anglo- Saxon. How fiendish!

[greybear2006]

1/ Frisian

2/ Maltese

3/ Slovene

4/ Manw

5/ Khmer (the language of Jimmy Cricket)

6/ Romansh

7/ Aymara

8/ Swedish

9/ Russian

10/ Anglo-Saxon

[greybear2006]

err thats manx...

[jcswindle]

Aymara! Not bad!

[greybear2006]

thanks jc but your praise has sapped my confidence

[jcswindle]

I've never heard Aymara before, to my recollection, and there are a couple of puzzling things about the clip, but I suspect you've either got it or are getting awfully close. We'll see.

[usenetposts]

All will be revealed very shortly. I don't think this quiz will last another 24 hours before some gifted linguist gets the 100% mark!

[usenetposts]

90%, including your subsequent correction.

[Mogura87]

Never heard of Beowulf = P?

[usenetposts]

thaet was god cyning!

[usenetposts]

I never said they had to be modern languages!

[fkriuk]

sorry, stupid question: how does that actor (or anyone else) know what Old English is supposed to sound like? how far off might he be with his pronunciation?

[usenetposts]

The biggest clues come from the pronunciation of older English dialects, from more remote places, and the things they have in common, as well as the way they chose to write their language (including elements that remain with us today but which are not phonetic anymore, like night, white, etc - they obviously came from somewhere) and we have that written record. The pronunciation of remote scandywegian dialects like Icelandic, faroese and remoter Swedish/norwegian accents all build a picture.

[usenetposts]

Final clue. I don't think the missing language has yet been mentioned, and that part of the quiz contains both a visual and a word clue. But you have to be good to spot it!

No more clues, guys and gals, this is the home stretch!

[lordmoggy]

1. Frisian

2. Maltese

3. Swiss

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Catalan

7. Farsi

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10. German

[usenetposts]

60%

[fkriuk]

sorry, please don't count the previous entry, my hand slipped. this is what i meant: 1. Frisian 2. Maltese 3. Slovene 4. Manx 5. Khmer 6. Romansch 7. Punjabi 8. Swedish 9. Russian 10. English

[usenetposts]

OK, I deleted the previous entity, and you have the leading score of 90%, although if I were being very strict I'd say 85.

[Mogura87]

1.Frisian

2.Maltese

3.Slovene

4.Manx

5.Khmer

6.Catalan

7.Farsi

8.Swedish

9.Russian

10.Anglo-Saxon

[usenetposts]

A very impressive 80%. At this rate, the quiz won't last to anywhere near Christmas!

[babaleanne]

1. Fries

2. Lithuanian

3. Romani/Parlari

4. Welsh

5. Thai

6. Basque

7. Pashtun

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10.Danish

[usenetposts]

30% this time, LeeAnne!

[jcswindle]

1. Frisian

2. Estonian

3. Slovene

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Catalan

7. Nahuatl

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10. English

[usenetposts]

You've consolidated your lead with a new score of 70%!

[lordmoggy]

1. Frisian

2. Latvian

3. Romanian

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Hebrew/Arabic

7. Turkish

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10. Finnish

[usenetposts]

50%, Moggy! Looks like you and a couple of other folk have got half way there. It'll take a little bit of research and deduction by players to get the rest of the way.

Incidentally, I put this quiz together at a level where I wouldn't have got more than 3 or 4 max of them right on the first guess, so I'd be surprised if anyone got it all right without using the guesses of other players and doing some research.

[usenetposts]

OK, time for another clue.

Dutch is not one of the languages in the quiz.

No more clues, marks only, for the next 12 hours.

[tom562000]

1. Frisian

2. Slovenian

3. Dutch

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Romani

7. Armenian

8. Low German

9. Russian

10.Swedish

[usenetposts]

That looks like 44, tom562000.

[fkriuk]

1. Frisian

2. Slovene

3. Ukrainian

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Japanese

7. Belorussian

8. Swedish

9. Russian

10. Dutch

[usenetposts]

fkriuk 52%

[babaleanne]

30 percent aint bad! Some of the languages reminded me of the Peugeot commercial ie:

"Lavo! Ik, ik." He says, as he ushers some birds into the back seat of his new car.

[usenetposts]

Sounds like he's offering to wash it in some odd conlang.

And the car.

[lordmoggy]

1. fresian

2. lithuanian

3. Dutch

4. Celtic

5. Mandarin

6. French

7. Cantonese

8. Danish

9. Polish

10. Swedish

[usenetposts]

7%, Moggy. Incidentally "celtic" is not a language per se, but a language family. 7% means you got one right but misspelt, and the 2% is another right one but in the wrong place.

[babaleanne]

1. Fries

2. Latvian

3. Hungarian

4. Shetland Islands Gaelic

5. Khmer/Cambodian

6. Portuguese

7. Pashtun

8. Danish

9. Russian (I don't like that eejit)

10.Icelandic

[usenetposts]

Babeleanne, great entry, 30%.

[greybear2006]

Hmmm nice quiz Professor 1/ FRESIAN 2/ ROMANIAN 3/ CZECH 4/ CORNISH 5/ ICELANDIC 6/ TURKISH 7/ KHAZAKSTANI 8/ DANISH 9/ RUSSIAN (Vladimir Zhironovsky -liberal of the year 1992- 2007) 10/ NORWEGIAN

[usenetposts]

Good entry, greybear2006! By the rules of marking, that's a 15%.

[jcswindle]

1. Friesian

2. Latvian

3. Slovene

4. Manx

5. Khmer

6. Ido

7. Quiché

8. Jurassic

9. Russian

10. Swedish

[usenetposts]

jcswindle 52%. Best so far.

[Quaddrator]

I'm surprised you've even heard of the Isle of Man! Most English people think it is somewhere off France...

[greybear2006]

I thought they were a 70's abbaesque pop group famously singing "Save All Your Kisses for Me."

[Quaddrator]

haha the Isle of Man?

[usenetposts]

That's the Brotherhood thereof.

[jcswindle]

It isn't?  Some of my ancestors came from England.

[Quaddrator]

What, off the coast of France? No... the Isle of Man is between Ireland and England, in the Irish sea.

[jcswindle]

They couldn't find it, my ancestors, so they came to America instead.

[Quaddrator]

haha the US would have been a better choice all those years ago... these days however... the IOM might be a bit more competitive.  Favorable tax arrangments and all that here now. ;)

[cdg0991]

1. Dutch

2. Hungarian

3. Serbo-Croat

4. Bengali

5. Pashto

6. Rumanian

7. Hindi-Urdu

8. Danish

9. Russian

10. Czech

[usenetposts]

10%, cdg0991. Some close guesses, though. One or two wildly out!

[ulcerprone]

1. frisian 2. albanian 3. german 4. breton 5. thai 6. italian 7. japanese 8. swedish 9. russian 10. dutch

[usenetposts]

Good first go, Ulcerprone! 30%.

[usenetposts]

Every so often, I'll be adding clues, by the way. Every day or so. These may take the form of dismissing a language from the list altogether. So far I already mentioned that there is no Vulcan or Volapuek in there.

[fkriuk]

Let's simplify :)

1. Dutch 2. Swahili 3. Swahili 4. Irish 5. Swahili 6. Swahili 7. Swahili 8. Swahili 9. Russian 10. Swahili

Do your rules allow duplicates? Or I'll need to come up with seven languages I know are not there.

This could be a really fun quiz, though.

[usenetposts]

You can write next to one to ten anything you like. You can have Vulcan and Volapuek if you like. (Neither of which are there, BTW, but that's only because I couldn't get the materials ;-)) In this case you got only 10%. Nevertheless, it was a good guess because it will contestants to make good deductions based on what you wrote and what Stobbart02 wrote.

[fkriuk]

Need clarification: answers like Indian or Chinese acceptable? Or do you need it to be more specific? e.g. Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi etc?

[usenetposts]

If you wrote Chinese or Indian and the right answer was Mandarin or Hindi, then you'd get 5points instead of the ten for that answer.

[stobbart02]

1. Dutch 2. Albanian 3. Norwegian 4. Welsh 5. Khmer (Cambodian) 6. Romanian 7. Indian 8. Swedish 9. Russian 10.Erse Great Quiz!Je vous souhaite Fröhliche Weihnachten !

[usenetposts]

Many thanks! You too, Stobbart02. Great start to the quiz with 30%! (That is a good start as this is not meant to be easy). So come on everyone else, don't be shy!