The puzzle was adapted from A. A. Zaliznyak, Linguistic Problems, with a foreword by V. A. Uspensky, Moscow: MCNMO, 2013.
The puzzle is purely logical and no prior knowledge of Albanian or Biblical Hebrew is required to solve it. Please do not search for the translations. The solution to this puzzle will be published in the next Ad Astra issue. Good luck!
Albanian and Biblical Hebrew belong to very different linguistic traditions. Albanian is an Indo-European language and is written today in a Latin-based alphabet. Biblical Hebrew is a Semitic language; in its traditional written form, many texts were recorded mainly with consonants, while vowels were either omitted or added later through special marks.
In this puzzle, the Albanian sentences are written in ordinary spelling. The Biblical Hebrew sentences are given in a Latin transliteration of a consonantal text, that is, a form of writing in which vowels are not shown. The task is to compare the sentence pairs carefully and determine how the two languages express similar meanings.
[1] Albanian language, Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Albanian-language
[2] Hebrew language, Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hebrew-language
[3] Biblical Hebrew language, Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Biblical-Hebrew-language
[4] Hebrew alphabet, Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hebrew-alphabet
[5] Albanian language and alphabets, Omniglot, https://www.omniglot.com/writing/albanian.htm
[6] Albanian Online, Linguistics Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/albol
Below are six sentences in an unfamiliar language A (Albanian) with translations of each sentence into an unfamiliar language B (Biblical Hebrew).
| Language A | Language B |
|---|---|
| 1. Mizë pi. | — yšth zbwb. |
| 2. Miza pinin. | — štw zbwbym. |
| 3. Mizë pinte. | — šth zbwb. |
| 4. Mizat pinë. | — yštw hzbwbym. |
| 5. Miza pinë. | — yštw zbwbym. |
| 6. Miza pi. | — yšth hzbwb. |
Question. Translate the following two sentences from language B into language A:
Here is a more challenging puzzle for readers who would like to go further. It is independent of the main puzzle above.
Below are 14 sentences in an unfamiliar language A, Basque, with translations of each sentence into an unfamiliar language B, Hungarian.
| Language A | Language B |
|---|---|
| 1. Agindutzen dezu. | — Ezt ígéred. |
| 2. Urdea billatu dezute. | — Kerestétek a sertést. |
| 3. Billatu diozu. | — Ezt kerested neki. |
| 4. Agindutzen diotezu. | — Ezt ígéred nekik. |
| 5. Agindutzen diozute. | — Ezt ígéritek neki. |
| 6. Agindu dizkiotezute. | — Ezeket ígértétek nekik. |
| 7. Arrek agindu dizu. | — Ezt ígérte neked. |
| 8. Arrek urdea billatutzen dizute. | — Keresi nektek a sertést. |
| 9. Arrek agindutzen dizkizu. | — Ezeket ígéri neked. |
| 10. Aek labanak billatu dizkizute. | — Keresték neked a késeket. |
| 11. Aek billatutzen diote. | — Ezt keresik neki. |
| 12. Arrek urdeak agindu dizkio. | — Ígérte neki a sertéseket. |
| 13. Arrek billatutzen dizkiote. | — Ezeket keresi nekik. |
| 14. Aek agindu dizkiote. | — Ezeket ígérték neki. |
Question. Translate the following sentences from language B into language A:
Please send us your solutions to adastraletter@gmail.com, use "linguistic puzzle Ad Astra 2026, issue #1" as the subject line.
★ Solution of the Linguistic Puzzle 2025, issue #1 (Ad Astra 2025/1):