This page explains the table of past problems
Subjects
For a given subject to appear in the classification, at least two rules in the solution must be of that type.
Co: Compounding
This refers to questions which predominantly require you to deduce the lexical (dictionary) meaning of words by studying how meaning changes when different word-parts combine.
For example, from the German words Wörterbuch “dictionary”, Lehrbuch “textbook”, and Buchstabe “letter, character”, you might deduce that Buch means “book”, or at least has something to do with writing.
Mo: Morphology
This refers to questions which predominantly require you to understand the ways in which word-parts (morphemes) combine to form grammatical words.
For example, from the Finnish words kissa “cat”, kissat “cats”, koira “dog”, koirat “dogs”, you might deduce that Finnish marks the plural on nouns with the suffix -t.
Formally, morphology is study of the grammatical structure of words and the categories realized by them.
Nu: Numbers
This refers to questions which predominantly require you to understand the structure of numerals and numeral phrases.
For example, by comparing the Dutch words veir “four”, zevenentwintig “twenty seven”, veirenvijftig “fifty four”, zevenenvijftig “fifty seven”, you can deduce that Dutch puts the units before the tens, unlike English.
Ph: Phonology and Phonetics
This refers to questions which predominantly require you to understand the speech sounds of a language, and how they are organised.
For example, “smip”, “skig”, and “snilt” aren’t English words, although they could be, while “msip”, “ksig” and “nsilt” definitely couldn’t be! So we can learn that English allows words that start with s+consonant, but not generally consonant+s. This means that “psychology” can’t be a native English word (in fact, it’s borrowed from Greek).
Formally, phonology is the study of the sound systems of individual languages and of the nature of such systems generally. Phonetics is study of the nature, production, and perception of sounds of speech, in abstraction from the phonology of any specific language.
Se: Semantics
This refers to questions which rely on understanding how meaning impacts language; in particular the ways in which meaning impacts grammar, and how different languages use different words to describe the same meaning.
For example, Russian has no word with a meaning as broad as “blue” – a person might describe cornflowers, sapphire or lapis lazuli as cиний, but would describe the sky or aquamarine as голубой. Alternatively, English uses different pronouns to refer to animate things (he/she/they, who, someone, etc) vs inanimate things (it, which, something, etc).
Formally, semantics is the study of meaning, typically in abstraction from context.
Sy: Syntax
This refers to questions which predominantly require you to understand how words combine to form phrases or sentences.
For example, looking at the Welsh sentences Gwelodd y ci y gath “The dog saw the cat” and Gwelodd y gath y ci “The cat saw the dog”, Gwelodd y gath y tŷ “The cat saw the house”, we can deduce that Welsh word order is Verb-Subject-Object.
Formally, syntax is the study of grammatical relations between words and other units within the sentence.
Wr: Writing System
This refers to any question which requires you to understand a particular writing system, including both uses of the Latin alphabet in other languages, as well as other scripts.
For example, knowing the pronunciation of the Hebrew words חָתוּל khatul, חֲזִיר khazir, אַרְנָב arnav and כֶּלֶב kelev, we learn that Hebrew is written right-to-left, and that e.g. ח = kh, ב = v.
Question Format
Rosetta
The data are sets of corresponding words or phrases between different languages/writing systems, with most of the correspondences given. Parts may be omitted from the data set, leaving gaps to be filled. You must be able to give new correspondences (typically translations) to solve the task.
Match-up
The data are sets of corresponding words or phrases in multiple languages/writing systems, but with few of the correspondences given. If some words are not part of a set, it can still count as a match-up. You must be able to give new correspondences (typically translations) to solve the task.
Monolingual
The data are texts in an unknown language (or equivalent), with no direct translation ( or transliteration for writing systems) given, with the possible exception of 1-2 words. You must be able to translate from the language to solve the task.
Pattern
The data are words or sets of forms of words/cognates, conforming to a pattern (possibly with some exceptions). You must be able to give other words conforming to this pattern or identify outliers to solve the task, but (unlike in a Rosetta) there is no translation component.
Computational
The problem data includes a description of a computational or other logical system. To solve the problem, you must be able to analyse and implement this system.
Text
The data are whole texts presented in different languages or scripts, but not subdivided further. To solve the problem, you must use context and other clues to deduce linguistic rules.
Theme
Classical
These questions feature languages that were primarily spoken around 1000 years ago or earlier.
Comparative
These questions involve comparing either related languages, or different historical forms of one language.
Encrypted
These questions involve decrypting a message in English.
Kinship
These questions involve understanding how other languages and cultures discuss family and names.
Maps
These questions involve understanding how other languages discuss and conceive of directions.
Mystery
The question has a mysterious element to it that draws on general knowledge.The subject area is based around extralinguistic knowledge.
MFL
These questions involve languages that are commonly taught by MFL departments in secondary schools, or those that are closely related to them (e.g. Romance and Germanic languages.)
Senses and Feelings:
Linguistic content to describe emotional concepts or senses ( like smells, sounds)
Stories
Either the problem has a storyline (a plot written in a narrative form) OR there are one or more made-up characters in the problem. The linguistics significance is the embellishment of language to create creative narrative contexts or worlds to study language itself. The subject area is literary work.
Poetry
The problem is based around poetic form.
No Theme (N/A):
A question centred on the main subjects of linguistics
Level & Score
A high score of 90% indicates that, on average, students scored 90% on that particular question. Some challenge questions appear in two levels, each labeled with two scores (e.g Breakthrough / Foundation [ 50% // 67%]). The left percentage corresponds to the Breakthrough paper, and the right percentage to the Foundation paper ( similarly for Foundation/ Intermediate and Intermediate/Advanced).
These are historical statistics of the scores obtained from students’ papers, serving as a general performance indicator reflecting how students responded to the question in the year the paper was sat.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Simi Hellsten and Vlad Neacșu for contributing and building this new and improved version together. [version 3 launched officially on the 18th of October 2023]