As the earlier version of the qualifying exam has been shared with Ph.D. candidates from year to year, this year’s exam is all new.

Historical & Comparative Linguistics

Prove or disprove the Nostratic hypothesis. Cite examples from at least 10 potential sub-families (and provide several relevant false cognates in Basque, Burushaski, Pankararú, or Ainu for extra credit).

Computational Syntax

Sketch out an algorithm for a sentence parser that runs in O(n·log(log((n))) or better time, and uses no more than O(m) memory, where

• n = the number of noun phrases in the sentence, and
• m = the number of UTF-16 bytes in the Hittite translation of the sentence

Sociolinguistic Semantics

Why? Why not?

(Provide answers in at least two substantively different dialects of English, Dutch, and Indonesian, and all three dialects of Romulan.)

Documentary Linguistics

Ee-day-ibescray and-lay ocu-day-ent-may ee-thay oh-phay-etic-nay and-lay ortho-lay-aphic-gray on-kay-entions-vay ov-lay ee-thay eye-uh-day-ect-lay ov-lay Ig-Pay Atin-Lay ex-lay-empli-lay-ied-fay in-lay iss-thay estion-quay and-lay ee-thay ollowing-fay ex-lay-amples-lay:

• oo-day oo-yay eak-spay Ig-Pay Atin-Lay?
• oo-day as-lay I-yay ay-say, ot-nay as-lay I-yay oo-day.
• O-yay, æh-yay!
• E-hay akes-tay a-yay ake-stay.
• ank-you-thay!
• ould-night-gay!

	On the Meta-Abstractness of the Abstract Abstract—Métha Maxwell
	On the Two Main Types of Computational Linguists—J. Random Linguist
	Collateral Descendant of Lingua Pranca Contents