Wikipedia list article

This article discusses notable unsolved problems in linguistics.

Some of the issues below are commonly recognized as unsolved problems; i.e. it is generally agreed that no solution is known. Others may be described as controversies; i.e. although there is no common agreement about the answer, there are established schools of thought that believe they have a correct answer.

Concepts [ edit ]

Philosophy of language [ edit ]

How do intension, comprehension, reference, intention and intentionality, extension, linguistic relativity, context, ambiguity, polysemy, idiolect, dialect, among other major linguistics concepts, interplay to give rise to meaningful language as spoken or written by an individual?

Historical linguistics and the evolution of language [ edit ]

The evolution of language [ edit ]

How and when did language originate? [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] How and when did different modes of language (spoken, signed, written) originate? Were Homo sapiens the first humans to use language? What about other species in the genus Homo ? Is language continuous or discontinuous with earlier forms of communication? Did language appear suddenly or gradually?



Language classification [ edit ]

What language families are valid? Are any macro-families valid?

Can any of the approximately 100 unclassified languages be classified? [6] Or does our limited knowledge of them prevent that?

Or does our limited knowledge of them prevent that? Can we decipher any of the extant undeciphered writing systems?

Language isolates have no demonstrated relatives, and essentially form language families on their own. Can any of the approximately 159 language isolates be shown to be related to other languages? [7]

Can we use the comparative method to reconstruct back to an arbitrary time depth, or do we need new methods to reconstruct the distant past of languages? Is there a time depth beyond which we cannot reconstruct?

Can we ever demonstrate that all languages are ultimately related to each other, or that they aren't?

Psycholinguistics [ edit ]

Sociolinguistics [ edit ]

How to deal with variation in language (including idiolects, dialects, sociolects, jargons, argots, etc.) to achieve effective and successful communication between individuals and between groups, i.e. what are the best ways to ensure efficient communication without misunderstandings: in everyday life and in educational, scientific and philosophical discussions?

What are the best ways to quantitatively and qualitatively compare linguistic competence and linguistic performance between individuals and between groups?

How does time (and the semantic change that it brings) and physical age influence linguistic competence?

How are argots formed, how do they function and what are the best ways to become proficient in an argot?

What causes linguistic features to begin to undergo language change at some points in time and in some dialects but not others?

Computational linguistics [ edit ]

Is perfect computational word-sense disambiguation attainable by using software? If yes, how and why? If no, why? (This presupposes the solution to the unsolved problems in the other areas of linguistics as a basis.)

Is accurate computational word-sense induction feasible? If yes, how and why? If not, why?

Lexicology and lexicography [ edit ]

Translation [ edit ]

Other [ edit ]

Is there an objective way to determine which are the most difficult languages?

To what extent are conlangs usable and useful as used as natural languages by humans?[ citation needed ]