NACLO, the North American Computational Linguistics Open competition, is an annual contest that challenges high school students to solve linguistic puzzles. These puzzles require no prior knowledge of linguistics or specific languages—just logical thinking, pattern recognition, and problem-solving skills.
In NACLO, students work with data from real languages (often unfamiliar ones) and must figure out linguistic patterns, rules, and structures. The competition covers various areas of linguistics including:
- Phonetics and Phonology: Understanding sound systems and patterns
- Morphology: Analyzing word structure and formation
- Syntax: Deciphering sentence structure and grammar rules
- Semantics: Exploring meaning and how words relate to concepts
- Pragmatics: Understanding language use in context
NACLO problems are designed to be solved through careful observation, hypothesis testing, and logical deduction. Top performers may qualify for the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL), where they compete against students from around the world.
Whether you're preparing for the competition or simply curious about how languages work, this guide will help you understand the key linguistic concepts that appear in NACLO problems.