International Linguistics Olympiad
The International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) is one of the International Science Olympiads for secondary school students. Its abbreviation, IOL, is deliberately chosen not to correspond to the name of the organization in any particular language so that member organizations can choose for themselves how to designate the competition in their own language.[1] This olympiad furthers the fields of mathematical, theoretical, and descriptive linguistics.
Format
[edit]The setup differs from most other Science Olympiads in that the olympiad contains both individual and team contests. The individual contest consists of five problems covering the main fields of theoretical, mathematical and applied linguistics – phonetics, morphology, semantics, syntax, sociolinguistics, etc. – which must be solved in six hours.
Since the second IOL, the team contest has consisted of one extremely difficult and time-consuming problem. Teams, which generally consist of four students, are given three to four hours to solve it.
Like nearly all International Science Olympiads, its problems are translated and completed in several languages and as such must be written free of any native language constraints. However, unlike other olympiads, the translations are provided by the multilingual Problem Committee, a body of experts independent of the delegates' team leaders. Because competitors could gain an advantage if they are familiar with the language groups that are the subject of some of the assignments, problems are increasingly based on some of the world's lesser-known languages. Fortunately, with over 6,000 languages spoken worldwide (not including the so-called dead languages), there are plenty to choose from. The committee has a policy of not using artificial[contradictory] or fictional languages for its problems. The presence of an independent Problem Committee and Jury means that team leaders do not have to be experts in the field (though most are): they can (and often do) work closely with their teams, providing last-minute coaching throughout the week of the competition.
In any case, the most helpful ability is analytic and deductive thinking, as all solutions must include clear reasoning and justification.
History
[edit]The concept of self-sufficient linguistics problems was formulated in the 1960s, in the intellectual environment of the recently founded Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (OTiPL) of the Moscow State University.[2] Moscow linguists in this environment were specially interested in understanding and modelling the formal and mathematical aspects of the natural languages; they were hatching things like the meaning-text theory, the Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics and the beginnings of what later became computational linguistics.[3]
In 1963, Andrey Zaliznyak published a book called Linguistics problems (Лингвистические задачи), explaining in the introduction:
Specially crafted problems can serve as an important tool for teaching the fundamental principles and methods of linguistics. In existing collections, the material used for problems is often drawn from the facts of students' native language or the most well-known European languages. While such tasks are undoubtedly beneficial, they often suffer from the disadvantage that it is challenging to separate the linguistic task itself (which requires nothing but understanding the basic linguistic principles) from testing specific knowledge of the language under consideration. The best (though not the only) way to get rid of that second element, which doesn't directly relate to general linguistics, is to create tasks based on material from languages unfamiliar to the students. Of course, it is more challenging to craft such problems, since all the essential specific facts necessary for solving the task must somehow be presented in the problem data. However, in this case, students only need an understanding of the properties of language in general.[4]
Following the publication, the then-student Alfred Zhurinsky proposed to the mathematics professor Vladimir Uspensky the creation of a high-school olympiad using such problems.
Thus, in 1965, the first edition of the Moscow's Traditional Olympiad on Linguistics and Mathematics was held, with an Organizing Committee composed of Uspensky (president), Igor Miloslavsky,[5] Alexander Kibrik and Anna Polivanova. The Problem Committee consisted of Zhurinsky (the author of most of the problems) and Zaliznyak, plus Boris Gorodetsky[6] (president), Alexandra Raskina[7] and Victor Raskin.[8][9] The Moscow Olympiad was held regularly until 1982 and resumed again in 1988, being still held nowadays.[10]
In the next decades, olympiads using the format of self-sufficient linguistics problems started to appear in different regions:
- In 1984, professor Ruslan Mitkov founded the Bulgarian Olympiad of Mathematical Linguistics, open for high-school students of the whole Bulgaria.[10] In this olympiad, each school could participate with 4 students, thus inspiring the format of the future IOL. From 2001, the Bulgarian Olympiad also started to feature a team competition.[8]
- From 1988 to 2000, professor Thomas E. Payne from the University of Oregon organized a program with linguistics problems for high-school students in the city of Eugene, Oregon, United States. The format was very similar to the Moscow Olympiad, with which he had contact in 1986 when visiting the OTiPL in Moscow. From 2001 to 2006, the competition evolved into an online format, the Linguistics Challenge, which stimulated local linguistics competitions in different U.S. cities. This movement culminated in 2007 with the creation of the North American Computational Linguistics Open Competition.[11][8]
- In 1995, a group of professors from the Saint Petersburg State University started to organize the Traditional Olympiad of Linguistics and Mathematics of Saint Petersburg, following a format very similar to that of the Moscow Olympiad. Decades later, in the 2010s, the olympiads of Moscow and Saint Petersburg merged to form a Russian National Linguistics Olympiad.[10][8]
- In 2001, a group connected to the Leiden University, including Ruslan Mitkov, the founder of the Bulgarian Olympiad, and two other former participants of the Moscow Olympiad (Alexander Lubotsky participated from 1973 to 1976; Leonid Kulikov participated from 1981 to 1988), founded a Linguistics Olympiad for the Netherlands.
After the foundation of the Bulgarian olympiad, teams of the Moscow Linguistic Olympiad's winners successfully competed in Bulgaria and vice versa, demonstrating good potential for international cooperation in the field. With the multiplication of initiatives, the organizers of the different olympiads decided to organize, in 2003, the First International Olympiad in Theoretical, Mathematical, and Applied Linguistics, with six participating countries:
- Russia, with one team from the Moscow Olympiad and another from the Saint Petersburg Olympiad;
- Bulgaria, also with two teams, both from the Bulgarian Olympiad;
- Netherlands, with a team selected from its newly formed olympiad;
- Estonia, with a team from the olympiad organized in the same year by Renate Pajusalu and other professors from Tartu University;
- Latvia, with a team of students from Riga's Secondary School No. 40, the former school of Alexander Berdichevsky, then a master student at the OTiPL;
- Czech Republic, with a guest team.
Contests, year by year
[edit]IOL 2003
[edit]The first edition of IOL then was realized from September 6 to 12, 2003, in the mountain resort Borovetz, Bulgaria, chaired by Alexander Kibrik from Moscow State University (MSU) and with the participation of six countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Netherlands, and Russia.[12]
The first International Jury was composed of four people: Ivan Derzhanski (president) (Institute for Mathematics and Informatics of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), Alexander Berdichevsky (MSU), Boris Iomdin (Russian Language Institute) and Elena Muravenko (Department for Russian Language, Russian State University for the Humanities).[10]
The five problems at the individual contest concerned Jacob Linzbach's "Transcendental algebra" writing system, Egyptian Arabic (Afroasiatic), Basque (Isolate), Adyghe (Northwest Caucasian), and French (Indo-European). The team contest consisted of three problems: on Tocharian (Indo-European), the use of subscripts as indices, and on performative verbs.
IOL 2004
[edit]The 2nd IOL was held from August 2 to 6, 2004, in the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH), in Moscow, Russia.[13][14] Chaired by Vladimir Alpatov, it gathered seven countries, with the first participation of Poland and Serbia and Montenegro.
The Problem Committee was chaired by Elena Muravenko. In addition to Berdichevsky, Derzhanski, and Iomdin, it also included Ksenia Gilyarova and Maria Rubinstein, both from the Russian State University for the Humanities.
The five problems at the individual contest were in Kayapo, Latin, English, Lakhota and Chuvash. The team problem was in Armenian.
IOL 2005
[edit]The 3rd IOL was held from August 8 to 12, 2005, at Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.[15] Organized by a Local Committee composed by Alexander Lubotsky, Michiel de Vaan, Alwin Kloekhorst, Jesca Zweijtzer and Saskia Tiethoff, it had the participation of 13 teams from 9 countries, Finland and Romania for their first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Ksenia Gilyarova.
The five problems at the individual contest concerned syntax in Tzotzil (Mayan), semantics in Lango (Nilotic), numbers in Mansi (Uralic), possessives in Yoruba (Kwa) and accents in Lithuanian (Baltic). The team problem was in Figuig (Berber).
IOL 2006
[edit]The 4th IOL was held from August 1 to 6, 2006, at the University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.[16] Chaired by Renate Pajusalu, it received also 13 teams from 9 countries, with Lithuania sending a team for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Alexander Berdichevsky.
The five problems at the individual contest were in Lakhota (Siouan) syntax, Catalan (Romanic) plural forms, Khmer (Austroasiatic) script, Udihe (Tungusic) possessives and Ngoni (Bantu) syntax. The team problem was in American Sign Language.
IOL 2007
[edit]The 5th IOL was held from July 31 to August 4, 2007, at the Hotel Gelios, Saint Petersburg, Russia.[17] Chaired by Stanislav Gurevich, it received 15 teams from 9 countries; Spain, Sweden and USA came for the first time. With the participation of USA, it was the first time that English language was one of the languages of the competition. The Problem Committee was chaired by Dmitry Gerasimov; with the participation of Alexander Piperski, it was the first time the Jury had a former IOL participant as a member.
The five problems at the individual contest were in Braille, Movima (Isolate), Georgian (Kartvelian), Ndom (Trans-New Guinea), and correspondences between Turkish and Tatar (Turkic). The team problem was in Hawaiian (Polynesian) and focused on genealogical terms.
In that year, it was decided that each country can send one or two teams, consisting of four students each, with the first team's costs fully covered by the host country. Also, the host country could send a third team.[17] This was also the year that the special trophy "Blue Vase" was introduced, as a special prize for the team with the highest average score in the individual competition.[18]
IOL 2008
[edit]The 6th IOL was held from August 4 to 9, 2008, at the Sunny Beach Resort, Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.[19] Chaired by Iliana Raeva, it gathered 16 teams from 11 countries, including the first time for Germany, Slovenia and South Korea. The Problem Committee was chaired by Ivan Derzhanski.
The five individual problems were in Micmac (Algonquian), Old Norse (North Germanic) poetry (specifically, drottkvætt), Drehu and Cemuhî correspondences (Oceanic), Copainalá Zoque (Mixe-Zoquean), and Inuktitut (Eskimo-Aleut). The team problem was about correspondences between Mandarin and Cantonese (Sinitic) using the fanqie system.
IOL 2009
[edit]The 7th IOL was held from July 26 to 31, 2009, at the University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.[20] Chaired by Michał Śliwiński, it received 23 teams from 17 countries, with Australia, United Kingdom, India and Ireland sending teams for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Todor Tchervenkov (University of Lyon, France).
The subject matter of the five individual problems covered: numerals in the Sulka language (Isolate), Maninka and Bamana (Mande) languages in the N'Ko and Latin scripts, traditional Burmese (Sino-Tibetan) names and their relation with dates of birth, stress position in Old Indic (Indo-Aryan) and the relation between grammar and morphology in classical Nahuatl (Uto-Aztecan). The team problem was in Vietnamese (Austroasiatic).
This was the first year when the IOL received its Constitution.
IOL 2010
[edit]The 8th IOL was held from July 19 to 24, 2010, at Östra Real Hostel, Stockholm, Sweden.[21] Chaired by Hedvig Skigård, it received 26 teams from 18 countries, including first time for Norway and Singapore. The Problem Committee was chaired by Alexander Piperski (then recently graduated from MSU).
The individual contest consisted of five problems covering: relations between various verb forms in Budukh (Northeast Caucasian), the Drehu (Oceanic) counting system, Blissymbolics, mRNA coding, and the connection between Sursilvan and Engadine dialects in Romansh (Western Romance). The team problem involved translating extracts from a monolingual Mongolian (Mongolic) dictionary.
IOL 2011
[edit]The 9th IOL was held from July 25 to 30, 2011, at the Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA [22] – for the first time outside of Europe. Chaired by Lori Levin, it received 27 teams from 19 countries, including Brazil, Canada, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Adam Hesterberg (then recently graduated from Princeton University).
The problems of the individual contest required reasoning about Faroese (Germanic) orthography, Menominee (Algic) morphology, Vai (Mande) syntax, Nahuatl (Uto-Aztecan) semantics and the structure of the barcode language EAN-13. The team contest involved the rules and structure of Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan) poetry.
In the program of the event, this was the first time when there was a Jeopardy-style informal competition, organized by the USA team leader Dragomir R. Radev.
IOL 2012
[edit]The 10th IOL was held from July 29 to August 4, 2012, at the University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.[23] Chaired by Mirko Vaupotič, it received 34 teams from 26 countries, first time for China, Greece, Hungary, Israel and Japan. The Problem Committee was chaired by Ivan Derzhanski.
The five problems at the individual contest were in Dyirbal (Pama-Nyungan) syntax, Umbu-Ungu (Trans-New Guinea) numbers, Basque (Isolate) pronouns, Teop (Austronesian) syntax, and Rotuman (Austronesian) semantics. The team problem involved recognizing country names in Lao language (Tai-Kadai).
IOL 2013
[edit]The 11th IOL was held from July 22 to 26, 2013, at the Manchester Grammar School, Manchester, UK.[24] Chaired by Neil Sheldon, it received 35 teams from 26 countries, including first time teams from Isle of Man, Taiwan and Turkey. The Problem Committee was chaired by Stanislav Gurevich.
The five problems at the individual contest were about Yidiny (Pama-Nyungan) morphology, Tundra Yukaghir (Yukhagir) semantics, Pirahã (Mura) phonology, Muna (Austronesian) syntax, and telepathy based on English. The team problem involved translating Martin Seymour-Smith's list of the 100 most influential books from Georgian (Kartvelian) written in the 9th century Nuskhuri script.
IOL 2014
[edit]The 12th IOL was held from July 21 to 25, 2014, at the Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China – for the first time on the Asian continent.[25] Chaired by Jiang Yuqin, it received 39 teams from 28 countries, with Pakistan and Ukraine sending teams for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Tae Hun Lee.
The five problems at the individual contest were about Benabena (Trans-New Guinea) morphology, Kiowa (Tanoan) morphophonology, Tangut (Tibeto-Burman) kinship, Engenni (Niger-Congo) syntax, and Gbaya (Niger-Congo). The team problem involved matching the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to their translations in Armenian (Indo-European).
IOL 2015
[edit]The 13th IOL was held from July 20 to 24, 2015, at the American University in Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.[26] Chaired by Aleksandar Velinov, it received 43 teams from 29 countries, with Bangladesh, France and Kazakhstan sending teams for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Bozhidar Bozhanov.
The five problems at the individual contest were about Nahuatl (Uto-Aztecan) and Arammba (South-Central Papuan) numbers, morphology in the Besleney dialect of Kabardian (Abkhaz-Adyghe), Soundex, Wambaya (West Barkly) syntax and the rules of Somali (Afroasiatic) poetry. The team problem involved using extracts from a monolingual Northern Sotho (Bantu) dictionary to build a grammar and lexicon of the language.
This was the year when the current IOL official logo was chosen through the IOL Logo Competition. The winning design was done by Agata Łazarewicz of the Secondary Technical School of Electronics in Jelenia Góra, Poland.
IOL 2016
[edit]The 14th IOL was held from July 25 to 29, 2016, at the Infosys Development Center in Mysore, India – for the second time on the Asian continent.[27] Chaired by Dr. Monojit Choudhury and Dr. Girish Nath Jha, it received 44 teams from 31 countries, with Nepal and Sri Lanka sending teams for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Boris Iomdin.
The five problems at the individual contest were about spatial deictics in Aralle-Tabulahan (Austronesian), Luwian hieroglyphic script (Indo-European), Kunuz Nubian (Eastern Sudanic) morphosyntax, Iatmül (Sepik) semantics and Jaqaru (Aymaran) morphology. The team problem involved matching over 100 utterances in Taa (Tuu) to their IPA transcriptions.
IOL 2017
[edit]The 15th IOL was held from July 31 to August 4, 2017, at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland.[1] Chaired by Dr. Cara Greene, it received 43 teams from 27 countries, with Canada sending a Francophone team for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Hugh Dobbs.
The five problems at the individual content were about Berom (Plateau) numbers, Abui (Timor-Alor-Pantar) possessives and semantics, Kimbundu (Bantu) morphosyntax, Jru' (Austroasiatic) written in the Khom script and Madak (Meso-Melanesian) morphophonology. The team problem involved establishing correspondences between 87 emojis and their descriptions in Indonesian (Austronesian).
IOL 2018
[edit]The 16th IOL was held from July 26 to 30, 2018, at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic.[28] Chaired by Vojtěch Diatka, it received 49 teams from 29 countries, with Malaysia and Denmark competing for the first time.[29] The Problem Committee was chaired by Maria Rubinstein.
The five problems at the individual contest concerned Creek (Muskogean) stress, Hakhun (Sal) morphosyntax, Terêna (Arawakan) phonology, counting in Mountain Arapesh (Torricelli) and kinship in Akan (Atlantic-Congo). The team problem examined phonological correspondences among the three Jê languages Mẽbêngôkre, Xavante and Krĩkatí.
IOL 2019
[edit]The 17th IOL was held from July 29 to August 2, 2019 at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Yongin, South Korea.[30] Chaired by Minkyu Kim and Yoojung Chae, it received 53 teams from 35 countries, with Hong Kong, Uzbekistan and Colombia competing for the first time.[31] The Problem Committee was chaired by Tae Hun Lee.
The five problems at the individual contest concerned Yonggom (Ok) morphosyntax, Yurok (Algic) colours, Middle Persian (Iranian) written in Book Pahlavi script, West Tarangan (Aru) reduplication and Nooni (Beboid) morphosyntax and day names. The team problem involved the symbol notation used by judges in rhythmic gymnastics.
This edition, the third in Asia, marked an expansion in the participation of Asian countries. It was also the first edition of the Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad (APLO).[32]
At IOL, it was the year the IOL flag was introduced, and also the first year when there was a body of International Volunteers helping organize the event.[30]
IOL 2021
[edit]The 18th IOL was scheduled to take place from July 20 to 24, 2020, in Ventspils, Latvia. Due to the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, the International Board of the IOL decided to postpone the event to July 19 to 23, 2021, on which it was successfully held. The competition was held remotely in the respective countries of each team, the first and so far only time that this mode of competition was adopted at the IOL.[33] Chaired by Vladimir Litvinsky, it received 54 teams from 34 countries, with Azerbaijan competing for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Aleksejs Peguševs.
The five problems at the individual contest concerned Ekari (Paniai Lakes) numerals, Zuni (Isolate) semantics with special focus on food, Kilivila (Oceanic) morphosyntax, Agbirigba (a cant language) and its derivation from the Ogbakiri dialect of Ikwerre (Atlantic-Congo), and Rikbaktsa (Macro-Jê) morphology. The team problem involved matching sentences in passages written in Garifuna (Arawakan) with its translations, as well as acknowledging the difference between the language's male and female registers and establishing their relationships with Kari'ña (Cariban) and Lokono (Arawakan), respectively.
IOL 2022
[edit]The 19th IOL was held from July 25 to 29, 2022, at King William's College in Castletown, Isle of Man.[34] Chaired by Rob Teare, it received 46 teams from 32 countries, with Moldova, Switzerland and Thailand competing for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Samuel K. Ahmed (University of Amsterdam).
The five problems at the individual contest concerned Ubykh (Abkhaz-Adyghe) morphophonology, the semantics and morphophonology of Alabama (Muskogean) verbs, Nǀuuki (Tuu) syntax, Arabana (Pama-Nyungan) kinship, and phonological changes and tonogenesis in two daughter languages of Proto-Chamic, Phan Rang Cham and Tsat. The team problem presented extracts in 17th and 18th century Manchu (Tungusic) from Cheong-eo Nogeoldae and the Kangxi Emperor's Imperially Commissioned Mirror of the Manchu Language for analysis, with tasks involving matching sentences in Old and Modern Manchu to their respective translations as well as writing in the Manchu script.
IOL 2023
[edit]The 20th IOL was held from July 24 to 28, 2023, in Bansko, Bulgaria,[35] for the fourth time in this country. Chaired by Aleksandar Velinov, it received 51 teams from 37 countries, with Philippines competing for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Milena Veneva.
The five problems at the individual contest concerned Guazacapán Xinka (a language of Guatemala with now no living native speakers), Apurinã (Arawak) morphosyntax, Coastal Marind (Papuan) morphosyntax, Plains Cree (Algonquian) verb morphology and the numbering system of Supyire spoken in Mali. The team problem presented extracts from Chester S. Street's dictionary of Murrin-patha, an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by over 2,000 people in the Northern Territory.
IOL 2024
[edit]The 21st IOL was held from July 23 to 31, 2024, at the Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil, which was the first time the contest was held in the southern hemisphere. Chaired by Bruno L'Astorina, it received 206 contestants in 52 teams from 38 countries, with Iran and Malta competing for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Andrey Nikulin (Universidade Federal de Goiás).
The five problems at the individual contest concerned verbal forms in Koryak (Chukotko–Kamchatkan), noun phrases in Hadza (isolate), kinship terms in Kómnzo (Yam), semantics in Dâw (Naduhup), and male-female diglossia in Yanyuwa (Pama–Nyungan). The team problem involved lexicostatistics, Dolgopolsky's consonant classes, and the "StarlingNJ" algorithm to compute language family trees and stability indices based on lexicostatistical distance.[36]
This was the year when the IOL programme was extended from five to seven full days, after the successful addition of two "Friendship days" in Bansko 2023 (later editions had six to seven days of programme). This edition also included a simultaneous three-day capacitation program in linguistics for local Brazilian school teachers, as well as a special session for the participants involving editions in Wikidata, the Wikidata IOLab. Finally, this was the year when the "Students Oath" was formally introduced.[37]
IOL 2025
[edit]The 22nd IOL was held from July 20 to 27, 2025, at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. Chaired by Chenhao Chiu, it received 227 contestants in 57 teams from 43 countries and territories, with Greece and Macau sending teams for the first time. The Problem Committee was chaired by Tung-Le Pan.
The five problems at the individual contest concerned number systems in Dzongkha (Sino-Tibetan), possessives in Gaahmg (Eastern Sudanic), verbal forms in Kuria (Eastern Bantu), semantics in Kewa (Trans-New Guinea) and psycholinguistic analysis in Kaqchikel (Mayan). The team problem involved comparing verbal forms in Camling and Bantawa, languages from the Kiranti branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, spoken in Nepal.[38]
IOL 2026
[edit]The 23nd IOL is expected to be held in Bucharest, Romania, in late July 2026.[39]
IOL 2027
[edit]The 24nd IOL is expected to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in late July 2027.[40]
Summary
[edit]The different editions of IOL can be summarized in the following table:
| No. | Year | Host City | IOL Territory | Dates | Countries | Participants | Webpage | Problems | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003 | Borovets |  Bulgaria
|
September 6 | September 12 | 6 | 33 | Link | Link |
| 2 | 2004 | Moscow |  Russia
|
July 31 | August 2 | 7 | 43 | Link | Link |
| 3 | 2005 | Leiden |  Netherlands
|
August 8 | August 12 | 9 | 50 | Link | Link |
| 4 | 2006 | Tartu |  Estonia
|
August 1 | August 6 | 9 | 51 | Link | Link |
| 5 | 2007 | Saint Petersburg | Russia
|
July 31 | August 4 | 9 | 61 | Link | Link |
| 6 | 2008 | Slantchev Bryag | Bulgaria
|
August 4 | August 9 | 11 | 63 | Link Archived March 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 7 | 2009 | Wrocław |  Poland
|
July 26 | July 31 | 17 | 86 | Link | Link |
| 8 | 2010 | Stockholm |  Sweden
|
July 19 | July 24 | 18 | 99 | Link | Link |
| 9 | 2011 | Pittsburgh |  United States
|
July 24 | July 30 | 19 | 102 | Link Archived June 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 10 | 2012 | Ljubljana |  Slovenia
|
July 29 | August 4 | 26 | 131 | Link Archived June 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 11 | 2013 | Manchester |  United Kingdom
|
July 22 | July 26 | 26 | 138 | Link Archived August 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 12 | 2014 | Beijing |  China
|
July 21 | July 25 | 28 | 152 | Link | Link |
| 13 | 2015 | Blagoevgrad | Bulgaria
|
July 20 | July 24 | 29 | 166 | Link Archived May 19, 2017, at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 14 | 2016 | Mysore |  India
|
July 25 | July 29 | 31[41] | 167 | Link | Link |
| 15 | 2017 | Dublin |  Ireland
|
July 31 | August 4 | 29 | 180 | Link | Link |
| 16 | 2018 | Prague |  Czech Republic
|
July 25 | July 31 | 29 | 192 | Link | Link |
| 17 | 2019 | Yongin |  South Korea
|
July 29 | August 2 | 35 | 209 | Link | Link |
| – | 2020 | Ventspils |  Latvia
|
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[33] | |||||
| 18 | 2021 | Ventspils | Latvia1
|
July 19 | July 23 | 34 | 216 | Link | Link |
| 19 | 2022 | Castletown |  Isle of Man
|
July 25 | July 29 | 32 | 185 | Link Archived October 6, 2022, at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 20 | 2023 | Bansko | Bulgaria
|
July 24 | July 28 | 37 | 204 | Link | Link |
| 21 | 2024 | Brasília |  Brazil
|
July 23 | July 31 | 38 | 206 | Link Archived 4 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine | Link |
| 22 | 2025 | Taipei |  Taiwan
|
July 21 | July 26 | 38 | 227 | Link | |
| 23 | 2026 | Bucharest |  Romania
|
Link | |||||
| 24 | 2027 | Bangkok |  Thailand
|
Link | |||||
- a The competition was held remotely.
Participant countries
[edit]
Like most International Science Olympiads, participation at IOL occurs as delegations from participating countries, usually selected as finalists in National Linguistics Olympiads. However, the concept of "country or territory" at IOL is not straightforwardly the usual concept. The Constitution of IOL writes:[42]
Under exceptional circumstances, two or more entities (“territories”) from the same country may apply to the International Board to be permitted to send separate teams to the IOL. As a guideline, the following are examples of the conditions under which such a request may be considered, but the final decision rests with the International Board:
- The different territories are recognised as separate “countries” by other acknowledged bodies, including those for other competitions (e.g. educational or sporting).
- The different territories have separate and independent governments or education systems, with independent Education Ministries, or potential funding bodies which treat the different territories separately.
- The different territories have a historical linguistic divergence which makes participation under the “one language per team” rule difficult or impossible.
Notably, Canada competes under two different territories: Canada Francophone and Canada Anglophone – the former having its own national olympiad in French while the latter participating in the English-based North American Computational Linguistics Open Competition (NACLO). The Isle of Man also participates as a different territory from UK and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, as different territories from China team.
The current list of accredited countries, i.e. countries that have national olympiads abiding some basic rules, consists of: Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada Anglophone, Canada Francophone, China, Colombia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America.[43]
Other than those, there are also countries that participated at IOL before, either with ad hoc teams or having organized a national olympiad no longer active, that are not currently accredited. These include Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Denmark, France, Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.[43]
Individual medalists
[edit]| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Borovets, Bulgaria
|
Alexandra Petrova Boris Turovsky |
Mirjam Plooij Maria Skhapa |
Polina Oskolskaya Ivan Dobrev |
| 2004 | Moscow, Russia
|
Ivan Dobrev Alexander Piperski |
Maria Mamykina Todor Chervenkov |
Alexandra Zabelina Xenia Kuzmina |
| 2005 | Leiden, Netherlands
|
Ivan Dobrev |
Eleonora Glazova |
Nikita Medyankin Tsvetomila Mihaylova |
| 2006 | Tartu, Estonia
|
Maria Kholodilova Ivaylo Dimitrov |
Yordan Mehandzhiyski Eleonora Glazova |
Yuliya Taran Nikita Medyankin |
| 2007 | Saint Petersburg, Russia
|
Adam Hesterberg  Łukasz Cegieła |
Kira Kiranova Mihail Minkov |
Anna Shlomina Yordan Mehandzhiyski |
| 2008 | Slanchev Bryag, Bulgaria
|
Alexander Daskalov Hanzhi Zhu |
Anand Natarajan Maciej Janicki |
Guy Tabachnick Joon Kyu Kang |
| 2009 | Wrocław, Poland
|
Diana Sofronieva Łukasz Cegieła |
Vitaly Pavlenko Andrey Nikulin |
Deyana Kamburova Szymon Musioł |
| 2010 | Stockholm, Sweden |
Vadim Tukh Andrey Nikulin |
Martin Camacho Tian-Yi Damien Jiang |
Mirjam Parve Miroslav Manolov |
| 2011 | Pittsburgh, USA |
Morris Alper Eva-Lotta Käsper |
Wesley Jones Allen Yuan |
Min Kyu Kim Elena Rykunova |
| 2012 | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
Anton Sokolov Alexander Wade |
Darryl Wu Allan Sadun |
Pedro Neves Lopes Erik Andersen |
| 2013 | Manchester, UK |
Alexander Wade Anton Sokolov |
Omri Faraggi Yash Sinha |
Nilai Sarda Vesko Milev |
| 2014 | Beijing, China |
Milo Andrea Mazurkiewicz Darryl Wu |
Ada Melentieva  Catherine Wu |
Anindya Sharma Elena Chaparova |
| 2015 | Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria |
James Wedgwood Samuel Ahmed |
Kevin M Li Ying Ming Poh |
Bálint Ugrin  Nilai Sarda |
| 2016 | Mysore, India |
Jaeyeong Yang James Wedgwood |
Margarita Misirpashayeva Ioana Bouroș |
Tsuyoshi Kobayashi  Elena Shukshina |
| 2017 | Dublin, Ireland |
Samuel Ahmed Przemysław Podleśny |
Andrew Tockman Takumi Yoshino |
Ekaterina Voloshinova Emil Indzhev |
| 2018 | Prague, Czech Republic |
Przemysław Podleśny Eimear McKnight |
Jakub Petr Chih-Chun Wang |
David Avellan-Hultman Vlada Petrusenko |
| 2019 | Yongin, Republic of Korea |
Ken Jiang  Wesley Zhang |
Diego Król João Henrique Fontes |
Tatiana Romanova Kövér Blanka |
| 2021 | Ventspils, Latvia |
Roman Shabanov Daria Kryvosheieva |
Aleksandra Limonova Tam Lok Hang |
Lili Probojcsevity Shao-Chi Ou |
| 2022 | Castletown, Isle of Man |
Artem Borisov Jun Hyeong Yook |
Tam Lok Hang  Kunaal Chandrashekar |
Anita Dalma Páhán Hyunsoo Park |
| 2023 | Bansko, Bulgaria |
Tam Lok Hang Ryusei Omiya |
Elena Păvăloaia Panawat Tiacharoen |
Eleanor Borrel Chung Chi-En |
| 2024 | Brasília, Brazil |
Deeraj Pothapragada Devin Joe |
Eric Wu Wong Tok Shing Henry |
Tanupat Trakulthongchai Satoshi Tsukada |
| 2025 | Taipei, Taiwan |
Vanesa Kalinkova Aaron Chai |
Kalina Ivanova Leonard Kottisch |
Mihaela Anghel Olga Besova |
Team medals
[edit]| Nbr | Year | Location | Team Gold | Team Silver | Team Bronze | Winning team in individual competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003 | Borovets, Bulgaria | Netherlands
|
Russia-StPetersburg
|
Russia-Moscow
|
Netherlands
|
| 2 | 2004 | Moskva, Russia | Russia-StPetersburg
|
Latvia
|
Bulgaria-1
|
Bulgaria-1
|
| 3 | 2005 | Leiden, The Netherlands | Netherlands
|
Russia-Moscow
|
Russia-StPetersburg
|
Bulgaria-1
|
| 4 | 2006 | Tartu, Estonia | Bulgaria-2
|
Netherlands
|
Poland-1
|
Bulgaria-1
|
| 5 | 2007 | Sankt-Peterburg, Russia | USA-2 Moscow
|
Bulgaria-1 Bulgaria-2
|
None awarded | Estonia
|
| 6 | 2008 | Slantchev Bryag, Bulgaria | USA-2 Bulgaria-East
|
Netherlands USA-1
|
None awarded | USA
|
| 7 | 2009 | Wrocław, Poland | USA-Red
|
Korea-1
|
Russia-Moscow
|
Russia-Moscow
|
| 8 | 2010 | Stockholm, Sweden | Latvia
|
Russia-Moscow
|
Poland-2
|
USA-Blue
|
| 9 | 2011 | Pittsburgh, USA | USA-Red
|
Russia-StPetersburg
|
Russia-Moscow
|
USA-Red
|
| 10 | 2012 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | USA-Blue
|
Netherlands
|
Poland-2
|
Russia-StPetersburg
|
| 11 | 2013 | Manchester, UK | USA-Red
|
Russia-StPetersburg
|
Bulgaria-1 Romania
|
USA-Red
|
| 12 | 2014 | Beijing, China | USA-Red
|
Russia-StPetersburg
|
Russia-Moscow
|
USA-Red
|
| 13 | 2015 | Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria | UK-West
|
USA-Red
|
Poland-White Netherlands
|
USA-Red
|
| 14 | 2016 | Mysore, India | Sweden
|
Australia-1 
|
UK
|
USA-Red
|
| 15 | 2017 | Dublin, Ireland | Taiwan-TaiTWO
|
Poland-Ą
|
Slovenia
|
UK-K
|
| 16 | 2018 | Prague, Czech Republic | USA-Blue
|
USA-Red Bulgaria 1
|
Brazil Pões UK-U Czechia Tým křivopřísežníků
|
USA-Blue
|
| 17 | 2019 | Yongin, Republic of Korea | Slovenia
|
China KUN Russia Strelka
|
Poland Bóbr Russia Belka Malaysia A 
|
USA Red
|
| 18 | 2021 | Ventspils, Latvia | Ukraine і
|
USA Red
|
India Saffron Canada Moose
|
Hong Kong EAT
|
| 19 | 2022 | Castletown, Isle of Man | Korea Mal
|
Taiwan Blue Magpie Japan Samurai
|
Japan Ninja USA Red UK K
|
USA Red
|
| 20 | 2023 | Bansko, Bulgaria | United Kingdom
|
USA Red Canada Anglophone
|
Finland  Hungary Uborka Poland Ę
|
Not awarded |
| 21 | 2024 | Brasília, Brazil | Czechia
|
Poland Świerszcze
|
Taiwan Black Bear Japan Samurai Slovenia
|
United Kingdom
|
| 22 | 2025 | Taipei, Taiwan | Taiwan Blue Magpie
|
Taiwan Black Bear UK Foot-Strut
|
Brazil Fêsãw Thailand
|
United Kingdom
|
All-time medal table
[edit]Only countries with at least 1 gold medal are listed. The list is accurate up to 2025.[44] The rank is based on the number of gold medals.
| Rank | Country | Appearances | Participants | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Honorable Mentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
18 | 148 | 27 | 40 | 30 | 97 | 26 |
| 2 | Bulgaria |
22 | 178 | 24 | 28 | 43 | 95 | 26 |
| 3 | United Kingdom |
16 | 100 | 20 | 16 | 17 | 56 | 19 |
| 4 | Russia |
18 | 156 | 17 | 31 | 40 | 88 | 21 |
| 5 | Poland |
21 | 161 | 14 | 27 | 25 | 66 | 40 |
| 6 | Romania |
14 | 67 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 34 | 10 |
| 7 | Japan |
13 | 92 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 30 | 20 |
| 8 | India |
16 | 96 | 5 | 9 | 19 | 33 | 18 |
| 9 | Republic of Korea |
17 | 136 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 33 | 28 |
| 10 | no country | 3 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 11 | Brazil |
12 | 75 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 16 |
| 12 | Ukraine |
11 | 56 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 14 |
| 13 | Canada (Anglophone) |
8 | 31 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 6 |
| 14 | Netherlands |
22 | 95 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 20 |
| 15 | Taiwan |
12 | 75 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 33 | 17 |
| 16 | Czechia |
16 | 61 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 12 |
| 17 | Hong Kong |
6 | 32 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 5 |
| 18 | Australia |
16 | 101 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 10 |
| 19 | China |
11 | 84 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 29 | 23 |
| 20 | Estonia |
22 | 99 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 26 | 18 |
| 21 | Latvia |
22 | 96 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 13 |
| 22 | Slovenia |
17 | 82 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 13 |
| 23 |  Germany |
11 | 56 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 15 |
| 24 | Canada (before 2017)[45] |
6 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 25 | Thailand |
4 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
Media coverage
[edit]- Newspaper article in The Age "It may be semantics, but linguistics can be a team event". July 27, 2012.[46]
See also
[edit]- International Science Olympiad
- North American Computational Linguistics Open competition
- United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad
- Panini Linguistics Olympiad
- Bulgarian National Olympiad in Linguistics
- Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad
- Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad
References
[edit]- ^ a b "International Linguistics Olympiad FAQ". www.ioling.org. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ "Из истории кафедры и отделения структурной/теоретической и прикладной лингвистики (ОСиПЛ/ОТиПЛ): 1960-2000". Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ^ Martins, Eduardo C. (June 22, 2022). Olimpíadas de linguística: mosaico de uma prática social baseada em problemas (PhD Thesis thesis) (in Portuguese). Universidade de Brasília.
- ^ Original quote: Важным средством обучения основным положениям и методам языкознания могут служить специально составленные задачи. В существующих сборниках в качестве материала для задач в большинстве случаев используются факты родного языка учащихся или наиболее известных европейских языков. Такие задачи, безусловно, полезны, но, к сожалению, они часто страдают тем недостатком, что в них трудно отделить собственно лингвистическое задание (не требующее ничего, кроме понимания основных лингвистических положений) от проверки знания конкретных фактов рассматриваемого языка. Наилучший (хотя отнюдь не единственный) способ избавиться от этого второго элемента задания, не имеющего прямого отношения к общему языкознанию, состоит в том, чтобы составлять задачи на материале языков, незнакомых учащемуся. Разумеется, составлять такие задачи труднее, поскольку все существенные для решения конкретные факты должны быть так или иначе представлены в исходных данных задачи, зато от учащегося в этом случае требуется только представление о свойствах языка вообще. (p. 8) Зализняк, Андрей Анатольевич (2013) [1963]. Лингвистические задачи. Москва: МЦНМО. p. 40. ISBN 978-5-4439-0094-0.
- ^ "Милославский, Игорь Григорьевич". Летопись Московского университета.
- ^ "Памяти Б.Ю Городецкого". Филологический факультет, МГУ имени М. В. Ломоносова. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ "Александра Раскина". Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Martins, Eduardo C. (June 29, 2022). Olimpíadas de Linguística: mosaico de uma prática social baseada em problemas (PhD). Universidade de Brasília. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ "International history". United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad. June 3, 2011. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "First International Olympiad in Linguistics (2003)". Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "History of Linguistic Challenges". NACLO. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "IOL 2003". International Linguistics Olympiad official website. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "Second International Linguistic Olympiad (2004)". Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "Second International Linguistic Olympiad (2004)". Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Moscow State University. Archived from the original on October 16, 2005. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Internet Archive: Third International Linguistics Olympiad". Archived from the original on February 8, 2006. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ "Fourth International Linguistics Olympiad for Secondary School Students". Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ a b "The Fifth International Linguistics Olympiad". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "A Tale of Two Trophies". International Linguistics Olympiad. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
- ^ "6th International Linguistics Olympiad". Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "7th International Olympiad in Linguistics". Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "IOL10". Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "IOL 2011: Venue". Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ "The 10th International Linguistics Olympiad". Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "The International Linguistics Olympiad 2013". July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "The International Linguistics Olympiad 2014". Archived from the original on July 31, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
- ^ "The International Linguistics Olympiad 2015". Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ "International Olympiad for Linguists 2016". iol14.plo-in.org. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
- ^ "International Linguistics Olympiad 2018". iol.ff.cuni.cz. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- ^ "IOL 2018 Participants". IOL. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ^ a b "IOL Yongin 2019". IOL 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ^ "IOL 2019 Participants". IOL. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "The Asia Pacific Linguistics Olympiad". Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ a b "Ventspils 2021". Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ "IOL Castletown 2022". IOL 2022. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
- ^ "IOL Bansko 2023". IOL 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Brasília 2024". International Linguistics Olympiad. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ "IOL 2024 General Report" (PDF). iol2024.org. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
- ^ "Taipei 2025". International Linguistics Olympiad. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "Taipei 2025". International Linguistics Olympiad. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ "Taipei 2025". International Linguistics Olympiad. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ "Participants". IOL 2016. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "IOL Rules" (PDF).
- ^ a b "IOL Participating Countries and Territories". International Linguistics Olympiad. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
- ^ "Results". International Linguistics Olympiad. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ From 2017, Canada sent separate teams based on language: Canada Anglophone and Canada Francophone
- ^ "It may be semantics, but linguistics can be a team event". The Age. Australia. July 26, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
External links
[edit]- IOL official website
- Borovetz, 2003 – Official website
- Moscow, 2004 – Official website
- Leiden, 2005 – Official website
- Tartu, 2006 – Official website
- St. Petersburg, 2007 – Official website Archived September 15, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
- Slanchev Bryag, 2008 – Official website Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Wrocław, 2009 – Official website
- Stockholm, 2010 – Official website
- Pittsburgh, 2011 – Official website Archived June 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- Ljubljana, 2012 – Official website Archived June 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- Manchester, 2013 – Official website Archived August 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
- Beijing, 2014 – Official website
- Blagoevgrad, 2015 – Official website Archived May 19, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
- Mysore, 2016 – Official website
- Dublin, 2017 – Official website
- Prague, 2018 - Official website
- Yongin, 2019 - Official website
- Latvia, 2021 (previously, 2020) - Official website Archived May 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine