Questions that Keep Me Up at Night
Linguistic DiversityWhy are there so many languages in some parts of the world and so few in others?
Why are there so many language families in some parts of the world and so few in others?
Why do languages show such great structural divergence in some parts of the world and so little in others?
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Fieldwork & EthicsHow can linguistics both exhaustively and ethically document the world's languages?
How can linguists best use our skills and resources to empower native speakers to conduct their own documentation?
What counts as knowledge, what knowledge counts and who decides?
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Phonological TheoryWhat IS stress? Can we pin down this notion of stress and develop methodological ways of measuring it across syllables, words, and languages?
What is the typological range of syllabic prominence and how are language-specific phonologies sensitive to these diverse prominence types?
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The "Martin Hilpert Questions" (a.k.a. Challenges for 21st Century Linguists)
What are the most important linguistic discoveries?
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What are the most important problems that linguists are currently investigating?
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If you could assemble a team of the most skilled colleagues you know, and you had three years to do anything you like, what would be your project?
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