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In any society where written records date back more than two millennia, the modern vocabulary contains archaic structural remnants. Unless a society has undergone a complete linguistic substitution event, societies with archaic structural remnants in their modern vocabulary possess an oral tradition that influences contemporary syntax. Furthermore, only societies that maintain strong geographical isolation or have highly formalized educational systems experience a complete linguistic substitution event. Recent linguistic surveys show that the Qari people, whose written records date back more than two millennia, lack any highly formalized educational system, yet their contemporary syntax is completely uninfluenced by any oral tradition.

Based on the information above, which of the following statements MUST be true? (Select all that apply)

  1. The Qari people have experienced a complete linguistic substitution event.Answer
  2. B
    Any society whose modern vocabulary contains archaic structural remnants has written records that date back more than two millennia.
  3. The Qari people maintain strong geographical isolation.Answer
  4. D
    Most societies that lack a highly formalized educational system maintain strong geographical isolation.
  5. E
    If a society has experienced a complete linguistic substitution event, it cannot possess an oral tradition that influences contemporary syntax.

Answer

The correct answers establish that the Qari people have experienced a complete linguistic substitution event and that they maintain strong geographical isolation.
Based on the premises, the Qari people have written records older than two millennia, which guarantees their vocabulary contains archaic structural remnants. Because their syntax is uninfluenced by an oral tradition, they fail the necessary condition for societies that have not undergone a complete linguistic substitution event. Thus, they must have experienced this event. Finally, since only societies with geographical isolation or formalized education experience this event, and the Qari lack formalized education, they must maintain strong geographical isolation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Diagram the first conditional statement regarding written records.
Written records > 2,000 years -> Archaic structural remnants.
This establishes a sufficient condition for having archaic structural remnants.
2
Diagram the 'unless' conditional statement.
NOT Complete linguistic substitution -> (Archaic structural remnants -> Influencing oral tradition).
'Unless' introduces a necessary condition for the negated sufficient condition. This creates a nested conditional logic structure.
3
Diagram the 'only' conditional statement regarding substitution events.
Complete linguistic substitution -> (Strong geographical isolation OR Formalized educational system).
'Only' introduces necessary conditions, meaning if the event occurred, at least one of the two conditions must be met.
4
Apply the given facts about the Qari people to the established conditional chain.
Because the Qari have written records > 2,000 years, they have archaic structural remnants. Because they do not have an influencing oral tradition, the condition (Archaic structural remnants -> Influencing oral tradition) is false. By modus tollens on Step 2, they must have experienced a complete linguistic substitution event.
This guarantees the truth of the statement regarding the linguistic substitution event.
5
Apply the finding from Step 4 to the conditional from Step 3.
Since the Qari experienced the substitution event, they must have either geographical isolation or a formalized educational system. Since we are told they lack the formalized educational system, they must maintain strong geographical isolation.
This uses disjunctive syllogism to prove the second correct statement.

Key Concept

Chaining conditional statements, applying modus tollens, and translating 'unless' and 'only' phrasing.
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