LINGUIST List 2.378

Friday, 2 August 1991

Disc: The Linguistic Data Consortium

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Susan Ervin-Tripp, Re: The Linguistic Data Consortium
2. Dan Brink, Re: The Linguistic Data Consortium

Can anyone clarify what the military uses are for the linguistic
texts, exactly? There is a long history of military support of linguistic
research. Please give some examples even artificial which can account
for this interest. Some linguists have argued that getting military
funding is a good way to remove funds from more malign uses.
There are many conversational analysts who have transcribed
authentic conversations into computer databases. What is the nature
of the oral data in the database already involved? is there enough
contextual information to make it useful for the understanding of
the texts?

I knew of the consortium discussed at Tempe, but I never beofre heard of
a DARPA connection.
This is all closely related to the IBM dictionary project we discussed
last year; Byrd was at the conference, as were most of the people
listed above (Church, Wilks, etc.)
Wilks program at NMSU was the "insider" evolution to our effort at
an "open" project in cooperation with UofA, etc.
It might be possible to get something started here, but, frankly,
looking at the list, we would need a active, well-known researcher in
the field to pull it off; we don't have one . . .
Daniel Brink, Associate Dean for Technology Integration
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1701
602/965-7748/1441 fax -1093 ATDXBASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU