LINGUIST List 5.1452

Thu 15 Dec 1994

Sum: Trends and developments in Linguistics

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1. , SUM:Trends and developments in Linguistics

Here is a summary of the reactions to my recent posting on
"the crucial issues and domains of investigation in contemporary linguistic
research" and "the most important trends and developments that will
determine the research agenda of linguistics in the (near) future" . I
received four replies in all, viz. from Suzanne E Kemmer, Mark Liberman,
Paul Woods and Sabine Geldof, all of whom I would hereby like to thank.
Mark Liberman's reply was long, detailed and insightful but also based on
an internal report and therefore perhaps not fit for public dissemination.
Those who want to know the details of what he had to say may want to
contact him personally at mylsansom.ling.upenn.edu.

Two general themes emerged from these responses:
1. As far as theory-building is concerned, the main areas of interest and
development for the future are believed to lie in the field of cognitive
linguistics, i.e. the relation of linguistic structure to cognition as
envisaged by R Langacker, G Lakoff, and others.
2. In terms of methodology, a stronger emphasis on corpus based
research, made possible by the ongoing micro-electronic revolution. The
increasing application of computers in linguistic research is expected to
bring about some major theoretical revolutions/paradigm shifts (cf. PDP,
connectionism).

Or ...what computers reveal about the mind.

Alex Housen