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kub.nl>- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Third International Workshop on COMPUTATIONAL SEMANTICS (IWCS - 3) January 13-15, 1999, Tilburg, The Netherlands ------------- (SECOND) CALL FOR PAPERS ------------- The Linguistics Department at Tilburg University will host the Third International Workshop on Computational Semantics, that will take place in Tilburg, The Netherlands, 13 - 15 January 1999. The aim of the workshop is to bring together researchers involved in the study of computational aspects of the semantics of natural language. TOPICS OF INTEREST The workshop will focus on computational aspects of formal semantic theories and on the theoretical issues involved in the development of natural language processing systems. Papers are invited in areas which include, but are not limited to, the following topics: * working with underspecified semantic representations * use of context in interpretation * the semantics-pragmatics interface * dynamic interpretation in text and dialogue * information packaging * computational lexical semantics * interpretation and inference * interpretation in multi-modal interaction * context modelling * speech acts and interpretation * incremental interpretation * connections with theorem proving and knowledge representation SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Authors are asked to submit an original paper of maximally 5000 words by September 15, 1998. Papers should be prepared with LaTeX and should be submitted by email. All submitted papers will be refereed by the programme committee. Accepted papers will be published in the proceedings; we also aim at publishing a selection of accepted papers in book form. Guidelines for LaTeX preparation of your manuscript are available at the IWCS-3 web pages: http://cwis.kub.nl/~fdl/research/ti/Docs/IWCS/iwcs.htm For initial submission email a Postscript version of the paper to: Computational.SemanticsMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
ling.ohio-state.edu>CALL FOR PAPERS: SYLLABLE STUCTURE AND GESTURE TIMING As part of the conference LP '98 to be held at Ohio State University Sept. 15-20, there will be a workshop funded by the National Science Foundation Sept. 19-20, on 'Syllable Structure and Gesture Timing', covering issues related to phonetic and phonological accounts of segmentation, and timing and ordering of gestures in speech, especially how sequences of consonants e.g. [spr], [ntw] are formally represented. Speech is traditionally represented as a string of segments, defined in terms of features which are implemented simultaneously. In that conception, the phoneme is the minimal phonological unit where time and ordering are defined. As has long been known, the transition from phoneme to phoneme is phonetically realized as a continuous change. There has been a steady progression in phonological theory from linear generative theory to nonlinear representations where the mapping between segments and features is quite relaxed, and highly articulated suprasegmental structures are assumed. A consequence of nonlinear models, which allow single 'segments' to bear multiple values of a feature and allow one feature to be associated with many 'segments', is that one can meaningfully question the existence of the 'segment' as a formal object. The theory of feature geometry does not explicitly represent the notion 'segment', and it has been argued that the traditional segment does not correspond to any specific level of representation in current models. Nonlinear models have increasingly tended towards positing complex but internally timeless single 'segments' in place of clusters of segments: thus, what was formerly represented as a triconsonantal sequence [ntw] might also be represented as a single segment, a 'voiceless prenasalised rounded alveolar'. Some languages, such as Bella Coola and Georgian, seem to allow unbounded arbitrary sequences of consonants, which suggests that phonological theory may ultimately need to allow infinitely long syllables and unstructured onsets and codas. One of the central questions to be taken up in the workshop is "are there any universal limits on possible strings of segments in various positions within the syllable"? This statement of the question begs two quite important questions: do segments per se exist (and how can one identify whether a given temporal stretch of the phonetic output corresponds to one or more segments), and do syllables themselves exist? Both of these assumptions remain controversial, especially in nonlinear phonology. Invited speakers for this workshop include Donca Steriade, John Ohala, John Harris and Louis Goldstein. Further details on the issues being investigated in this workshop can be found at http://ling.ohio-state.edu/Events/phon_workshop.html. One-page abstracts for 30 minute papers to be presented at this workshop are solicited (due date for receipt of abstracts: August 10). Lodging and up to $400 to cover economy travel expenses will be provided to authors presenting papers at the workshop. Abstracts may be sent by email to oddenMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue