LINGUIST List 15.1017

Sat Mar 27 2004

Calls: General Ling/Italy; General Ling/Canada

Editor for this issue: Andrea Berez <andrealinguistlist.org>

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di_sciullo.anne-marie, Interfaces Conference

jcb, 39th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages

Message 1: Interfaces Conference

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 10:19:00 -0500 (EST)
From: di_sciullo.anne-marie <di_sciullo.anne-marieuqam.ca>
Subject: Interfaces Conference

Interfaces Conference Short Title: Interfaces

Date: 30-Jul-2004 - 31-Jul-2004 Location: Pescara, Italy Contact: Anna Maria Di Sciullo Contact Email: di_sciullo.anne-marieuqam.ca Meeting URL:

Linguistic Sub-field: General Linguistics Call Deadline: 20-Apr-2004

Meeting Description:

The properties of the interfaces between the grammar and the external systems (conceptual and sensorimotor) are of central importance. Current researches point to the crucial role of the relations underlying interface representations for interpretation. The study of these relations has been a research topic in a number of disciplines including theoretical and computational linguistics, as well as bio, psycho and neurolinguistics. Strong hypotheses on the symmetric (reversible) and asymmetric (irreversible) properties of interface relations are at the core of the recent scientific debate (Chomsky 2000, 2001, Kayne 2003, Moro 2000, 2003). Does grammar treat symmetric and asymmetric relations equally? What type of empirical evidence can be regarded as valid in order to define the nature of the relations in question? What kind of link exists between symmetric and asymmetric relations and what factors determine their interpretation by the external systems? Is there a determining property of the relations that ensures optimal interpretation? The recognition of the decisive role of asymmetric relations (precedence, dominance, c-command) in grammar has led to the elaboration of a model in which grammatical operations are defined in terms of symmetry and asymmetry (Chomsky 1993, 1995, 2001). The importance of these relations in the derivation of different types of grammatical objects resulted in the formulation of a theory where the primes are minimal asymmetric relations (Di Sciullo 2000, 2003).

Computational implementations of asymmetric relations are already available (Marcus 1980, Berwick and Weinberg 1984, Berwick 1985, 1991, Di Sciullo and Fong 2002, Fong 1991, to appear). The questions that these research raise are: the nature of the connection between the grammar and the parser, the reduction of computational complexity and processing time. A relational Interface model facilitates the development of a new paradigm in natural language processing and leads to a new generation of related technological applications. Indeed, the actual paradigm is based on the processing of units such as characters, chains of characters, keywords, etc. without taking into account the basic relational properties of natural language, thus leading to non optimal results. This goes through the whole range of applications in information technology from language processing systems (recognition and generation) to information content processing systems (research and information retrieval, question-answering automatic systems, summaries production, etc.). The current challenge in the area of information retrieval and extraction is optimisation. The development of a new generation of search engines which process information based on relations instead of singular elements is a step forward. The work on automatic question-answering systems that cover a set of asymmetric relations specific to natural languages is also important (Katz 1997, Di Sciullo and Aguero 2003). The orientation of rhetoric processing towards the recovery of asymmetric textual and syntactic relations, instead of text typography, contributes to the change of the paradigm (Marcu 2000, Espanol-Echevarria 2003). If it is true that conceptual processing of linguistic expressions is based on irreversible relations of Universal Grammar, incorporation of these relations in information processing systems can only improve their performance and bring them closer to human performance.

This conference on Interfaces presents an opportunity for researchers to meet and discuss current issues on the properties of the Interfaces in theoretical linguistics and computational linguistics.

Call for papers : Interfaces Conference within IPSI-2004 (July 28 - August 2, 2004) Pescara, Italy

Abstracts are invited for thirty-minute talks (twenty minutes for presentation plus ten minutes for discussion). A limited number of oral presentations will be selected.

Please Submit: a one-page abstract, 11 pt. single-line spacing, to :

Interfaces Conference Committee Département de linguistique Université du Québec à Montréal Case Postale 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville Montréal, Qc, H3C 3P8 Canada

Specify oral presentation or demo.

Send abstracts by FAX to: +514 - 987- 0377 or (preferably) by e-mail to: di_sciullo.anne-marieuqam.ca Electronic submissions are encouraged; abstracts should be attached in plain text format or as Word files.

DEADLINE All submissions must be received by April 20, 2004. Notification of acceptance will be e-mailed in mid-May.

IMPORTANT DATES

April 20, 2004: deadline for abstracts May 10, 2004: notification of acceptance July 30-31, 2004: conference

Organizers : Anna Maria Di Sciullo Université du Québec à Montréal

Sponsors: The Federation on Natural Language Processing Valorisation-Recherche Québec The Natural Language Processing Project

Message 2: 39th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages

Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 01:05:34 -0500 (EST)
From: jcb <jcbinterchange.ubc.ca>
Subject: 39th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages

39th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages Short Title: ICSNL

Date: 11-Aug-2004 - 13-Aug-2004 Location: North Vancouver, Canada Contact: Jason Brown Contact Email:

Linguistic Sub-field: General Linguistics Subject Language Family: Salishan Call Deadline: 28-May-2004

Meeting Description:

The 39th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages will be hosted by the Squamish Nation and will take place in North Vancouver, British Columbia on August 11-13 Salish Conference Announcement

Announcement and Call for Papers 39th International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages North Vancouver, British Columbia August 11-13, 2004

This year's conference will be hosted by the Squamish Nation and will take place in North Vancouver, British Columbia on August 11-13. Papers on all aspects of the study, preservation, and teaching of Salish and neighboring languages are welcome.

This year's conference is being coordinated with the first-ever Wakashan Linguistics conference, to be held August 9-11 at the University of British Columbia. Both conferences will share August 11th in North Vancouver for a day of talks on language revitalization & pedagogy.

Papers for the ICSNL should be submitted by Friday, May 28, 2004, and will be printed and distributed prior to the conference by the University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics, as was done last year. There are no page limits. Electronic submissions are encouraged. Word files with any special fonts will be accepted; however, PDF files are preferred. A style sheet is available at http://www.linguistics.ubc.ca/UBCWPL/. Contact the editors at Linguistics-UBCWPLarts.ubc.ca for updated information.

Papers should be submitted to:

The editors: ICSNL 39, 2004 UBCWPL c/o Department of Linguistics, UBC E-270 1866 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1 Canada.

Information on ordering the preprints, as well as information about the conference itself will follow in a separate announcement.