LINGUIST List 9.123

Tue Jan 27 1998

FYI: Speaker series, AAA 98(cor), Free NLP software

Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>

Directory

  • [** iso-8859-1 charset **] Ana T. P\233rez-Leroux, Language Acquisition Speaker series
  • Marie-Lucie Tarpent, session on language/metaphor at AAA 98 (correction)
  • Anne Sing, PENN TREE BANK STYLE NLP SOFTWARE AVAILABLE

    Message 1: Language Acquisition Speaker series

     Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 14:08:06 -0500
    From: [** iso-8859-1 charset **] Ana T. P\233rez-Leroux <atp2psu.edu>
    Subject: Language Acquisition Speaker series


    Language Acquisition Distinguished Speakers Series The Pennsylvania State University

    LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS SERIES



    Suzanne Flynn Professor of Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition Massachusetts Institute for Technology "L-1 versus L-2: What Happens When we Redefine the Initial and Final States"

    February 19, 1998, 7:30 p.m. 104 Thomas Building



    Rod Ellis Professor of TESOL Temple University "SLA and Language Pedagogy: Making Connections"

    April 2, 1998, 7:30 p.m. 104 Thomas Building

    Virginia Valian Professor of Psychology and Linguistics Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center "Parameter-Setting and Cognitive Development"

    March 19, 1998, 7:30 p.m. 109 Osmond Lab

    Susan Gass Director of the English Language Center and University Distinguished Professor of English Michigan State University "Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching: Do They Intersect?"

    April 9, 1998, 7:30 p.m. 104 Thomas Building

    This series of speakers is sponsored by the College of the Liberal Arts Dean's Office.

    Penn State is an affirmative action, equal opportunity university.

    Message 2: session on language/metaphor at AAA 98 (correction)

     Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 18:28:50 -0400
    From: Marie-Lucie Tarpent <Marie-Lucie.TarpentMSVU.Ca>
    Subject: session on language/metaphor at AAA 98 (correction)


    Oops! i gave the wrong location for AAA 98: it will be in Philadelphia, Dec. 2-6, 1998. Presenters must be(come) members of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology and the AAA (American Anthropological Association). See general info on the net: www.ameranthassn.org. Message repeated below:

    - --------------------------------------------------------------------

    I have volunteered to organize the following session for the next meeting of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology at AAA 98:

    Language as Metaphor and Metaphors for Language

    Metaphor has been shown to be an integral component of the way we conceptualize experience and embody it in language. But metaphor can also be thought of as a specific tool that can be used in a variety of disciplines: a concrete image can summarize or illuminate the object of study, and sometimes even inform the direction of the discipline. New theories give rise to new metaphors, and the study of such metaphors can throw light on the development of theories.

    Papers are invited from both linguists and non-linguists on two topics: 1) language used as metaphor: for a restricted communicative code used concurrently with language: e.g. the language of flowers; but also for various characteristics of expressive or cognitive domains, e.g. the grammar/syntax/vocabulary of architecture, music, etc.; what characteristics of language are used metaphorically? to what do they correspond in other domains? what is the usefulness of language metaphors for the domains in question?

    2) language as object of metaphor: what can language be compared to? explicit (e.g. neo-grammarian 'family tree'; Saussure's game of chess; the city) and implicit (?) metaphors for language; what do such metaphors reveal about language and how speakers view it? How do metaphors for language relate to directions in linguistics?

    Please contact me by Feb. 15: Marie-Lucie Tarpent Mount St Vincent U. Halifax, N.S. B3M 2J6 Canada 902-457-6172 marie-lucie.tarpentmsvu.ca.

    Message 3: PENN TREE BANK STYLE NLP SOFTWARE AVAILABLE

     Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 19:16:18 -1000
    From: Anne Sing <anneshtdc.org>
    Subject: PENN TREE BANK STYLE NLP SOFTWARE AVAILABLE


    Derek Bickerton and Phil Bralich of Ergo Linguistics Technology would like to announce the release of free software to the Computational Linguistics, NLP, MT, and linguistics communities. The software offering is a pre-release called "BracketDoctor." It provides a parsed analysis of input strings including labeled brackets and trees in the style of the Penn Treebank of the Linguistic Data Consortium as outlined in "Bracketing Guidelines for Treebank II Style Penn Treebank Project" (Linguistic Data Consortium 1995). While the entire range of structures of that work is not supported, this is the only parser that can generate any such trees and brackets and thus represents a major breakthrough for this field.

    We understand that this is unlikely to be nominated for citations or awards, but as this is the only software available that can generate such labeled brackets and trees, we believe it is an important contribution to this field of research and it should be of value to researchers in academia and industry alike as well as to students working through their introductory syntax text books. We are announcing this release to linguistics news-lists, translation lists, and the like as well to our entire mailing list of researchers and decision makers in industry, government, and academia. We feel this release is particularly important because even the major universities such as Stanford and MIT as well as companies such as Microsoft, IBM, and Xerox do not have programs that offer this sort of demonstration of their ability to work with the Penn Treebank styles.

    Of course we recognize the importance of being aware of the entire field of NLP and of not misrepresenting such things to government, industry, or academia, so we feel it is important to distribute this as widely as possible as quickly as possible. As this is the only parser that generates Penn Treebank style labeled bracketings and trees, and as NLP, Linguistics, and Computational Linguistics communities have agreed that the Penn Treebank styles are the standard for this field, we feel compelled to suggest that this parser be accepted as the default standard for parsers in the field today until such time as other parsers can show that they can do an equal or better job with the Penn Treebank style book, or until such time as the Penn Treebank styles are removed as the standard. We will also be distributing this software to members of the LDC, EAGLES, the organizers of the MUC conferences, and other organizations that propose to set standards for NLP. (For possible alternative standards for NLP other than the these go to http://www.vrml.org/WorkingGroups/NLP-ANIM).

    We realize such claims as these may invite accusations of arrogance of immodesty, but what is the point of having such standards as the Penn Treebank II guidelines if the one parser that can generate them is NOT given a central role in the field as a whole and in the journals as the standard against which all other parsers must be measured.

    As long as we are the default standard for the generation of trees and brackets in the Penn Treebank style, then many publications and proposals in NLP will need to mention this software in their review of current technologies and work. For that purpose, the reference should refer to Philip Bralich and Derek Bickerton, 1998. "BracketDoctor," Ergo Linguistic Technologies, Honolulu, Hawaii.

    The BracketDoctor can be obtained by writing to Derek Bickerton (derekhawaii.edu) or Phil Bralich (bralichhawaii.edu) or it can be downloaded from our web site. It is a standard Windows 95 program in a setup file. It requires 1000 kilobytes of space and less than one megabyte of ram to run. Sentences parse in real time.

    Phil Bralich

    P.S. For those who can sign a non-disclosure agreement it is also possible to receive the product called "MemoMaster" which demonstrates our abilities with: 1) question/answer, statement/response repartee (using notes and reminders), 2) NLP messaging for sending faxes, email, and memos, and 3) command and control for browsers and operating systems (a great add- on for any speech rec system). Just email me or a send a fax to (808)539-3924 requesting the non-disclosure.

    Philip A. Bralich, Ph.D. President and CEO Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822

    Tel: (808)539-3920 Fax: (808)5393924