Foundations of Computational Linguistics

The central task of a future-oriented computationallinguistics is the development of cognitive machines which humans can freely talk with in their respective naturallan- guage. In the long run, this task will ensure the development of a functional theory of language, an objective method of verification, and a wide range of applications. Natural communication requires not only verbal processing, but also non-verbal perception and action. Therefore the content of this textbook is organized as a theory of language for the construction of talking robots. The main topic is the mechanism of natural language communication in both, the speaker and the hearer. The content is divided into the following parts: I. Theory of Language 11. Theory of Grammar III. Morphology and Syntax IV. Semantics and Pragmatics Each part consists of 6 chapters. Each of the 24 chapters consists of 5 sections. Alto- gether 772 exercises help reviewing key ideas and important problems.