21.4469, Calls: Computational Linguistics/Spain

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LINGUIST List: Vol-21-4469. Sun Nov 07 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.4469, Calls: Computational Linguistics/Spain

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1)
Date: 07-Nov-2010
From: Brian Nolan [brian.nolan at gmail.com]
Subject: Functionally Motivated Computational Approaches to Models of Language and Grammar
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sun, 07 Nov 2010 23:09:37
From: Brian Nolan [brian.nolan at gmail.com]
Subject: Functionally Motivated Computational Approaches to Models of Language and Grammar

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Full Title: Functionally Motivated Computational Approaches to Models of
Language and Grammar 

Date: 08-Sep-2011 - 11-Sep-2011
Location: Logroño, Spain 
Contact Person: Brian Nolan
Meeting Email: brian.nolan at gmail.com

Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics 

Call Deadline: 12-Nov-2010 

Meeting Description:

While recognising that in recent times much work has concentrated on
statistical models, we wish to examine in particular computational models
that are linguistically motivated and that deal with problems at the
interfaces between concept, semantics, lexicon, syntax and morphology. Many
functionally oriented models of grammar, including Functional Grammar,
Functional Discourse Grammar and Role and reference Grammar have lent
themselves to work as diverse as lexically motivated machine translation
from Arabic to English (Nolan and Salem 2009, Salem and Nolan 2009a and
2009b) and to the conceptual ontological work on FunGramKB (Periñán-Pascual
& Arcas-Túnez 2005, 2007, 2010a, 2010b; Periñán-Pascual & Mairal Usón 2009)
plus recent work undertaken within the Lexical-Constructional Model (Mairal
Usón, R. & Francisco Ruiz de Mendoza. 2008 and 2009, Ruiz de Mendoza
Ibáñez, Francisco José and Mairal, Ricardo. 2008, Guest,  Nolan &
Mairal-Uson. 2009) and Role and Reference Grammar (Van Valin 2005, Van
Valin & LaPolla 1997).

Indeed, similar work has been ongoing quietly within the domain of Sign
Linguistics where various initiatives based upon variations of the original
Mental Spaces Model (Fauconnier 1994) have been productively used in the
creation of digital intelligent avatars to translate spoken/written
languages into several Sign Languages (Morrissey & Way 2006, Cassell et al
2000, Prendinger & Ishizuka 2010). Sign Languages, as visual gestural
languages, pose interesting problems for functional models of grammar
(Leeson & Nolan 2008, Leeson et al 2006).

The organisers of this workshop are a European group of linguists,
computational linguists and computer scientists who, since the 2004 Role
and Reference Grammar International Conference in Dublin have formulated
computational proposals in different areas concerned with the lexicon and
concept ontologies, and the computational processing of the syntax,
morphology and semantics of a variety of languages. Thus far, these actual
computational projects have encompassed 1) rule-based lexicalist
interlingua bridge machine translation, 2) ontological engineering of
concepts that enhance and enrich logical structures in a machine tractable
way, 3) the implementation of a unified lexical meta-language in software,
and 4) the parsing of complex sentences. The languages that have undergone
a computation treatment in RRG have included English, Arabic and Spanish,
and others.

A consequence of this computational work has been the enrichment of the
theoretical elements of the RRG theory, especially in its semantics and
lexical underpinnings where they connect with concepts, and the building of
frame based applications in software that demonstrate its viability in
natural language processing. Furthermore, this computational work provides
compelling evidence that functional approaches to grammar have a positive
and crucial role to play in natural language processing. We claim that a
functional approach to grammar delivers a credible and realistic linguistic
model to underpin these kinds of NLP applications. 

Call For Papers

The main topics of the workshop will include, but are not limited to, the 
following:
-The deployment of functional models in parse and generation
-The architecture of the lexicon
-The linking system between semantics, lexicon and morphosyntax
-Interpretation of the linguistic model into an algorithm specification
-Issues for the layered structure of the clause and word
-Complexity issues 
-Concept formation
-Linguistically motivated computational approaches to gesture in language

We would like to present a forum for a functional and cognitive linguistic,
computational research agenda, based around an inclusive model consisting
of the various cognitive and functional approaches to grammar. In sum, the
aim of this workshop is to offer a forum for discussion and critical
evaluation of the full gamut of research projects concerned with a broadly
functional computational linguistics and that also contributes to our
understanding of languages in a functionally oriented way.

Procedure:
Abstracts are invited for 20 minute presentations with 10 minute discussion. 
Interested researchers and linguists are invited to email 
brian.nolan at gmail.com with their name, affiliation and provisional abstract of 
500 words by 10 November 2010.

Important dates
Submission of provisional abstract: 10 November 2010.
Notification of acceptance of workshop proposal: 15th December 2010.
If the workshop proposal is accepted then all abstracts will need to be
submitted to SLE by 15th January 2011, via the SLE conference website:
http://sle2011.cliap.es/
Notification of acceptance: 31st March 2011
Registration: From April 2011 onwards
Conference: 8-11 September 2011





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