[Corpora-List] corpus linguistics

[Mike Maxwell]

John F. Sowa wrote:
> That is proof that Chomsky has not paid attention to how real
> science is done.
> ...
> Since linguistics studies the behavior of organisms that "do what
> they damn well please", noisy data is the only *real* data.
> 
> MM> ... there are lots of generative theories...
> 
> All those theories have been influenced by ideas introduced by
> Chomsky, but there is no reason why the people who test them
> should follow Chomsky's advice about picking and choosing data.
> 
> Analyzing the "intuition" of a native speaker is what physicists
> call a "Gedanken experiment".  That's an excellent way to formulate
> hypotheses, but empirical science must take the next step of
> reformulating the elegant imaginary experiments into methods
> that produce and analyze very noisy real data.

I mostly agree (except that I think that unlike physics, linguistics is 
the study of our minds, and therefore intuitive language data is *real* 
empirical data).  But in my msg, and in view of the audience of this 
'corpus linguistics' list, I was trying to shift the discussion from 
what corpora should say to generative linguists, over to what generative 
linguistics might say to corpora linguists.
-- 
	Mike Maxwell
	maxwell at umiacs.umd.edu
	"Theorists...have merely to lock themselves in a room
	with a blackboard and coffee maker to conduct their business."
	--Bruce A. Schumm, Deep Down Things

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