25 January 2010 - computational linguistics

“Corpus-based computational linguistics”—let’s take it from the back. “Linguistics” means about language. “Computational” means it ignores meaning; it’s empty. “Corpus” is from the same root as “corpse”, so the whole means “dead, empty language.” And that’s the important thing to remember: The whole shifted paradigm, which has taught us so much about ourselves, is assembled on a lab table but still waits for the lightning strike that will bring it to life.