Symposium on Information-theoretic Approaches to Linguistics

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The communicative nature of language has been explored for centuries and serves as a solid base for concepts in modern linguistic theory, particularly regarding the shape that linguistic processes take in order to maximize the effective transmission of a message from one person to another. The development of a mathematical theory of communication in the 1940s (e.g., Shannon & Weaver 1949) spurred a number of linguists to consider analyzing linguistic phenomena in terms of mathematically explicit concepts of this theory. While information theoretic concepts are well established in the area of computational linguistics, the probabilistic nature of information-theoretic approaches was essentially abandoned in mainstream linguistics. Recently, however, the field of linguistics has witnessed a re-emergence of interest in information theory as researchers explore ways in which tools from information theory can help advance our understanding of linguistic systems. The objective of this proposal is to provide funding for a symposium held during the Linguistic Society of America's biennial Summer Institute. The symposium will allow scholars interested in the application of information theory to language to identify phenomena in linguistic research that may fruitfully be investigated and modeled using information theory, and to share and appraise methods by which information theory can be applied to such phenomena. There will also be a tutorial for scholars not familiar with information theory. The event is intended as a springboard for the development of a research community within linguistics investigating the many roles that information theory plays as an organizing principle of linguistic phenomena. An edited, peer-reviewed collection of the papers will be produced by the organizers of the symposium.