The Mathematics of Language
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Beschreibung
The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon.
This book studies language(s) and linguistic theories from a mathematical point of view. Starting with ideas already contained in Montague's work, it develops the mathematical foundations of present day linguistics. It equips the reader with all the background necessary to understand and evaluate theories as diverse as Montague Grammar, Categorial Grammar, HPSG and GB. The mathematical tools are mainly from universal algebra and logic, but no particular knowledge is presupposed beyond a certain mathematical sophistication that is in any case needed in order to fruitfully work within these theories. The presentation focuses on abstract mathematical structures and their computational properties, but plenty of examples from different natural languages are provided to illustrate the main concepts and results. In contrast to books devoted to so-called formal language theory, languages are seen here as semiotic systems, that is, as systems of signs. A language sign correlates form with meaning. Using the principle of compositionality it is possible to gain substantial insight into the interaction between form and meaning in natural languages.
Autor*in
Marcus Kracht
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"Als Fazit bleibt somit: ein anspruchsvolles und schwieriges Buch, das jeder theoretische Linguist bzw. an natürlichen Sprachen interessierte Mathematiker mit Gewinn lesen wird und das folglich die Mühe der Auseinandersetzung mit den benötigten Formalismen lohnt."Carsten Naeher in: Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, 24, 2005
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