Course Info for Ling 645/CMSC 723, Fall 1997

Course Info for Ling 645/CMSC 723, Fall 1997
Introduction to Computational Linguistics

What's new

Essentials

What's the course about?

This course is an introduction to computational linguistics for graduate students and possibly advanced undergraduates (with permission). Computational linguistics is the study of language from a computational perspective, closely associated with natural language processing and (to use an increasingly popular term in the European community) language engineering. We will look at formal models of language at various levels (e.g. morphological, syntactic, semantic), representations of world knowledge bearing on language processing, and algorithms for manipulating those representations and that knowledge in order to do useful things with language.

What if I have no computational background?

Students are not required to have computational experience coming into the course, although that would of course be quite helpful. However, some programming will be required; the language used will be Common LISP. Students with no programming background are strongly encouraged to take CMSC 421, "Artificial Intelligence", this fall concurrently with Ling645/CMSC723. It will be taught by Don Perlis and in addition to being interesting and worthwhile in its own right, the CMSC 421 syllabus includes an introduction to programming in Common LISP in the early part of the semester.

But then what if I DO have a computational background?

Students who can pick up Common LISP on their own without taking CMSC 421 are welcome to do so. In addition, I will consider on a case-by-case basis student requests to do some programming assignments in an already-known language such as C, C++, or Java.

How does this course relate to Linguistics 889B in Spring 1998?

My course in Spring 1998 will be a seminar that includes material from syntax, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics -- current plans are to look at a single linguistic phenomenon, most likely wh-movement, in depth from each of those three perspectives. Ling645/CMSC723 will provide needed background for the computational part of that course; students not taking this course in the fall will need permission in order to take the seminar in the spring.

So, what exactly is on the syllabus?

Working on it. Keep your eye on the current version of the syllabus as it develops. 
  Philip Resnik                        Phone:   (301) 405-6760
  Department of Linguistics            Fax:     (301) 405-7104
  1401 Marie Mount Hall
  University of Maryland 
  College Park, MD 20742 USA

  By far the best way to reach me is by e-mail to resnik@umiacs.umd.edu.