What is Computational Linguistics?
Did you know the Linguistics department has a major in Computational Linguistics which all CSCI majors have already completed half of? Consider finishing it. Computational Linguistics is a field with many sides, but most work in this area tries to improve the relationship between computers and regular language. For this reason, as a major at Fresno State it is part computer science and part linguistics. It is also the most commercially viable branch of linguistics, and hundreds of companies now work on computational linguistics in the U.S., from tiny start-ups to giants like Microsoft and I.B.M. The nearby Bay Area, in particular, is full of firms busy with the problems of computers and language, and we have obtained internship opportunities there at Nuance (formerly BeVocal), Cataphora, and PARC (formerly Xerox PARC). If you’ve ever tried to equip your computer or other device with a voice interface and found it can’t understand you, or if you’ve ever been frustrated by internet searc
Computational linguistics is a general field which encompasses many aspects of psychology, linguistics, logic and computer science. It is concerned with helping computers understand linguistic issues in order to become better at automating aspects of translation, generation, speech and comprehension. Computational linguistics was born after a number of failed attempts at automated translation. In the late 1940s, the U.S. government saw a need for machine-handled translation of texts, particularly Russian texts. It was assumed, given the ease with which computers had been adapted to handle mathematical problems, that teaching them to translate language would be a simple affair. It quickly became apparent that the problem was much more difficult, however, and the discipline of computational linguistics was created. In the early days of computational linguistics, the field was dominated by computer scientists. Since the 1970s, however, it has become apparent how complex language actually
Computational linguistics is a field which brings together resources from linguistics and computer science to address the question how human language works. By utilizing insights from computer science and other related disciplines, computational linguists can create and test computational models of linguistic theories, as well as develop and apply tools to real world tasks, such as information extraction from text, machine translation, and speech synthesis and recognition. How about Computational Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at OSU? The university has put significant resources into the CL program at the Department of Linguistics, and intends to expand it further: • The computational linguistics faculty in the Department of Linguistics are • Chris Brew (language technology, computational psycholinguistics, statistical NLP) • Detmar Meurers (NLP, constraint-based grammar/HPSG, corpus annotation, syntax) • Michael White (NLP, natural language generation and in the Departme
Language is widely recognized as part of what makes us human. We instinctively know its value in communication and the development of ideas. Transferring those skills to computers is the challenge of a computational linguist-from predictive text messaging to dialogue software for your car, to discoveries in medical research. In just 12 months of full-time study, or 24-36 months of part-time study, you’ll be well prepared for a variety of positions: • Computational Linguist • Specialized Software Development Engineer • Language Technician • Language Specialist • Quality Assurance Analyst • Translational Technology Specialist Learn more about the master’s degree, and download a printable brochure for information at a glance.
