Automata = grammar + control

John T. Hale (Université de Cornell, invité LabEx)
Automata = grammar + control

The class opens by sketching one particular philosophical perspective regarding the positioning of linguistics within the broader realm of cognitive science. It introduces the leading idea of the whole lecture series: namely, that automata combine a grammar with control information.

These automata constitute cognitive theories of how comprehension happens. Because they are formalized, they can be studied from a variety of mathematical perspectives.

We take up two in particular, generalized left-corner parsing and the notion of informed search applying them to the study of ambiguity-resolution, for instance in Garden-Pathing across English, French and Italian (possibly also German).

Recommended reading: chapters 3 and 4 of  Automaton Theories
http://www.amazon.fr/Automaton-Theories-Sentence-Comprehension-Informati...