Workshop on Computing and Phonology
A small workshop on computational aspects of phonology is held at the
University of Groningen (RUG), the Netherlands,
on December 8, 2006. The workshop is open to anyone, but we kindly ask you
to register not later than December 4.
Should you have any question, please feel free to contact Tamás Bíró at
birot @ nytud.hu
Location:
Harmony Building, H13.309 (Multimediazaal)
Oude Kijk in't Jatstraat 26, 9712 EK Groningen.
View all abstracts
Program:
| Chair: Dicky Gilbers |
| 9:30 | Opening: John Nerbonne |
| 9:40 | Tamas Biro (ACLC, Universiteit van Amsterdam): |
| Simulated Annealing for Optimality Theory: A performance model for phonology |
| View abstract |
| 10:20 | Bart Cramer and John Nerbonne (CLCG, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen): |
| Scaling Minimal Generalization |
| In this study, we model the phonotactics using minimal generalization,
a stochastic rule-based system proposed by Albright and Hayes (2003),
who used this system successfully on learning the past tense in
English. Their system generates rules that try to generalize over the
phonetic features of the input (in our case, the CELEX
database). These rules are hypotheses which might prove wrong in other
parts of the input; hence they are 'stochastic'. This algorithm
maintains the explicitness of rule-based systems, but adds an element
of stochastic comparison. The results from Albright and Hayes also
suggest that the model captures some aspects of cognitive
representation faithfully.
However, when we apply this methodology to the problem of
phonotactics, it does not immediately generalise well. It accepted
well-formed examples well, but was ill-equipped to reject strings as
ill formed. We therefore propose improvements to the original
algorithm, first, to force it to greater discrimination, and second,
to take into account implicit negative information as well. The
improved algorithm reduces the number of rules by a factor 5, and thus
improves the transparency of the output. It also cuts the number of
errors (both false positives and false negatives) in half compared to
the original algorithm.
Albright, Adam and Bruce Hayes (2003) "Rules vs. Analogy in English Past
Tenses: A Computational/Experimental Study" in: Cognition 90, 2003,
pp. 119-161 Close abstract |
| 11:00 | Coffee |
Chair: Petra Hendriks |
|
11:30 | Gerhard Jäger (Universität Bielefeld): |
| Exemplar dynamics and George Price's General Theory of Selection |
| View abstract |
| 12:10 | Paul Boersma (ACLC, Universiteit van Amsterdam): |
| The emergence of markedness |
| View abstract |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
Chair: Gosse Bouma |
| 14:30 | Adam Albright (MIT, Cambridge, MA): |
| Modeling gradient phonotactic well-formedness as grammatical competence |
| View abstract |
| 15:30 | Closing and coffee |
Registration:
If you intend to participate in the workshop, please register before
December 4, in order to facilitate organisation.
Further information:
Information Science/Humanities Computing
Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG)
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG)
From Wilbert Heeringa's page:
A list of hotels in Groningen (please note that the prices are outdated).
Travel information
Thanks to Gerlof
Bouma for the design.