Models of Language Acquisition: Inductive and Deductive Approaches

Presents advances in computational modelling of language acquisition, showing what light may be thrown on fundamental problems when powerful computational techniques are combined with real data. A central concern is the extent to which linguistic structure is readily available in the environment.
This volume presents advances by leading researchers in computational modelling of language acquisition. Sophisticated theoretical models can now be tested using simulation techniques and large corpora of linguistic data. Renewed interest in learning neural networks and the ability to test new solutions to fundamental problems has fuelled debates in an already very active field. The 24 authors in this collection have been drawn from departments of linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, and computer science. The book as a whole shows what light may be thrown on fundamental problems when powerful computational techniques are combined with real data. A central question addressed in the book concerns the extent to which linguistic structure is readily available in the environment. The authors consider the evidence in relation to word boundaries and phonotactic structure, stress patterns, text-to-speech rules, and the mapping of lexical semantics, one author arguing that a child's own output may serve as a key source of linguistic input.