John M. Lawler

Using computers in linguistics : a practical guide

Computing has had a dramatic impact on the discipline of linguistics and is shaping the way we conceptualize both linguistics and language. Using Computers in Linguistics provides a non-technical introduction to recent developments in linguistic computing and offers specific guidance to the linguist or language professional who wishes to take advantage of them. Divided into eight chapters, each of the expert contributors focus on a different aspect of the interaction of computing and linguistics looking either at computational resources: the Internet, software for fieldwork and teaching linguistics, Unix utilities, or at computational developments: the availability of electronic texts, new methodologies in natural language processing, the development of the CELLAR computing environment for linguistic analysis.

Metaphors We Live by

Every linguist dreams of the day when the intricate variety of human language will be a commonplace, widely understood in our own and other cultures; when we can unlock the secrets of human thought and communication; when people will stop asking us how many languages we speak. This day has not yet arrived; but the present book brings it somewhat closer. It is, to begin with, a very attractive book. The publishers deserve a vote of thanks for the care that is apparent in the physical layout, typography, binding, and especially the price. Such dedication to scholarly publication at prices which scholars can afford is meritorious indeed. We may hope that the commercial success of the book will stimulate them and others to similar efforts. It is also a very enjoyable and intellectually stimulating book which raises, and occasionally answers, a number of important linguistic questions. It is written in a direct and accessible style; while it introduces and uses a number of new terms, for the most part it is free of jargon. This is no doubt part of its appeal to nonlinguists, though linguists should also find it useful and provocative. It even has possibilities as a textbook. Lakoff and Johnson state their aims and claims forthrightly at the outset (p. 3):