Computational approaches to understanding language evolution [video]

In her recent ILLS talk, Tandy Warnow discusses computational approaches for inferring language evolution and linguistic relationships:

Computational methods for inferring evolutionary histories of languages

A page with links to various publications associated with this project (and the datasets used) is available here: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~nakhleh/CPHL/.

One of the interesting points of this study is the relationship of Germanic with respect to the other branches of Indo-European. Germanic, at least when the morphological data is given more weight, is not particularly closely related to Italic or Celtic, though it shares a number of lexical similarities with these groups. This is suggestive of a later migration of Germanic-speaking peoples into an area where they came into contact with Italo-Celtic speakers. In any case, it's an interesting approach to historical data.

For more ILLS2 videos, see this link: http://ills.linguistics.illinois.edu/current/showcase.html.

Ill Linguistics and Novel Technologies (Call for papers: 28 Feb '10 deadline)

Illinois Language and Linguistics Society 2

ILLS2 (28-30 May 2010) is a student-run conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The theme for this year's conference is Novel Technologies and Methodologies in Linguistics Research. The purpose of this theme is to inspire ideas and create enthusiasm for the ways in which we pursue research in Linguistics. Talks will involve the creation of new tools for Linguistic research, the novel use of old tools, experimental methods, studies of validity or authenticity, and, otherwise, studies that cause reflection in Linguistic research.

Talks from all subfields of Linguistics are welcome.

Invited Speakers:
Wayne Cowart (University of Southern Maine)
Bryan Gick (University of British Columbia)
Tania Ionin (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Richard Sproat (Oregon Health and Science University)
Tandy Warnow (University of Texas at Austin)

Conference Chairs:
Tim Mahrt (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Megan Osfar (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

Call for Papers

Call Deadline: 28-Feb-2010

The online submission form can be found on the conference website:

http://ills.linguistics.illinois.edu/

ILLS welcomes the submission of general empirical and theoretical papers relevant to the field of linguistics and the language sciences. Special consideration will be given to applicants whose research fits within the conference theme of Novel Technologies and Methodologies in Linguistics Research. Relevant talks for this theme would involve at least one of the following: the use of new tools for Linguistic research, the novel use of old tools, experimental methods, studies of validity or authenticity, and, otherwise, studies that cause reflection.

ILLS requests the submission of abstracts summarizing the main points of the research paper, including hypotheses, methods, and conclusions.

ILLS also welcomes the submission of workshop proposals on advanced, emerging, or domain-specific applications, particularly where there is little available existing documentation. Where applicable, we invite those with a related paper to consider submitting a workshop proposal--however, independent workshops are just as welcome.

Suitable topics could involve technologies such as PRATT, eyetrackers, or EMA.

Abstracts are to be submitted in PDF format, and should be no more than 500 words in length, including examples (encouraged) and in-text citations. Full references are not necessary; please use the (Author, Year) format.

See the LSA model abstracts page for guidance in building an acceptable abstract.

You may submit at most: one single-author abstract and one multi-author abstract, or two multi-author abstracts. Additionally you may submit one workshop proposal. For abstracts co-authored with a faculty member, the student should be the primary author and should have carried out the bulk of the research and analysis. In addition, the student will be responsible for the presentation of the paper at the conference.

Abstracts are to be uploaded through the conference interface on the Abstract page.