Linguistics and information science

This paper defines the relationship between linguistics and information science in terms of a common interest in natural language. The notion of automated processing of natural language–i.e., machine simulation of the language processing activities of a human–provides novel possibilities for interaction between linguists, who have a theoretical interest in such activities, and information scientists, who have more practical goals, e.g. simulating the language processing activities of an indexer with a machine. The concept of a natural language information system is introduced as a framework for reviewing automated language processing efforts by computational linguists and information scientists. In terms of this framework, the former have concentrated on automating the operations of the component for content analysis and representation, while the latter have emphasized the data management component. The complementary nature of these developments allows the postulation of an integrated approach to automated language processing. This approach, which is outlined in the final sections of the paper, incorporates current notions in linguistic theory and information science, as well as design features of recent computational linguistic models.