Formal Languages in Theory and Practice (SoSe2014) Wiebke Petersen and Kata Balogh
Information about the course
Central concepts in theoretical linguistics like “phrase structure” are derived from formal language theory. A theory that at the same time provides the theoretical foundations of computation. The course introduces formal languages, grammars and automatons and discusses the question of the structural complexity of natural languages.
The following topics will be covered by the course: modeling natural languages as formal languages, the Chomsky hierarchy and the properties of its language classes, grammars and automatons for language generation and acceptance, and decision problems and the notion of reducibility. We will implement important basic NLP algorithms. At the end of the course the participants will know the fundamental concepts of formal language theory, the central results and the basic proof techniques and algorithms. They will gain the necessary methods to dive deeper into the subject by self-study.
Organizational matters:
- The course will be taught in English and German.
- Prerequesites for participation: basic skills in Prolog programming (e.g., "Einführung in Prolog"), basic knowledge in set theory (e.g., "mathematische Gundlagen der Computerlinguistik", Computational Linguistics (e.g., "Einführung in die Computerlinguistik" and Linguistics ("Einführung in Morphologie und Syntax").
- As we need computers for the practical parts of the course, the number of participants is strictly limited. Precedence will be given to BA students who need the course for the module C1.
Moodle Page
To access the course material and homework, please use Moodle: Link