computational linguistics

computational linguistics (CL)

Use of digital computers in linguistics research. The simplest examples are the use of computers to scan text and produce such aids as word lists, frequency counts, and concordances. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s progress was made by research groups working on machine translation and information retrieval. Theoretical CL deals with formal theories about linguistic knowledge, which today have reached a degree of complexity that can only be managed using powerful computers. Applied CL focuses on practical results of modeling human language use.

---

computational linguistics

The science of the structure of human language as applied to the computer. The terms "computational linguistics" and "natural language processing" are often assumed to be synonymous; however, the former refers more to the science, and the latter more to its actual use in the field. See natural language query and voice recognition.