Computational linguistics : a brief introduction

Computationai Linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of study that encornpasses knowledge rnainly from three areas: Linguistics, Computer Science and Logic. This article is an introduction to the anai~sis of language frorn a Computational Linguistics approach, to the first questions linguists face when &ey need to make natural language fit into structures that computers can manipulate. Easy examples illustrate current existing approaches to the morphology, syntax and meaning of language, presenting sorne of the dificulties and challenges faced in this field. A list of basic introductory readings is provided in the last section