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Formal Linguistics Forum

What kinds of algorithms can capture how natural language sound systems work? What is the best way to represent the structure of words and sentences? What is the relationship between formal logic and the meanings of those words and sentences? What insights can theoretical models afford into the structure of conversations?

These and other questions are discussed at the Formal Linguistics Forum (or FLorum, for short), a working group that advances cutting-edge research in theoretical linguistics. The group’s interdisciplinary scope encompasses formal approaches to any aspect of language structure (including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics—with an eye on phenomena that cross classic disciplinary boundaries), and welcomes research couched in or relevant to any formal theory of language.

Theoretically diverse

FLorum is not affiliated with any single theory or school of thought. Its scope is deliberately broad. Research presented at the forum may draw on frameworks such as Chomskyan Minimalism, Construction Grammar, Distributed Morphology, Paradigm Function Morphology, Cophonology Theory, or Gradient Symbolic Computation, among many others.

Contributions need not advocate a particular framework. They may instead address a wider theoretical question, introduce a new empirical challenge, examine the predictions of an existing account, or explore how a linguistic pattern might be formally represented.

A forum for developing ideas

Although the forum’s subject matter is formal, its meetings are informal and collaborative. FLorum is a working group rather than a conventional seminar series. Its purpose is to help participants develop new analyses, refine arguments, discover connections, and identify productive directions for further research.

Meetings may include:

1. discussion of theoretical linguistic literature;
2. collaborative exploration of ideas for new research projects; and
3. presentations of ongoing research by students and faculty from HKU and other institutions.

Work in progress is warmly welcomed. Participants may bring a developing analysis, an unresolved theoretical problem, or a puzzling dataset for discussion.