MATHEMATICAL LINGUISTICS

Abstract

Let me point out, first of all, that the term "mathematical linguistics" if accepted uncritically can be a reflection of an unsophisticated view of the relationship of mathematics and linguistics. There is, I might assert, no such thing as mathematical linguistics, just as there is no such thing as mathematical chemistry or mathematical physics or mathematical psychology (even though one item in my bibliography is titled A Handbook of Mathematical Psychology.) I will go even further and state that mathematics really has nothing to contribute to linguistics, at least in the sense that its study adds to our knowledge of this field of study.