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Lexical Acquisition Across Languages

Objective

Due to the growing volume of textual information available in multiple languages, there is a great demand for Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques that can automatically process and manage multi-lingual texts, supporting information access and communication in core areas of society (e.g. healthcare, business, science). Many NLP tasks and applications rely on task-specific lexicons (e.g. dictionaries, word classifications) for optimal performance. Recently, automatic acquisition of lexicons from relevant texts has proved a promising, cost-effective alternative to manual lexicography. It has the potential to considerably enhance the viability and portability of NLP technology both within and across languages. However, this approach has been explored for a very small number of resource-rich languages only, leaving the vast majority of worlds’ languages without useful technology. The ambitious goal of this project is to take research in lexical acquisition to the level where it can support multi-lingual NLP, involving also languages for which no parallel language resources (e.g. corpora, knowledge resources) are available. Building on an emerging line of research which uses mainly naturally occurring supervision (connections between languages) to guide cross-lingual NLP, we will develop a radically novel approach to lexical acquisition. This approach will transfer lexical knowledge from one language to another as well as will learn it simultaneously for a diverse set of languages using new methodology based on guiding joint learning and inference with rich knowledge about cross-lingual connections. We not only aim to create next generation lexical acquisition technology but also aim to take cross-lingual NLP a big step toward to the direction where it is no longer dependent on parallel resources. We will use our approach to support fundamental tasks and applications aimed at broadening the global reach of NLP to areas where it is now critically needed.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2014-CoG

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Host institution

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 989 203,00
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

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Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 989 203,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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