The central task of future-oriented computational linguistics is the development of cognitive machines which humans can freely speak to in their natural language. This will involve the development of a functional theory of language, an objective method of verification, and a wide range of practical applications. Natural communication requires not only verbal processing, but also non-verbal perception and action. Therefore, the content of this book is organized as a theory of language for the construction of talking robots with a focus on the mechanics of natural language communication in both the listener and the speaker.

The study of linguistics has been forever changed by the advent of the computer. Not only does the machine permit the processing of enormous quantities of text thereby securing a better empirical foundation for conclusions-but also, since it is a modelling device, the machine allows the implementation of theories of grammar and other kinds of language processing. Models can have very unexpected properties both good and bad-and it is only through extensive tests that the value of a model can be properly assessed. The computer revolution has been going on for many years, and its importance for linguistics was recognized early on, but the more recent spread of personal workstations has made it a reality that can no longer be ignored by anyone in the subject. The present essay, in particular, could never have been written without the aid of the computer. I know personally from conversations and consultations with the author over many months how the book has changed. If he did not have at his command a powerful typesetting program, he would not have been able to see how his writing looked and exactly how it had to be revised and amplified. Even more significant for the evolution of the linguistic theory is the easy testing of examples made possible by the implementation of the parser and the computer-held lexicon. Indeed, the rule set and lexicon grew substantially after the successes of the early implementations created the desire to incorporate more linguistic phenomena.

The ideal of using human language to control machines requires a practical theory of natural language communication that includes grammatical analysis of language signs, plus a model of the cognitive agent, with interfaces for recognition and action, an internal database, and an algorithm for reading content in and out. This book offers a functional framework for theoretical analysis of natural language communication and for practical applications of natural language processing.

In the last decades information modelling and knowledge bases have become hot topics not only in academic communities related to information systems and computer science, but also in business areas where information technology is applied. This book includes papers submitted to the 17th European-Japanese Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases (EJC 2007). The EJC conferences constitute a world-wide research forum for the exchange of scientific results and experiences achieved in computer science and other related disciplines using innovative methods and progressive approaches. I.