A Turing Program for Linguistic Theory

Abstract

Universal to systems so various and complex as the foundations of mathematics, cryptography, computer science, artificial intelligence, and morphogenesis is the “the concept of ‘mechanical procedure ’ (alias ‘algorithm ’ or ‘computation procedure ’ or ‘finite combinatorial procedure’). This concept is shown to be equivalent to that of a ‘Turing machine. ’ [In fact,] due to A.M. Turing’s work, a precise and unquestionably adequate definition of the general concept of formal system can now be given ” (Gödel in Davis 1965: 71–72,). For this triumph, inter alia, the world is now celebrating the centenary of the mathematician Alan Mathison Turing (1912–1954).1 The mathematical universality of the Turing machine — the abstract system of computation — implies that it is not only relevant to biolinguistic research, but intrinsic to linguistic — indeed any cognitive-neurobiological — computation. To demonstrate this is the deside-ratum of my proposed Turing Program for Linguistic Theory (TPLT). The proposal is very summary and very sketchy; I proffer no answers, only approaches to questions. One of the “Big Questions ” of the Turing Centenary (see

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