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From: berke@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.lang,comp.ai
Subject: Langendoen and Postal (posted by: Berke)
Message-ID: <8941@shemp.UCLA.EDU>
Date: Sun, 1-Nov-87 11:34:49 EST
Article-I.D.: shemp.8941
Posted: Sun Nov  1 11:34:49 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 3-Nov-87 06:28:27 EST
Sender: root@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: berke@CS.UCLA.EDU (Peter Berke)
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 23
Xref: utgpu sci.lang:1536 comp.ai:972

I just read this fabulous book over the weekend, called "The Vastness
of Natural Languages," by D. Terence Langendoen and Paul M. Postal.

If you have read this, I have some questions, and could use some help,
especially on the more Linguistics aspects of the book.

Are Langendoen or Postal on the net somewhere?  They might be in England,
the Publisher is Blackwell 1984.  

Their basic proof/conclusion holds that natural languages, as linguistics
construes them (as products of grammars), are what they call mega-collections,
Quine calls proper classes, and some people hold cannot exist.  That is,
they maintain that (1) Sentences cannot be excluded from being of any,
even transfinite size, by the laws of a grammar, and (2) Collections of
these sentences are bigger than even the continuum.  They are the size
of the collection of all sets:  too big to be sets.

It's wonderfully written.  Clear wording, proofs, etc.  Good reading.
Help!

Regards,
Pete