Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

Dictionary of language and linguistics 1232Characteristics: relatively simple sound system; some languages have a gendersystem.ReferencesGreenberg, J.H. 1987. Language in the Americas. Stanford, CA.Kakumasu, J. 1986. Urubu-Kaapor. In D.C.Derbyshire and G.Pullum (eds). Handbook ofAmazonean languages. Berlin. 326–403.South American languagesTuring machineDesigned by and named for A.M.Turing, a conceptual model of a universal computerwith infinitely large storage capacity. Owing to the fact that they would be prohibitivelyinefficient, Turing machines cannot be directly realized (even allowing for memorylimitations); however, they serve an important function in the exact definition ofimportant basic concepts such as algorithm and recursive functions ( recursiveness).Concerning the equivalence of automata and formal grammars, the Turing machinecorresponds to a type of unrestricted rewriting system, since it can produce anyrecursively enumerable set of strings (sentences).ReferencesChomsky, N. and G.Miller. 1958. Finite state languages. Information and Control 1.91–112.Turing, A.M. 1936. On computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem.Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 27:2.230–65.TurkanaChari-Nile languagesTurkicBranch of the Altaic languages with about thirty closely related languages and 80 millionspeakers in Central Asia and Asia Minor; a written tradition has existed for over 1,000