Results and perspectives of the Göttingen project on quantitative linguistics*

Abstract

This article reports on the state and perspectives of the Gottingen Quantitative Linguistics Project, which is, in the first place, concerned with investigations of word‐length distributions in texts and also considers a number of further topics. The study of word length distributions goes back to investigations by Čebanov, Fucks, Grotjahn and others, and has been conducted, from the very beginning, in close cooperation with G. Altmann (Bochum) on the theoretical basis provided by Altmann, Grotjahn, Kohler, and Wimmer in several recent publications. Notes on all relevant aspects of the Gottingen project can be found on the Internet (URL: http:// www.gwdg.de/∼kbest/projekt.htm); an interim report has been included in Best and Altmann (1996).