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<Paper uid="J79-1012">
  <Title>American Journal of Computational Linguistics</Title>
  <Section position="13" start_page="11" end_page="11" type="concl">
    <SectionTitle>
NOVE INTO ROOM
</SectionTitle>
    <Paragraph position="0"> where P:21 containing P:22 expresses the conceptual relation designated by INTO.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="1"> In all other respects the Yerkish system is similar to the Multistofe parser whose characteristic data-compression was, in fact, the feature that made .it possible to contain t.he entire system - lexicon, operational interpretive grammar, and automatic response programs - in less than 5000 machine words of central core.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="2"> Conclusion Though Yerkish is, indeed, an extremely limited linguistic sys tem, the examples of sentence structure I have used above should -be suffi'cient to show that it has a considerable range and flexibility with regard to what can be formulated in it. The reports on ~ana's progress that we have published so far (Rumbaugh et -* a1 9 1973b, 1974; von Glasersfeld, 1974b-; see also Appendix to this paper) leave little doubt that Lana has already acquired a number of skills that certainly belong to what is usually called linguistic competence. The grammar of Yerkish as it is at present allows many structures which are still far out of Lana's reach. She has a long way to go before one might venture to say that she fully exploits the expressive possibilities of Yerkish. That is precisely how it was intended at the outset of the project.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="3"> In any case, the range of expression could easiLy be extended at short notice and without interfering with the existing operational system. Nor would such additions require an inordinate expansion of the Lexicon. The introduction of the one lexigrarrl WANT, for instance, has opened the way to a completely new level of expression that may eventually lead to a demonstration of the chimpanzee's capability for conceptual representation. The addition of a Yerkish &amp;quot;if. . . then'' would be no nore difficult and could pe,rhaps further clarify the cognitive potential of non-human prinates. (5) Such additions could also make Yerkish a (5) Premack (1971) reported that his chimpanzee Sara could correctly interpret an &amp;quot;if. . . then&amp;quot; connection between actual activities or states; the greater range and flexibility of Yerkish would make possible the introduction of much more sophksticated hypothetical statements.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="4"> valuable co~unication vehicle for sone of those many unfortunate children wh6, though they are mentally not at all deficient, remain averbal because of some physiological damage. It is towards this end that we are now exploring the possibility of adapting the Yerkish syst,em, its grammar, and the parser, to a form of simple English.</Paragraph>
  </Section>
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