History of the Linguistics Research Center
The Linguistics Research Center (LRC) was founded by Prof. Winfred P. Lehmann in 1961. In the early days, research efforts at the LRC concentrated on Machine Translation (MT) -- the translation of texts from one human language to another with the aid of computers. After a hiatus ca. 1975-78, new funding led to the development of a new system with the same name, METAL, but with new sets of tools for linguists and vastly greater success, resulting in the delivery a production prototype then later a full-fledged commercial MT system. MT R&D continued at the LRC, with funding by various sponsors, until well into the 1990's. See Machine Translation at Texas for a brief history of MT R&D at the Center.
From its early years to the present, the LRC has mounted a number of smaller projects resulting in the publication of significant works relating to Indo-European languages and/or their common ancestor, Proto-Indo-European. The hallmark of this work has been the use of computers to transcribe texts and prepare them for publication. Ancient works in Old Indic made available in electronic form include Rgveda-Samhitâ (1970-71), and Shatapatha, Maadhyandina Shaakha (1971), both by W.P. Lehman and H.S. Ananthanarayana (Austin: University of Texas) and now part of the TITUS text database.
In a series sponsored by the Committee on Research Activities of the Modern Language Association, grammars of Old Irish, Gothic, and Old French were published. The first of these was An Introduction to Old Irish, by R.P.M. & W.P. Lehmann (The Modern Language Association of America, 1975). These grammars set new standards for mastery of older languages, especially from the medieval period; they are designed for learning without instructors, though they are used in classroom courses as well.
A Mesoamerican Languages project was begun at the LRC in 1978. Languages of interest included Nahuatl, for which a dictionary was published, and Yucatec Maya. For a summary of this work, see: Mesoamerican Languages Project.
A prominent example of the LRC using computers to prepare texts for print publication is the book by Winfred P. Lehmann, A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (Leiden: Brill, 1986). The final print-ready version was produced with the aid of a laser printer (exotic new technology, in those days) using, for the various languages included in the entries, approximately 500 special characters -- many of them designed at the Center. This was the first major etymological dictionary for Indo-European languages to be produced with the aid of computers.
By far the most complex publication of its day was Astadhyayi of Panini, by Sumitra M. Katre (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987); this is an English translation, with commentary, of the fundamental Sanskrit grammar by Panini. Prior to this effort, Panini's grammar was available only in the original Sanskrit, and in a German translation from the early 19th century.
Ignoring many shorter publications, for example journal articles and conference proceedings, a list of books resulting from these and similar publication projects may be found in Books Prepared by the LRC. A more recent project resulted in online publication, on this website, of the full texts of several books by W.P. Lehmann; see: Indo-European Languages and Historical Linguistics.
In recent years, the Modern Hebrew project produced online tools for the study of Hebrew. See the Hebrew Language home page for more information.
Current LRC projects have concentrated on transcribing early Indo-European texts, developing language lessons based on them, and publishing on the world-wide web these and other materials related to the study of Indo-European languages, of their common ancestor Proto-Indo-European, and of historical linguistics more generally. See the LRC Projects page for information about more recent & ongoing work.
LRC Director Winfred Lehmann died on August 1, 2007; obituary notices are available online at: Obit Notices. Jonathan Slocum became Interim Director of the LRC, pending the report of a task force re: the future of the organization.