Introduction to the special issue on memory-based language processing

Memory-based language processing (MBLP) views language processing as being based on the direct reuse of previous experience rather than on the use of rules or other structures extracted from that experience. In such a framework, language acquisition is modelled as the storage of examples in memory, and language processing as analogical or similarity-based reasoning. We briefly discuss the properties and origins of this family of techniques, and provide an overview of current approaches and issues. © 1999 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.