From Weaver to the ALPAC Report

This paper presents a sample pertaining to the creation and the use of words in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in the years 1949-1966. These words have been statistically sorted and the results could be taken as a proof that electronic processing of linguistic data leads to the diffusion of clear and concise words for describing a complex concept which would need a circumlocution to be described instead. The aim of this article is to provide an evolutionary overview of these new lexical forms in the various languages for the period taken into account and, whereas possible, a data register and a tabular representation have been prepared as well.