Linguistics isn't always the answer: Word comparison in computational linguistics

S trin g s im ilarity m e tric s are im p o rtan t to o ls in co m p u ta tio n a l lin g u is tic s , ex ten siv e ly u sed e.g . fo r co m p arin g w o rd s in a v a rie ty o f p ro b lem dom ains. T h is p ap e r ex am in es th e som etim es m ad e a ssu m p tio n th a t th e p e rfo rm an ce o f such w ord co m p ariso n m e th o d s w ou ld b en efit from th e use o f lin g u is tic , viz. p h o n o lo g ica l and m orpho log ical, k n o w led g e . O n e lin g u is tica lly naive m e th o d a n d o n e in co rp o ra tin g a m o d e ra te am oun t o f lin g u is tic so p h is tic a tio n w ere com pared o n a b ilin g u a l and a m o n o lin g u a l w o rd co m p ariso n ta sk fo r a ran g e o f languages. T he resu lts sh o w the p erfo rm an ce , m easu red as reca ll and p rec ision , o f the lin g u is tica lly n a iv e m eth o d to be su p erio r in a ll cases.