Languages, in all their forms, are the more efficient and natural means for people to communicate. Enormous quantities of information are produced, distributed and consumed using languages. Human language technology's main purpose is to allow the use of automatic systems and tools to assist humans in producing and accessing information, to improve communication between humans, and to assist humans in communicating with machines. This book, sponsored by the Directorate General XIII of the European Union and the Information Science and Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation, USA, offers the first comprehensive overview of the human language technology field.