Tom McCoy
@rtommccoy.bsky.social
Assistant professor at Yale Linguistics. Studying computational linguistics, cognitive science, and AI. He/him.
Reposted by Tom McCoy
I could use an emergency reviewer for an ACL submission involving interpretability and syntax. Please DM me if you might be able to provide an emergency review before February 15!
February 10, 2026 at 7:38 AM
I could use an emergency reviewer for an ACL submission involving interpretability and syntax. Please DM me if you might be able to provide an emergency review before February 15!
I like it! Each word is a little connect-the-dots puzzle
February 5, 2026 at 11:10 PM
I like it! Each word is a little connect-the-dots puzzle
I like the three consecutive dots in the word "hijinks". They're like an ellipsis telling you that the hijinks will continue.
February 5, 2026 at 7:17 PM
I like the three consecutive dots in the word "hijinks". They're like an ellipsis telling you that the hijinks will continue.
I'm excited to be speaking at Carnegie Mellon today - it's where I got my start as a researcher (a summer job making a finite-state morphological analyzer for Kinyarwanda), and it's fun to be back! Say hi if you're around! www.lti.cs.cmu.edu/misc-pages/l...
LTI Colloquium - Language Technologies Institute - School of Computer Science - Carnegie Mellon University
Homepage for the LTI colloquium lecture series
www.lti.cs.cmu.edu
January 30, 2026 at 4:54 PM
I'm excited to be speaking at Carnegie Mellon today - it's where I got my start as a researcher (a summer job making a finite-state morphological analyzer for Kinyarwanda), and it's fun to be back! Say hi if you're around! www.lti.cs.cmu.edu/misc-pages/l...
Website: flann.cs.yale.edu/index.html
FLaNN Workshop 2026
flann.cs.yale.edu
December 19, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Website: flann.cs.yale.edu/index.html
🚨Calling all fans of analyzing neural networks: There will be a workshop at Yale in the spring that you should come to! (May 11 to May 13)
Announcing the first Workshop on Formal Languages and Neural Networks (FLaNN)!
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
December 19, 2025 at 9:54 PM
🚨Calling all fans of analyzing neural networks: There will be a workshop at Yale in the spring that you should come to! (May 11 to May 13)
Reposted by Tom McCoy
Announcing the first Workshop on Formal Languages and Neural Networks (FLaNN)!
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
December 19, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Announcing the first Workshop on Formal Languages and Neural Networks (FLaNN)!
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
These products flagrantly violate the rules of English compounds!
"Reese's Oreo" should be a type of Oreo, not a type of Reese's!
"Reese's Oreo" should be a type of Oreo, not a type of Reese's!
December 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
These products flagrantly violate the rules of English compounds!
"Reese's Oreo" should be a type of Oreo, not a type of Reese's!
"Reese's Oreo" should be a type of Oreo, not a type of Reese's!
Exciting - congratulations!!
December 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Exciting - congratulations!!
Amazing!!! The NACLO network runs deep
December 16, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Amazing!!! The NACLO network runs deep
Examples like that drew me into the field, and I haven't looked back
6/6
6/6
December 16, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Examples like that drew me into the field, and I haven't looked back
6/6
6/6
She then used that example to introduce rule ordering. Two processes are in play: (i) vowel length changes based on what consonant comes next, and (ii) "t" and "d" both become flaps between vowels. To explain the pronunciations of "writer" & "rider", (i) must happen before (ii)!
5/n
5/n
December 16, 2025 at 12:35 AM
She then used that example to introduce rule ordering. Two processes are in play: (i) vowel length changes based on what consonant comes next, and (ii) "t" and "d" both become flaps between vowels. To explain the pronunciations of "writer" & "rider", (i) must happen before (ii)!
5/n
5/n
Lori has a knack for explaining things in a way that draws you in. An early example that stuck with me: She asked what's different about the pronunciation of "writer" vs "rider". I was stunned to learn it's the "i", not the "t"/"d"!
4/n
4/n
December 16, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Lori has a knack for explaining things in a way that draws you in. An early example that stuck with me: She asked what's different about the pronunciation of "writer" vs "rider". I was stunned to learn it's the "i", not the "t"/"d"!
4/n
4/n
A few years later, she, along with Chris Dyer, supervised my first research project (a summer internship building finite-state morphological analyzers).
3/n
3/n
December 16, 2025 at 12:34 AM
A few years later, she, along with Chris Dyer, supervised my first research project (a summer internship building finite-state morphological analyzers).
3/n
3/n
In case you’re wondering how she introduced me to the field: In 9th grade, I went to a presentation she gave at a neighboring high school about NACLO (a linguistics contest). I was hooked - spent the next few days puzzling over questions from previous years' contests.
2/n
2/n
December 16, 2025 at 12:34 AM
In case you’re wondering how she introduced me to the field: In 9th grade, I went to a presentation she gave at a neighboring high school about NACLO (a linguistics contest). I was hooked - spent the next few days puzzling over questions from previous years' contests.
2/n
2/n
Congratulations to all of the new ACL fellows!!
I'm delighted to see @lorislevin.bsky.social recognized. She's the person who introduced me to computational linguistics, and my scientific outlook has been deeply shaped by her views on the relationship between linguistics & NLP.
1/n
I'm delighted to see @lorislevin.bsky.social recognized. She's the person who introduced me to computational linguistics, and my scientific outlook has been deeply shaped by her views on the relationship between linguistics & NLP.
1/n
Delighted to announce that the Nominating Committee has selected 11 new ACL fellows for 2025: www.aclweb.org/portal/conte.... Many congratulations to all the new ACL fellows!
For more information on the ACL fellowship, please see:
aclweb.org/aclwiki/ACL_... #NLP #NLProc
For more information on the ACL fellowship, please see:
aclweb.org/aclwiki/ACL_... #NLP #NLProc
ACL Fellows 2025 | ACL Member Portal
www.aclweb.org
December 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Congratulations to all of the new ACL fellows!!
I'm delighted to see @lorislevin.bsky.social recognized. She's the person who introduced me to computational linguistics, and my scientific outlook has been deeply shaped by her views on the relationship between linguistics & NLP.
1/n
I'm delighted to see @lorislevin.bsky.social recognized. She's the person who introduced me to computational linguistics, and my scientific outlook has been deeply shaped by her views on the relationship between linguistics & NLP.
1/n
A fantastic department - highly recommend applying!
We are seeking candidates for two tenured/tenure-track faculty positions:
One in high-level vision, written language and/or conceptual representation apply.interfolio.com/178825
One in language apply.interfolio.com/178813
Please help us spread the word!
One in high-level vision, written language and/or conceptual representation apply.interfolio.com/178825
One in language apply.interfolio.com/178813
Please help us spread the word!
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 14, 2025 at 5:09 AM
A fantastic department - highly recommend applying!
Me giving my account number to a customer service rep: "That's 2 as in twenty-three, 7 as in seven hundred six, 1 as in fourteen, 1 as in fourteen, 0 as in...well...uh..."
December 13, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Me giving my account number to a customer service rep: "That's 2 as in twenty-three, 7 as in seven hundred six, 1 as in fourteen, 1 as in fourteen, 0 as in...well...uh..."
Still waiting for Google to release Ge (the large version of Gemini)
November 18, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Still waiting for Google to release Ge (the large version of Gemini)
Come be my colleague!
The Yale Dept of Linguistics is hiring a 3-year Lecturer in Historical Linguistics. There's a great group here working on language change, and you could become part of it!
Application review begins Dec 14. For more info, see apply.interfolio.com/177395
The Yale Dept of Linguistics is hiring a 3-year Lecturer in Historical Linguistics. There's a great group here working on language change, and you could become part of it!
Application review begins Dec 14. For more info, see apply.interfolio.com/177395
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Come be my colleague!
The Yale Dept of Linguistics is hiring a 3-year Lecturer in Historical Linguistics. There's a great group here working on language change, and you could become part of it!
Application review begins Dec 14. For more info, see apply.interfolio.com/177395
The Yale Dept of Linguistics is hiring a 3-year Lecturer in Historical Linguistics. There's a great group here working on language change, and you could become part of it!
Application review begins Dec 14. For more info, see apply.interfolio.com/177395
I am partial to Laffy Taffy mainly because of this one (via www.reddit.com/r/wholesomem...)
November 18, 2025 at 6:39 AM
I am partial to Laffy Taffy mainly because of this one (via www.reddit.com/r/wholesomem...)
I need to know what joke prompted this!!
November 18, 2025 at 6:38 AM
I need to know what joke prompted this!!
Ooh jackpot!! Thanks Adina!!
November 18, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Ooh jackpot!! Thanks Adina!!