  Current approaches to computational lexicology in language technology are
knowledge-based (competence-oriented) and try to abstract away from specific
formalisms, domains, and applications. This results in severe complexity,
acquisition and reusability bottlenecks. As an alternative, we propose a
particular performance-oriented approach to Natural Language Processing based
on automatic memory-based learning of linguistic (lexical) tasks. The
consequences of the approach for computational lexicology are discussed, and
the application of the approach on a number of lexical acquisition and
disambiguation tasks in phonology, morphology and syntax is described.
