Choosing the right LISP variant, if LISP is right

[PatrickForkin]

Hallo!
I am a writer, writing in English and living in Germany. To help my research-work in in two languages, I am in search of a language with which I can automate tasks related to English sentence markup, syntax marking of text, etc.
Because this work is syntax oriented and very much rules driven, I have almost decided that LISP would be the right language.
I would welcome hearing from any experienced users with programming interest in the same area.
When one is on the outside looking in, help in finding the ideal starting point from someone on the inside is invaluable.
I look forward to any help; if someone feels that I should elaborate on the content of this post, i will do so.
Kind regards and the best of good wishes, PatrickForkin

[myst]

I think there's no languages best suited for this task, but with Lisp you can create one fairly easy. And see Abelson and Sussman lectures, they're fantastic and contain matherial on symbolic computations.

[nuntius]

Lisp is a good choice for many tasks, but I have no personal experience in your area. Sometimes the existence of reusable code libraries and other tools is more important than the actual computer language chosen.

The LKB may interest you: http://wiki.delph-in.net/moin/LkbTop

[Jesdisciple]

Thanks to both of you for the references, but for somewhat different reasons than Patrick's... I've wanted to make computers understand English for some time, but then again absurd goals are typical of me.

Unfortunately the links to and on the Stanford website are broken... And the page is immutable.