243 research outputs found
A tool for sharing interlinearized and lexical data in diverse formats
No full textThe last decade has seen great advances in the development of electronic tools for automated interlinearization, corpus creation and lexicon building (e.g. Fieldworks Explorer [FLEx]), as well as tools for creating time-aligned annotations (e.g. ELAN). However, methods for sharing these new data formats online lag far behind. While good options exist for lexical data (e.g. Webonary, Lexique Pro), there is no tool for turning a project created in the FLEx software into an online interlinearized corpus. We present here a tool in development which does precisely that. FLEx databases can be searched using regular expressions and individual lines from a text can be linked to audio and video media. The tool can furthermore bring together linguistic data in diverse formats (from ELAN, Praat, Fieldworks, Toolbox, Shoebox) for a single query and allow for queries over multiple language projects. We discuss the benefits of this program in relation to several ongoing fieldwork projects that are being used to evaluate it. These projects present several interesting challenges. In one, we attempt to create a unified database from several centuries of documentation during which the language showed considerable change. Similarly, in the second project we create a unified database for two lexically, syntactically and phonologically distinct dialects of the same language and show how an interlinearized database facilitates searching across dialects. Finally, in the third project, we show how video data can be integrated into an online FLEx database, a feature which is still lacking in the FLEx software itself. By way of conclusion, we show the audience how to upload their own data (either privately or publicly) and experiment with the tool’s features. Ultimately, the open source program will be available for anyone interested in hosting their own installations
Computing in the field: language modeling for elicitation and documentation of Shughni
No full textWe propose a way of enhancing computer-based approaches to language documentation by making use not only of the engineering capability of computing but also its modeling capacity. Our proposal arises from a documentation pilot project where we used computational modeling as an elicitation tool for documenting the complex verbal morphology of the underdocumented East Iranian Pamir language Shughni. Using the computable lexical knowledge representation language DATR (Evans & Gazdar 1996) and its variant KATR (Author et al. 2002), we wrote a theory of a fragment of the Shughni verb system based on what little we knew about the language. We then presented its theorem to our group of Shughni consultants, and based on their responses refined the model, and then consulted them on the new theorem, and so on to the next refinement. Cycling through these steps allowed us to refine our model and so lead to a more accurate account of the data. Equally importantly, this method gave us an automated ‘questionnaire generator’, i.e. the model's theorem. This provided not only elicitation queries that, given enough time, we may have thought of ourselves but those which may never have occurred to us. Both types of query were available to us precisely because our understanding of the grammar was formal and computationally implemented, and could thereby automatically generate theorems. Computing plays a key language engineering role in language documentation and its accessibility to the wider audience, from standard mark-up of data to its storage in a relational database for query-based retrieval. But computing serves a second purpose for linguists, that of language modeling: this is “the instrumental use of computation in the pursuit of linguistic goals” (Thompson 1983: 23). As we develop new methods for documentation, we need to explore the possibility of harnessing this other language modeling capacity of computing. We demonstrate through our work on Shughni that computer modeling can be a means of furnishing the field-worker with elicitation tasks whose results feed into an enhanced understanding of the data, which in turn show the path to the next stage of elicitation, ultimately leading to a well-informed and robust account of the data which is already digitized and therefore exchangeable. Advances in technology, such as palm-held computers, mean that an automated model-theorem-refinement method is both a practical and potentially highly valuable addition to the field-worker’s toolkit, both while in the field and back in the lab
The Stranger in the Woods
No full textAn excerpt from Michael Finkel\u27s book, The Stranger in the Woods: the Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, is featured, along with an interview of the author. Finkel\u27s book is the story of Christopher Knight, locally know at the North Pond Hermit, who lived alone in the woods for 27 years until he was apprehended by police for robbery charges. [illustration, images
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Networking Past and Present
No full textA special feature in the Social Evolution Forum with R.I.M. Dunbar as the author of the focus article. Commentaries by Nicolas Baumard, Marcus J. Hamilton, Paul Hooper, Daniel N. Finkel, and Herbert Gintis
The Evliya Celebi Way: Turkey's First Long-distance Walking and Riding Route
No full textThis is the guidebook to Turkey's new long-distance Cultural Route, complete with route description, map, historical background, and places to see. The route follows the Ottoman gentleman adventurer Evliya Celibi on his way to Mecca in 1671; it runs for 600km from the Sea of Marmara via Bursa, Kutahya and Afyon to Usak and Simav. The route follows, as far as possible, ancient paved roads and visits the cities, sights and tiny villages that Evliya rode through and recorded in his "Seyatname" ("Book of Travels"). It can be explored by walkers, horse-riders and bikers. The UN has declared Evliya 'Man of the Year' for 2011, the 400th anniversary of his birth. This route is a practical addition to these celebrations - it enables modern travellers to directly experience Evliya's life, times and travels. It is brought to you by the noted Ottoman historian and author of "Osman's Dream", Caroline Finkel, and the originator of 'The Lycian Way', Kate Clow
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