Computer tools for language work

1. Computer tools for language work Ways of linking text and media and managing linguistic data Nick Thieberger UH Workshop October 30, 2005

2. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Outline of tools used in the process of managing linguistic field data, including transcribing and accessing archival media.

3. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Tool 1: Transcriber • Free tool for transcribing digital audio and time-aligning the transcript • Digital audio = e.g. a tape that has been put on the computer. • Transcribing is typing out what is on the tape • Time-aligning means marking what is said using text and having the time it starts and ends entered automatically

4. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Tool 2: Audiamus • Free tool for playing all of the transcripts made in Transcriber • Plays audio or video from a text/transcript if it has been time-aligned

5. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Tool 3: Shoebox/Toolbox or *box • Has two broad functions: • A. Dictionary building from a lexical data file • B. Interlinearising texts - putting English meanings underneath the line of a transcript in your language, fed by the dictionary, and putting new words into the dictionary as you go.

6. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Tool 4: LexiquePro • Reads *box files and produces attractive online dictionaries • Can be used for data entry

7. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • These three tools can work together so you can get from structured data (like in Shoebox) to linked multimedia • Why bother when you can make multimedia presentations that look nice and play sounds and show pictures?

8. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Examples of media that can’t be reused • e.g. ‘Australia’s languages’ • - poor quality sound, stuck inside the software • - need to run old systems on a computer • - need to find old programmes (HyperCard) • - only runs on a Mac • Not feasible to reuse this and make something similar that will run now and into the future

9. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Prepare your data in a good form that can be used by others in future • Make multimedia products resulting from that work

10. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Questions to ask about approaches to multimedia • - can we reuse the data after the project is over? • - is the work we are putting into this going to have to be done again in the future, or are we making something that can be added to later on?

11. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • To use audio • - make best possible digital version of it at the start • - transcribe the audio with time-aligning software like Transcriber (demo) • Having aligned text and media we can point at sections of the media via the text, like this. • Audiamus (demo)

12. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Having a well structured dictionary means that you can make nice looking outputs - on paper - on a computer with links to other media (pictures, sounds, videos…)

13. Trancriber: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=40021&package_id=51790%20 • Elan:http://www.mpi.nl/tools/elan.html Audiamus:http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/thieberger/audiamusdemo.htm Toolbox: (1.4.6 Mac; 1.5.1 Windows) http://www.sil.org/computing/toolbox/ • http://www.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nash/lexicog/ • http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/thieberger/CALW/Shoebox5.htm LexiquePro: Lexique Pro update 2.4.4  www.lexiquepro.com

14. Computer tools for language work: text, sound & pictures • Advice and discussion: • Web resources, e.g. • Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity (RNLD) • http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/RNLD.html • Grab a leaflet!