Language Documentation and Revitalizing Indigenous Languages 2

Technology for language documentation and revitalization

Clemens J. Mayer 02/16/2022

Overview

• Metadata
• Video/Audio editing
• Storage, distribution, archiving
• ELAN & FLEx

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Previous experiences?

• What software have you used in the past?
• What worked? What didn’t?

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Metadata

Metadata:

• Generally only simple software required
• Some software not compatible for multiple researchers
• Excel, Google Sheets, Iameta, SayMore

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Metadata: Discussion

• Why is keeping good metadata important?
• What should (not) be kept in metadata?
• (How) can technology help/hinder metadata keeping?

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Metadata: Excel & co.

• Useful layout
• Will suit most people‘s needs
• Excel/LibreOffice no online function (but can be easily uploaded/shared)

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Metadata: Excel & co.

• Useful layout
• Will suit most people‘s needs
• Excel/LibreOffice no online function (but can be easily uploaded/shared)

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Metadata: Excel & co.

Metadata: Lameta

• Intuitive GUI – easy to use
• Useful for large projects
• No online capability (but project export)

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Metadata: Lameta

Metadata: SayMore

• Same GUI as Lameta
• Has additional features such as file import, annotation, file conversion, progress tracking

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Metadata: SayMore

Metadata: Personal Recommendations

• Sheet (Excel etc.) will suit most people‘s needs
• Sharing through client-side cloud services

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Video/Audio Editing

Video/Audio Editing:

• What do you (minimally) need from video/audio editors?

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Video/Audio Editing:

• Proprietary vs. Open-Source software
• Proprietary: Most options, often expensive
• Open-Source: Sometimes restricted, not always updated, free

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Audio:

• Audacity: Standard, has telemetrics in update
• Praat: Specifically for phonological analysis

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Audio: Audacity

• Basic audio editing: Trimming, making clips, etc.
• Easy to use, intuitive GUI, open-source
• Telemetrics in new update – use fork instead

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Audio: Audacity

Audio: Praat

• Spectrographic analysis
• Many options for scripts/automatization
• May not be useful for your project
• Some learning curve

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Audio: Praat

Video:

• Adobe Premiere
• DaVinci Resolve
• Other options: Windows Movie Maker, Apple iMovie, etc.

Video: Adobe Premiere

• UH Department standard
• Many functions, can be used for complicated projects
• High price-point
• High learning curve

Video: Adobe Premiere

(videomaker.com)

Video: DaVinci Resolve

• Comparable functionality to Premiere
• Should suffice for your needs
• Free, open-source
• High learning curve

Video: DaVinci Resolve

Video: OS Software

• Low functionality
• Basic trimming only – no audio track options
• Useful for quickly importing video files
• Free Low learning curve

Video: OS Software

Audio/Video: Personal Recommendations

• Basic needs: Audacity & OS Software
• Phonetic analysis: Audacity & Praat
• Video editing: DaVinci Resolve

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Audio/Video: Discussion

• Which audio/video editing software is relevant at which stage of documentation?
• Is it wise/efficient to choose at the outset for potential goals?
• E.g. Song collections, videos for general public, etc.

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Storage & Distribution:

Storage & Distribution

• What data should be stored where, accessible how and by whom?

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Storage & Distribution

• Archives: Digital, long-term, relatively inaccessible
• Local: community-managed, accessible, requires infrastructure

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Storage & Distribution

• Example option: Raspberry Pi mini-archive
• Inexpensive, DIY, requires some know-how for set-up and upkeep
• Requires little infrastructure
• No dedicated software/package
• Principally local access only

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ELAN & FLEx:

ELAN & FLEx:

• Industry standard
• Powerful tools for transcription, translation, and analysis
• Cross-compatible!

ELAN:

• Open-Source
• Developed by/for linguists at MPI Nijmegen
• Time-aligned transcriptions for audio/video files
• Windows & Mac
• Export capabilities
• Medium learning curve

ELAN:

• Best way to go from audio file -> transcribed & translated text

ELAN:

ELAN:

FLEx:

• Database software
• Developed by SIL
• Features: Lexical entries, glossing, dictionary making
• Many sub-features, perhaps too many

FLEx:

FLEx:

ELAN & FLEx:

• Ability to export ELAN-FLEx-ELAN
• Useful for interlinear (glossed) texts
• Requires correct template & database setup

ELAN:

• Breakout Activities:
• Set up a template for your ELAN transcription
• Segment, transcribe (& translate) audio file
• Further instructions Here

Activity reflection

• What was unexpected about the transcription process? Any elements you didn‘t think about before?
• What are some issues/difficulties you encountered?
• Does this software support your documentation goals? If so, how? If not, what is missing?

Mahalo nui!

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Hartelijk Dank!

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Thank you very much!

Links

• Iameta - https://github.com/onset/lameta
• LibreOffice - https://www.libreoffice.org/
• SayMore - https://software.sil.org/saymore/

Links

• AudMonkey - https://audmonkey.github.io/
• Praat - https://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/
• DaVinci Resolve - https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
• ELAN - https://archive.mpi.nl/tla/elan
• FieldWorks (FLEx) - https://software.sil.org/fieldworks/download/

Links

• RPi: raspberrypi.com
• NextCloud: https://nextcloud.com/
• LibraryBox (depreciated): http://jasongriffey.net/librarybox/

Links

• Sara Petrollino „Working with FLEx and ELAN“ - https://www.academia.edu/37765048/Working_with_FLEx_and_ELAN

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• Example ELAN Template - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jCshRaG_mpNwyxxgLHvGL0IjOtPjcK-n/view?usp=sharing
• Hooshiar, Kavon 2022. “Bringing archives in the loop: Software as a means to promote the language archive as a nexus of language documentation” http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/Hooshiar_Draft.pdf