Unity in diversity : integrating differing linguistic data in TUSNELDA

This paper describes the creation and preparation of TUSNELDA, a collection of corpus data built for linguistic research. This collection contains a number of linguistically annotated corpora which differ in various aspects such as language, text sorts / data types, encoded annotation levels, and linguistic theories underlying the annotation. The paper focuses on this variation on the one hand and the way how these heterogeneous data are integrated into one resource on the other hand

Annual Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS)

The 2018 Annual Conference of the Association for Asian Studies was held on March 22-25 at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C

Why languages differ : variation in the conventionalization of constraints on inference

Sperber and Wilson (1996) and Wilson and Sperber (1993) have argued that communication involves two processes, ostension and inference, but they also assume there is a coding-decoding stage of communication and a functional distinction between lexical items and grammatical marking (what they call 'conceptual' vs. 'procedural' information). Sperber and Wilson have accepted a basically Chomskyan view of the innateness of language structure and Universal Grammar

Practical Applications for Corpora: The Role of Research-based Linguistics in Literacy & Education for the Tibetan Language

Corpus Linguistics and NLP have many obvious applications for researchers, academics, and other specialists; what should not be overlooked, however, is their role in improving the mundane, everyday interactions between people and language, be they a reader of a newspaper; a child with a storybook; or a student in a classroom. The language analyses that these linguistic tools provide have an important part to play in the feedback loop between authors, journalists, and pedagogists on the one hand and their audiences and students on the other. While these sorts of research-based resources have already made splashes in majority languages like English, their ripples have yet to spill over into the smaller language markets. Within this paper we outline the ways in which corpus linguistics may inform Tibetan language literacy and education in both L1 & L2 contexts, while drawing from our own research into issues of readability and the development of a modern pedagogy for instruction in the Tibetan alphabet based on frequency data

From Exquisite to Extinct: Linguistic Human Rights in the Tibetan Diaspora || Tibetan Pragmatics, Standardization Ethics and Obligatory Bilingualism

This work documents a sample of the rich qualities of Tibetan language and discusses how Buddhism is embedded and woven throughout its character. From translation compounds revealing the deeper meaning of Lord Buddha to morpho-­‐ syntactic implications of the emptiness of the self, Tibetan offers a window into an insider’s understanding of Buddhist philosophy. With such a vibrant linguistic story, Tibetan language ought to be respected and upheld, taught and treasured. But, the Chinese occupation in Tibet has resulted in a physical and cultural degradation of Tibetan culture. One of the least tangible yet most affective oppressions has been upon the language itself. Amongst Tibetan school closures, obligatory education in Mandarin, arrests of Tibetan scholars and violent prohibition of cultural expression, China has been committing unjust violations of Tibet’s linguistic human rights. This research, based in a Tibetan exile community in Dharamsala, India, aims to defend the preservation of the Tibetan language and truthfully portray its deteriorating political status within the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China and throughout the exile diaspora

An integrated FLEx–ELAN workflow for linguistic analysis with multiple transcriptions and translations and multiple participants

This paper presents a workflow integrating the linguistic software ELAN and FLEx. This workflow allows the user to move between these two software applications to refine the transcription, translation, and annotation of the speech of multiple participants. The workflow also enables the addition of multiple writing systems for vernacular and analysis languages. The paper is based on a manual that explains in a simple and visual manner how to achieve such a set-up in both ELAN and FLEx. The workflow allows language consultants to make changes and additions to transcriptions and translations in ELAN in a script and language that they are most comfortable with. In this way, the workflow fills a gap where language consultants with limited computer literacy and command of the major interface languages of software programmes can still work on the basic analysis of recordings of a language that they know well.National Foreign Language Resource Cente