Using Computational Tools to Facilitate Corpus Collection and Language Use in Arrernte (aer)

在该领域研究濒危语言的语言学家经常要求他们的线人描述一些图片来说明他们语言的特定特征，比如它是如何使用代词、空间关系或时间概念的。这使现场语言学家能够以最少的指导获得自然语言，对所说的内容施加最小的影响，从而可以记录有关语言的准确信息。通常情况下，这些图片是根据对语言的研究假设提前准备好的，但通常在与线人交谈的过程中会出现新的假设。哥伦比亚大学的研究人员提议为语言学家开发一种辅助工具，以便在该领域出现新的研究问题时对其进行测试。他们将改编现有的文本到场景生成软件WordsEye，该软件允许用户通过简单的英语输入创建3D场景，以生产一种新的野外工作工具，称为WELT，即WordsEye语言学工具。WELT工具最终将有两种运行模式：1)在第一阶段，英语输入将自动生成一张图片，可以用来引出有针对性的描述；2)在第二阶段，输入目标语言将自动生成一张图片，代表输入的意思，与母语人士验证语言假设。虽然WELT的最终目的是用于一般用途，但它最初将被开发用于研究澳大利亚中部约6000-8000名阿伦特人使用的濒危语言阿伦特语。虽然这种语言的某些方面被很好地记录下来，但与描述空间关系有关的语言的一些特殊词汇和形态特征还没有得到很好的理解。这些特征很有趣，因为它们直接关系到使用者如何使用一种语言来描述他们感知世界的方式。该语言群体的偏远位置和孤立的文化使得用传统方法记录它变得困难，因此像世界语言报这样的工具应该特别有用。作为与澳大利亚悉尼麦考瑞大学Mark Dras博士和其他研究人员现有合作的一部分，WELT将在现场进行测试。计算机与信息科学与工程理事会的信息与智能系统司[共同]资助该奖项，作为其支持濒危语言文献计算工具和方法开发的承诺的一部分。

Linguists studying endangered languages in the field often ask their informants to describe pictures that illustrate particular characteristics of their language, such as how it uses pronouns or spatial relations or concepts of time. This enables the field linguist to obtain natural language with minimal instruction, exercising minimal influence on what is said, so that accurate information about the language can be recorded. Typically such pictures are prepared in advance, based upon research hypotheses about the language -- but often new hypotheses emerge in the course of sessions with informants. Researchers at Columbia University have proposed to develop an aid to field linguists which makes it possible to test new research questions as they arise in the field. They will adapt existing text-to-scene generation software, WordsEye, which allows users to create 3D scenes from simple English input, to produce a novel tool for fieldwork called WELT, the WordsEye Linguistics Tool.WELT tool will ultimately have two modes of operation: 1) In Phase 1, English input will automatically generate a picture which can be used to elicit a targeted description, 2) In Phase 2, input in the target language will automatically generate a picture representing the meaning of the input, to verify linguistic hypotheses with native speakers. While WELT is intended ultimately for general use, it will initially be developed to study Arrernte, an endangered language spoken by ~6000-8000 Arrernte people in Central Australia. While some aspects of this language are well documented, a number of idiosyncratic lexical and morphological features of the language that relate to describing spatial relations are not well understood. Such features are interesting because they relate directly to how a language is used by its speakers to describe the way their perceive the world. The language group's remote location and insular culture have made it difficult to document by traditional means, so that tools such as WELT should be particularly useful. WELT will be tested in the field as part of an existing cooperation with Dr. Mark Dras and other researchers at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.The Division of Information & Intelligent Systems of the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering is [co-]funding this award as part of its commitment to support the development of computational tools and methods for the documentation of endangered languages.