Course Description
Introduction to using the Web Platform technology to develop web-based user interfaces for language documentation work. The course will introduce a simple, extensible approach to prototyping and implementing applications that assist in completing typical language documentation workflows. We will guide students through the design and implementation of sample applications for displaying and editing standard data types such as interlinearized texts, word lists, and grammatical category annotations. Applications are built with web standards and prioritize portability and ease of maintenance. If possible, we suggest that students install Mozilla Firefox and the VS Code editor prior to class. Programming experience will be helpful but is not required — beginners in programming are welcome to participate. Sample data will be provided, but you may wish to bring a (small) sample of data from your own work (for instance, a short interlinear text or lexicon).
Area Tags: Computational Linguistics, Fieldwork, Language Documentation, Language Preservation, Lexicography
(Session 1) Monday/Thursday 9:00-10:20
Location: ILC N101
Instructors: Patrick Hall & Claire Bowern
Patrick Hall is a documentary linguist and software developer who is interested in helping linguists and other language workers use the Web Platform to create new applications for documentation and revitalization. He has worked with people who speak Kashaya Pomo, Hiligaynon, and variants of Mixteco. In the past year he co-taught a course on software development for linguists with Claire Bowern at Yale. He completed his PhD at UCSB in 2022, and his B.A. in the previous century.
Claire Bowern is Professor of Linguistics at Yale University with a focus on language change and language documentation. She has longstanding collaborations on language documentation reclamation with Bardi, Yan-nhangu, and Kullilli communities in Australia. She teaches classes on language change, language documentation, and fieldwork at Yale. She is the editor of the forthcoming Oxford Guide to Australian Languages, a fellow of the LSA, and 2014 recipient of the LSA’s Ken Hale award.
