Share your data with others !

Recently, I have come across Lexique Pro, an interactive lexicon viewer and editor developed by SIL in Mali. It can read and display a lexicon database if it is a text file with “standard format markers”, i.e.  the kind of data produced by SIL’s Toolbox, e.g.

\lx doki
\ps n
\ge horse

The goal is sharing your data with the rest of the world:

You’ve spent years working on your dictionary, but how easy is it for others to make the most of it? Are the speakers of the language getting any benefit from it? Is it user-friendly enough for a non-linguist to look at? Are translators making the best use of it? Are partner organisations using it? Do university professors have it on their computers? Is it in local schools, government offices and cyber-cafés? Can people download it from your website? Or is it just lying on your hard disk or hidden away gathering dust in the corner of a library somewhere?

Once your dictionary is ready to share, you can upload it on your website to be viewed online or downloaded.

Lexique Pro is fairly easy to use and has some nice features, e.g. if your database includes references to image, sound or video files, these can be shown too.

I nearly forgot to tell you: Lexique Pro is freeware!

Find out more about

• other features of Lexique Pro
• some of the lexicons people are making available
• downloading Lexique Pro

Advertisement

A new website for the Ron-Kulere speaking world

A month ago I launched Ron-Kulere meeting place, a new website for the Ron-Kulere speaking world. Some of you may already have noticed it and may have wondered what is the aim of this new thing. I thought I should post a short notice here to explain a bit.

What is it ?

Like the current form of Chadic Newsletter, Ron-Kulere meeting place is a weblog, i.e. besides some general static pages it mostly consists of entries (posts) which are displayed in reverse chronological order. I have chosen this form because it allows me to add more things on an irregular basis, whenever I find the time. Thus, Ron-Kulere meeting place will keep growing.

What can you find here?

Ron-Kulere meeting place combines text, images, audio material and links to other web pages related to its topic. Besides information on Ron-Kulere languages, culture and history, people can also find material in Ron-Kulere languages, both written and recorded. Thus, you can read a Ron story and at the same time listen to it.

Who is it for ?

Ron-Kulere meeting place is for everyone (not just the scientific world) who is interested in the culture, history and language of the Ron-Kulere. Above all, it is intended for the Ron-Kulere speakers themselves. Of course I know that the number of Ron-Kulere speakers who have access to the world wide web is extremely small. But they do exist and I hope that they will find this blog interesting and will spread the word to others.

Possible criticism

I know very well that from a scientific point of view, the way I present the facts and materials is imperfect. Linguists will criticize me for not using the IPA system of transcription and for not marking tone. Also, the quality of many of the audio recordings is quite poor and wouldn’t be good enough for signal processing. Many of these recordings were done by Ron speakers using low quality tape recorders. Given the chance (and money) to do more research on Ron, today I would try to use the latest digital recording equipment.

But then, I think an imperfect presentation of my data (will it ever be perfect?) is still better than no presentation at all.

I will be happy to read – and answer – any questions and comments.

Chadic links collection: feel free to contribute

In one of the first posts, I mentioned Web resources for African Languages, a private website run by Jouni F. Maho. There, one can find links to online materials on many Chadic languages, including articles, dictionaries, sound files and word lists. It is organised by subgroups and languages and it keeps growing. If you look for any Chadic online materials, it is the first place to check.

I have started collecting my own list, using the social bookmarking service Del.icio.us. My own Chadic links can be found at http://del.icio.us/chadicnewsletter.

Maybe you have already noticed the new section titled “Chadic Links“. Feel free to contribute to this list. In order to do this, all you have to do is open an account with Del.icio.us (which is free of charge) and save your own Chadic links there. It would be great if we could build up a larger collection together.

Technorati Tags: Chadic

Unpublished Data and Reports

The following unpublished data and reports can be downloaded from http://www.uni-bayreuth.de/afrikanistik/cnl/unpublished/index.html:

• Barain PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Bidiya PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Dangaleat PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Gabri PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Gvoko, Guduf PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Kwang PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Mawer (=Tumak) PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc
• Migaama PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Mogoum (=Mogum) PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Monogoy (=Marba) PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Saba PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Sarwa, Miltu, Gadang PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Sokoro PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Somrai PDF-File / zipped Word-File (*.doc)
• Glossic Gleanings in the Guera PDF-File

Thanks go to SIL and Roger Blench who provided these data.

Web resources for African Languages

At Web resources for African Languages, a private website run by Jouni F. Maho, one can find links to online materials on many Chadic languages, including articles, dictionaries, sound files and word lists.

• what is available on Hausa
• what is available on other Chadic languages
• what is available on other Afroasiatic languages

In the next few days, we will have a look at some of the materials found on this website in more detail.