LINGUIST List 11.85

Mon Jan 17 2000

Calls: Minority languages, Computer Studies/Lang & Lit

Editor for this issue: Jody Huellmantel <jodylinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Briony Williams, Workshop on "Developing language resources for minority languages"
2. David L. Hoover, Computer Studies in Lang & Lit

 Workshop on

 Developing language resources for minority languages:
 -----------------------------------------------------
 reusability and strategic priorities
 ------------------------------------
 Athens, Greece - May 30 (14:30 - 20:00)

 (Preceding LREC2000 conference)

 http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/SALTMIL/lrec00.html


 CALL FOR PAPERS
 ---------------

There will be a one-day workshop on the theme of "Developing language
resources for minority languages: re-useability and strategic
priorities" on the afternoon of May 30th 2000 at Athens, Greece
(preceding the 2nd International Language Resources and Evaluation
Conference, LREC2000). The aim of the workshop is to bring together
those who are developing language resources for minority languages, in
order to build contacts and share experience. The workshop will
include the first meeting of the ISCA SALTMIL SIG: "Speech and
Language Technology for Minority Languages".


 WORKSHOP SCOPE AND AIMS
 -----------------------

The minority or "lesser used" languages of the world (e.g. Basque,
Welsh, Breton) are under increasing pressure from the major languages.
Some of them (e.g. Gaelic) are endangered, but others (e.g. Catalan)
are in a stronger position. However, the situation with regard to
language resources is fragmented and disorganised. Some minority
languages have been adequately researched linguistically, but most
have not, and the vast majority do not yet possess basic speech and
language resources (such as text and speech corpora) which are
sufficient to permit commercial development of products.

If this situation were to continue, the minority languages of the
world would fall a long way behind the major languages, as regards the
availability of commercial speech and language products. This in turn
will accelerate the decline of those languages that are already
struggling to survive, as speakers are forced to use the majority
language for interaction with these products. To break this vicious
circle, it is important to encourage the development of basic language
resources.

The workshop is a small step towards encouraging the development of
such resources. The aim is to disseminate information on existing
projects and possible future strategies, as well as forming personal
contacts and sharing best practice. This will make it easier for
isolated researchers with little funding and no pre-existing resources
to begin developing language resources that are maximally useful.

The workshop will also incorporate the first meeting of the ISCA "SALTMIL"
SIG: "Speech and Language Technology for MInority Languages".


Talks will include the following:

1) A general overview of the situation of minority languages.
 (Donncha O'Croinin, Ireland)

2) Strategic priorities for the development of language technology in
 minority languages.
 (Kepa Sarasola, Basque Country)

3) Funding for research into language technology for minority languages. 
 (Bojan Petek, Slovenia)


The contributed poster papers will focus on existing projects in the
field, with the opportunity to share useful information. This includes
(but is not limited to) topics such as:

1) Presentations of existing speech and text databases for minority
 languages, with particular emphasis on software tools that have been
 found useful in their development.

2) Presentation of existing lexicons for minority languages, with
 particular emphasis on fast production methods. 


 Submissions
 -----------

Papers are invited that will describe existing speech and language resources
for minority languages (speech databases, text databases, and lexicons), also
papers based on the analysis of these resources. All contributed papers will
be presented in poster form. Abstracts (maximum 500 words) should be sent to:

Donncha O'Croinin, ITE, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.
email: docite.ie
Electronic submission is preferred (plain text, Postscript, or MS Word 6.0).

Those who wish to attend without offering a paper are asked to indicate their
interest to Donncha O'Croinin (docite.ie) in order to receive their own
copy of the final programme and registration details. 

The workshop webpage is at: http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/SALTMIL/lrec00.html


 Important dates
 ---------------

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 11 February 2000
Notification of acceptance: 3 March 2000
Camera-ready papers due: 28 March 2000
Workshop: 30 May (afternoon)

 Organizers
 ----------

 Briony Williams University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
 Donncha O'Croinin Linguistics Institute of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
 Climent Nadeu Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Catalunya, Spain
 Kepa Sarasola University of the Basque Country, Basque Country
 Bojan Petek University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

- -------------------------------------------------------------------

 LREC2000 CONFERENCE INFORMATION
 -------------------------------
 31 May - 2 June 2000, Athens, Greece

General information about the main conference is at:
http://www.icp.grenet.fr/ELRA/lrec2000.html

Specific queries about the conference should be directed to:

Ms. Despina Scutari
LREC Secretariat
Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP)
6, Artemidos & Epidavrou Str.
15125 Marousi
Athens
GREECE

Tel: +301 6800959
Fax: +301 6854270
e-mail: LREC2000ilsp.gr

- -----------------------------------------------------------------------

=================================================
The MLA Discussion Group on Computer Studies in Language and
Literature announces a call papers for the 2000 MLA Convention in
Washington, D.C.

The session title is "Computer Studies in Language and Literature:
What Counts and Why."

The MLA call is as follows: "Current studies in stylistics, authorship,
linguistics, pedagogy, quantitative and qualitative analysis, etc., with
special emphasis on new directions, discontents, and the state of the
art."

We are interested in broadening the range of papers in our sessions,
and are particularly interested in papers that propose new directions
of research or address the historically relatively low interest in
sessions that involve computer studies in language and literature.
Web-based and hypertext studies (web-based corpora, concordances,
text-analyses, and so forth) are also welcome, as long as they use the
computer to study language or literature rather than just to present
it.

Note: All session participants must be MLA members by April 1,
2000.

If you are laboring in these vineyards, please join us. The session will
be followed by a business meeting, in which a new committee
member will be elected.

As an additional incentive, the three people whose submissions are
chosen will receive a copy of David Hoover's 1999 book,
_Language and Style in The Inheritors_.

E-mail submissions to david.hoovernyu.edu by March 1.

- 
David L. Hoover, Associate Chair & Webmaster, NYU Eng. Dept. 212-998-8832
 david.hoovernyu.edu http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/english/