LINGUIST List 14.661

Fri Mar 7 2003

Confs: WordNet for Dravidian Languages

Editor for this issue: Marie Klopfenstein <marielinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. arulmozi, Workshop on WordNet for Dravidian Languages

Workshop on WordNet for Dravidian Languages

Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 
Date: 06-Jun-2003 - 07-Jun-2003
Web Site: http://www.au-kbc.org 
Contact Person: Arulmozi Selvaraj
Meeting Email: arulmoziau-kbc.org 

Linguistic Subfield(s):
Computational Linguistics 
Subject Language(s): Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada
Language Family: Dravidian

Meeting Description: 

A WordNet is a lexical database whose design is inspired by current
psycholinguistic theories of human lexical memory. WordNets are being
globally established for a number of languages, such as EuroWordNet
for European languages. In Indian languages, WordNets are being
developed at IIT Bombay (Hindi and Marathi), MS University, Baroda
(Gujarati), IIT Kharagpur (Bengali), Bhubaneswar (Oriya) and AU-KBC
Research Centre, Chennai (Tamil).

Analogous to the EuroWordNet, building an IndoWordNet needs WordNets
in all major Indian languages. Among the Indian languages, the South
Indian (Dravidian) family of languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada
and Malayalam have close association in many linguistic features such
as morphology and semantics. They also share a lot of culture-specific
features. Building WordNet in these languages will make easier the
task of a linked IndoWordNet.

The present workshop is being organised on the basis of the experience
gained in building a Tamil WordNet. The workshop aims to explore the
common features of building WordNets for South Indian
languages. Workshop on

 WORDNET FOR DRAVIDIAN LANGUAGES
 6 - 7, June 2003

 ANNA UNIVERSITY
 CHENNAI

 Organised by

 AU-KBC Research Centre
 MIT Campus, Anna University

 Jointly with

 Department of Linguistics
 Tamil University, Thanjavur
 &
 Central Institute of Indian Languages
 Mysore

Objectives of the Workshop:

* To present ongoing work on WordNets in Dravidian languages.
* To explore the common features of Dravidian languages that are useful in a WordNet.
* To exchange ideas, experience, tools and resources in building WordNets.
* To evolve a program for the development of WordNets in the four Dravidian languages.

Workshop Details:

In addition to covering the background as well as theoretical and
computational aspects of WordNets and their construction, there will
be presentation and demonstration on the Tamil WordNet. Reference
material on WordNet will be sent to the participating groups once they
confirm their participation. We will also provide the participants
with approximately 1000 Tamil words (chosen from the broad semantic
domain of Inanimate Entities) along with their English equivalents
well ahead of the workshop, so that they can generate the equivalents
in their respective languages before the Workshop. The organisers will
provide them with the necessary WordNet interfaces for entering
equivalents in the various languages, so that the Workshop would have
a strong hands-on component.

The workshop will be conducted by Dr.S.Rajendran, Department of
Linguistics, Tamil University, Thanjavur in coordination with the
other organising institutions.

There will also be presentations by other experts who have done work
in this area.

Target Audience:

Linguists / Computer Scientists / Researchers / Students from
Universities or Institutions engaged in, or interested in, the area of
language processing in Dravidian languages.

Registration:

Interested persons may register through e-mail or on plain paper,
giving full details. TA limited to III AC and DA as per rules will be
available to a limited number of participants.

For registration or further information, contact:

Dr.S.Arulmozi
AU-KBC Research Centre
MIT Campus, Anna University
Chromepet, Chennai 600044
Ph.: 91-44-22232711 / 22234885
Fax: 91-44-22231034
E-Mail: arulmoziau-kbc.org