[A12n-forum] FW: Resource-Scarce Languages - ELECTRONIC RESOURCES & PEOPLE NEEDED

["Don Osborn" <dzo@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI...

-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Puttkammer [mailto:Martin.Puttkammer@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:14 AM
To: dzo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Resource-Scarce Languages - ELECTRONIC RESOURCES AND PEOPLE NEEDED

APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTINGS OR IF THIS DOESN'T DIRECTLY CONCERN YOU

The Centre for Text Technology (CTexT) at the North-West University (South
Africa) is developing proprietary spelling checkers for various African
languages. In order to conduct this project successfully, we are currently
sourcing various resources, most notably electronic resources (word lists,
corpora, etc.) and people (experts and assistants) to contribute to the
project.

BACKGROUND

Microsoft's Local Language Program is a global initiative to provide desktop
software and tools to their customers by collaborating with local experts
(governments, universities and other interested parties) to help build a
robust local IT economy to:

- Help bridge the language and digital divide between developed and emerging
markets.
- Help preserve language and culture. Help technology impact language and
culture in a positive way.
- Help maintain the connections between communities.

Proofing tools such as spelling checkers and grammar checkers are important
human language technology resources that enable speakers of the language to
preserve and promote their language and culture while benefiting from
Information Technology advancements. In this project, proprietary spelling
checkers for various languages will be developed in cooperation with expert
communities to ensure that the local languages are well defined and
represented. Hence, the Centre for Text Technology (CTexT) at the North-West
University (South Africa) is looking for co-workers to assist in the
development of lexical data to be used in spelling checkers for:

- Hausa, 
- Igbo, 
- Kinyarwanda, 
- Wolof, and 
- Yoruba. 

Assisting in this project will help promote communication and interaction in
these languages.

RESOURCES NEEDED:

We have the following needs:

Electronic Resources
1. Common and specialist word lists (such as lists of common spelling
mistakes, lists of abbreviations, phonetic similarities, repetitive words,
hyphen words, etc.).
2. Corpora, dictionaries, and books in electronic format.
3. A balanced corpus of 30,000 words (for testing purposes).
4. Rules for morphologically productive word formation processes, plus word
lists to which these rules apply.

People
1. Linguists and/or language practitioners who can assist in the quality
control of word lists.
2. Linguists who can assist in the compilation and/or refinement of
morphological rules and rules for tokenisation.
3. Linguists who can provide a description of the standard written variant
of the languages, as well as an annotated paragraph of 500-1000 words.

Should you have access to resources in respect of this project: kindly
submit a brief description of what you can provide us with, as well as an
indication of the conditions under which you would be prepared to make these
available to us.

If you are a linguist or language practitioner interested in working on the
project: kindly submit a description or shortened CV to highlight your
relevant expertise and/or experience. Please note that linguists looking to
become co-workers should comply with the following prerequisites: 
1. Be computer literate and have regular access to email.
2. Have expert knowledge of the standard written variant of the language(s)
they intend to work on.
3. Be able to commence work in February 2007.
4. Be able and willing to travel to South Africa for training, if needed.

Please send information per email only to:

Martin Puttkammer
Programme Manager: Proofing Tools
Centre for Text Technology (CTexT), North-West University, South Africa
Martin.Puttkammer@xxxxxxxxx 
+27 18 299 1512



Kindly forward this message to other colleagues who might be interested in
this project.

We also welcome comments and suggestions regarding this project.

CTexT reserves the right to accept or refuse any offers pertaining to this
announcement at its sole discretion.




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