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i-SLA – Interactive Atlas of Slovenian Dialects

Opis

The project is designed on the basis of one of the founding scientific research projects of the Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian language, i.e. Slovenian Linguistic Atlas (SLA), containing almost 3,000 lexical and so-called »grammatical« (phonological and morphological) questions. Recorded and already digitized material (the catalogue contains around 600 binders and nearly 900,000 cards) is expanded by the research team (around 40–50 local dialects from 417 data points in Slovenia and bordering countries) and an organized collection of the field-work sound recordings is being established.

The research project is based on the scientific approaches of the following disciplines:

  • linguistics, i.e. dialectology, geolinguistics and comparative linguistics (completing the database by gathering dialect material, with special emphasis on the dialect material gathered on the very edge of the Slovene linguistic territory; synchronic-diachronic linguistic analysis; geolinguistic presentation of dialect lexemes);
  • information technology (technical updates of databases, incorporation of the analysed dialect material into the language portal www.fran.si and preparation of software/program tools for interactive linguistic atlas, integrating citizens into e-collecting the dialect material through crowdsourcing);
  • geography, i.e. cartography, spatial analysis of the data, GIS (preparation of suitable cartographic foundation for geolinguistic presentation of dialect material; georeferentiation of all data);
  • digital humanities (connecting linguistic knowledge, presented on e-linguistic maps and accessible on the Internet, with other open e-sources).

 For this project, which is based on the research carried out for the Slovene Linguistic Atlas (SLA), the working group will prepare indexes for the selected thematic cluster (including links to scans of archived records) and will complement them with field research records especially in those environments where there are almost no Slovene (dialect) speakers left. We will then analyse the word-formational structure of each collected word (we expect around 1,000 lexically different dialect answers to 50 questions), which will require the so-called morphological analysis (analysis of the morphemic structure of the word); this analysis may prove to be very complex in Slovene dialect lexis due to diverse phonetic developments. We will have to determine the original form of both non-borrowed lexis (inherited from Proto-Slavic or created in one of the later development stages of Slovene) and borrowed lexis (from idioms that are either in direct or indirect territorial contact with Slovene).

We will have to organize the SLA language material in a database that will be linked not only to the geographic information system enabling data visualisation on a language map, but also to other freely available digital databases and software tools allowing users to crowdsource and freely access the collected and analysed material.

At the end of the project, the recorded dialect lexis will be:

  • transcribed in the Slovene dialect transcription and linguistically analysed, collected in the atlas's database SlovarRed and thus equipped with the relevant metadata about the collected material;
  • enriched with ethnological explanations;
  • presented on linguistic maps with commentaries;
  • enriched with pictures (drawings) and sound material.
  • With the help of information technologies the following databases will be prepared and accessible on the interactive atlas of Slovene dialects website:
  • the map of Slovene dialects,
  • database of words, transcribed in the Slovene dialect transcription (indexes), exported into an xml file,
  • database of morphologically analysed dialect lexis will be prepared,
  • database of short dialect texts (audio recordings) will be prepared,
  • database of phonological descriptions of local dialects will be prepared.

 


Faze projekta

Stage 1 (9/2020–2/2021)

  • Preparation of word indexes, creating links to scans of archived material (work of a group of dialectologists).
  • Preparation of audio (sound) clips for the online version of the linguistic atlas (work of a group of dialectologists).
  • Development of the project database (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Development and testing of the interactive linguistic map software (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Preparation of electronic »blank maps« (collaboration of geographers and spatial data visualization specialists at ZRC SAZU).

Stage 2 (3/2021–8/2021)

  • Preparation of word indexes, creating links to scans of archived material (work of a group of dialectologists).
  • Preparation of audio (sound) clips for the online version of the linguistic atlas (work of a group of dialectologists).
  • Morphological (synchronic-diachronic) analysis of lexemes and mapping (work of a group of dialectologists and comparative (Slavic) linguists).
  • Development of the project database (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Developing and testing the interactive linguistic atlas software (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Preparation of electronic »blank maps« (collaboration of geographers and spatial data visualization specialists at ZRC SAZU).

Stage 3 (9/2021–2/2022)

  • Preparation of audio (sound) clips for the online version of the linguistic atlas (work of a group of dialectologists).
  • Morphological (synchronic-diachronic) analysis of lexemes, mapping and writing commentaries for linguistic maps (work of a group of linguists).
  • Preparing, collecting and digitisation of phonologic transcriptions of local dialects from SLA.
  • Preparing, collecting, digitizing bibliographical data of the researched local dialects from the SLA net (work of a group of linguists).
  • Ethnological treatment of dialect material (work of an ethnologist in collaboration with dialectologists).
  • Drawing sketches (the work of an outside collaborator in cooperation with dialectologists and ethnologists).
  • Development of the project database (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Preparing and testing the interactive linguistic atlas software (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).

Stage 4 (3/2022–8/2022)

  • Morphological (synchronic-diachronic) analysis of lexemes, mapping and writing commentaries for linguistic maps (work of a group of linguists).
  • Preparation of audio (sound) clips for the online version of the linguistic atlas (work of a group of dialectologists).
  • Preparing, collecting and digitisation of phonologic transcriptions of local dialects from SLA.
  • Preparing, collecting, digitizing bibliographical data of researched local dialects from the SLA net (work of a group of linguists).
  • Harmonisation of commentaries and maps; editing, printing of SLA 3 (work of a group of linguists).
  • Preparation of the linguistic atlas for the release in a pdf file and on www.fran.si (work of all participants in the project, especially of the project leader, who is also expected to be the main editor of the publication).
  • Development of the project database (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Preparing and testing the interactive linguistic atlas software (language technology experts working in close cooperation with linguists).
  • Equipping the linguistic maps with material for the interactive linguistic atlas (i.e., with the possibility of accessing the digitized archived material, adding audio (sound) and video clips, as well as other website links to bibliographic information about the research on a particular local dialect; dialect corpora, online dictionaries and data about the settlement (data-point) in the SLA network (work of all participants in the project).

Stage 5 (9/2022–2/2023)

  • Equipping the linguistic maps with material for the interactive linguistic atlas (work of all participants in the project) and making the layout of the selected maps for the interactive linguistic atlas on the World Wide Web (testing the operation of e-atlas).

Stage 6 (3/2023–8/2023)

  • Making the layout of the selected maps for the interactive linguistic atlas on the World Wide Web (work of all participants in the project, especially the language technology expert).

 

 


Raziskovalni projekt