Berber Corpus

[Amina Mettouchi]

Dear Colleagues,

I need scientific and technical advice to put together a corpus of Berber
(Afroasiatic).
I am currently coordinating the project, which is to be launched by the
INALCO (Langues'O) in Paris. A workshop is scheduled on Friday 6 December,
in order to reflect on all aspects of the entreprise.
The main facts about this project are described below. If you can provide
advice on any aspect, please do. I would be very happy to benefit from your
experience.

Berber languages are mostly spoken (some of them have just recently started
to be written).
It is currently impossible to have access to Berber corpora other than by
recording one’s own material, or asking fellow-researchers for their tapes
or transcripts. The aim of this project is to constitute a unified
database/textbase accessible to researchers working on Berber.
The project involves cooperation among researchers working on Berber, since
the base will consist in transcripts of actual interactions provided by
researchers (together with interlinear glosses, a translation, and
audiotapes/videotapes).
We have already selected appropriate transcription symbols, but are still
discussing norms for the collection of data (wordprocessor, recording
standards for prosodic treatment, basic and unified information on
speakers, recording conditions, archivation system, access...). Emphasis is
on the variety of genres, of dialects, of speakers. Special attention will
be devoted to conversational corpora, as well as culture-specific interactions.
We are not planning to tag or parse the corpus right away, but if we can
proceed in a way that will allow this in future, it would be nice.

Thank you for your help,

Best wishes

Amina

Amina Mettouchi
Chercheur (Researcher) à l'AAI (JE2220, Nantes) et au CRB (EA2522,
Langues'O, Paris)
Maître de Conférences (Lecturer/Associate Professor) à l'Université de Nantes
Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines
Centre International des Langues
Rue de la Censive du Tertre
BP 81227
44312 Nantes Cedex 03
tel: (33) 2 40 14 11 39
Fax: (33) 2 40 14 12 94
email: amina.mettouchi at humana.univ-nantes.fr