Meta-question about FLEx

[Peter Austin]

Claire

Why would anyone expect that there would be an "ideal software tool for
language description"? If you want to build a house you need an
architect/designer, engineer, carpenter, plumber, electrician etc., all of
whom have a toolkit for carrying out particular tasks. What linguists Want
to do, and hence need is equally complex it seems to me: concepts/designs
and tools for data modelling, data management, linguistic and non-linguistic
analysis, publishing, archiving and mobilisation. How could one magic bullet
for all this exist?

Things like Flex (and it's ancestors like CELLAR) just demonstrate how
problematic the search for the holy grail is.

Peter

On Wednesday, 12 October 2011, Claire Bowern <clairebowern at gmail.com> wrote:
> Given that we're talking about FLEx, I have a more general question for
list members. FLEx is billed by those who like it as the new standard for
language description software. But at the same time, this program seems to
fly in the face of many of the ideals for language description software that
fieldwork technologists have been advocating. I'm thinking of articles like
Bird and Simons' "7 dimensions of portability for language documentation".
Flex is not interoperable, it's not based on open source, it doesn't
preserve material on import (e.g. time-alignment), it's impossible to use
collaboratively, and it builds the descriptive model into the software in
the name of 'ease of use for non-linguists', so it's not theory-netural
(whatever that means anyway).
> Does this mean that we've just given up on goals like interoperability,
open access and collaboration? Or are we recognizing that the ideal software
tool for language description just doesn't exist, and FLEx optimizes enough
of the process that we are willing to live without the more abstract and
intangible goals like interoperability?
> Claire
>
>
>
> On Oct 11, 2011, at 12:06 PM, John Hatton wrote:
>
>> Hi Jeff,
>>
>> You’ll be wanting to join the FLEx google group for most of your
questions.  You can also search the large archives of past discussions
there.
>>
>> Beth answered your 1st question, I’ll take a swing at the second:
>>
>> >2) Is there a way to import a vocabulary list in XML into FLEx?
>>
>> You'll need to get it into the xml format which FLEx can import.
 Specifically, FLEx imports LIFT xml (Lexical Interchange FormaT).
 Depending on your format, that could be as easy as a series of find/replace
operations in some text editor.
>>
>> Now, back to the interlinear text issue… as Beth said, the ELAN—>FLEx
feature is only in the alpha version of SayMore (as are the transcription
and oral annotation features).  If you’d like to be a tester for that, let
me know.  FLEx can currently only import two lines: the base line and the
free translation.  That’s fine if your using SayMore or ELAN to just do
transcription and translation, but if you’ve glossed words, for example, it
can’t currently import those glosses.  As Beth said, the FLEx team would
appreciate hearing of your needs.
>>
>> John Hatton
>> SIL International Language Software Development, PALASO, and SIL Papua
New Guinea
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au [mailto:r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au] On Behalf Of
Jeff Siegel
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 4:06 AM
>> To: r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au
>> Subject: Questions about importing into FLEx
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> I'm a newcomer FLEx and was wondering if anyone can answer these basic
questions:
>>
>> 1) What is the method of importing transcribed texts from Elan into FLEx?
>>
>> 2) Is there a way to import a vocabulary list in XML into FLEx?
>>
>> Many thanks,
>>
>> Jeff Siegel
>>
>>
>>
>
>

-- 
Prof Peter K. Austin
Marit Rausing Chair in Field Linguistics
Director, Endangered Languages Academic Programme
PhD Convenor
Department of Linguistics, SOAS
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
United Kingdom

web: http://www.hrelp.org/aboutus/staff/index.php?cd=pa
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