[An-lang] Digital collections of pre-digital recordings with Transcriptions

Alex Francois alex.francois.cnrs at gmail.com
Thu Feb 2 14:53:32 UTC 2023


Dear Hugh,

You may be interested in the audio recordings of the Paris-based *Pangloss
Collection* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangloss_Collection>, a
repository inside the larger CoCoON
<https://cocoon.huma-num.fr/exist/crdo?lang=en> platform (“Collection de
Corpus Oraux Numériques”, CNRS Huma-num).

A lot of recent audio corpora on Pangloss are natively digital, but not
all. Of the 5500 items that are available, about one third (?) are from
legacy audio materials (reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes) that were later
digitized, often with a text transcription added [new or old].  The digital
archive was originally a project launched in 1996 (by Boyd Michailovksy),
at a time when recordings were analog.

Here are a few examples:

   - Georges *Dumézil* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Dum%C3%A9zil>'s
   1960s' recordings of Tevfik Esenç
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tevfik_Esen%C3%A7>, the last speaker of
   Ubykh <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubykh_language>, are *archived
   there* <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Ubykh?lang=en&mode=pro>;
   the audio is provided with text annotations, whether Dumézil's own field
   notes
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?continuousPlay=false&corpus=Ubykh&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-f3cccaf0-cd8e-3353-b227-fc6e196577ce&oai_secondary=cocoon-3ea915d3-14f9-3f69-bfd4-a6e91e06f321&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=%2Bother&optionMorphemeTranslations=%2Ben&optionNotes=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=%2Bother&optionSentenceTranslations=%2Ben&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=%2Bother&optionWordTranslations=>,

   or a digital interlinear transcription
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?continuousPlay=false&corpus=Ubykh&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-f3cccaf0-cd8e-3353-b227-fc6e196577ce&oai_secondary=cocoon-81e5e086-e55c-3636-a835-586929d58316&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=%2Bother&optionMorphemeTranslations=%2Ben&optionNotes=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=%2Bother&optionSentenceTranslations=%2Ben&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=%2Bother&optionWordTranslations=>
   .

Or to cite Austronesian languages:

   - I've described the Oceanic collections of Pangloss in a chapter I
   wrote on language documentation in the Pacific:
      - François, Alexandre. 2018. *In search of island treasures: Language
      documentation in the Pacific <https://www.academia.edu/38457086/>*.
      In Bradley McDonnell, Andrea Berez-Kroeker & Gary Holton (eds.),
*Reflections
      on Language Documentation 20 years after Himmelmann 1998*. Special
      issue of *Language Documentation & Conservation* 15
      <https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/sp-15/>, 276–294.


   - †Jean-Claude *Rivierre*'s  recordings
   <https://cocoon.huma-num.fr/pub/COLLECTION_cocoon-701a2a8d-e211-38f8-95c5-ac344d5bc12e>
   (from 1965-1990's) of several Kanak languages of New Caledonia are also on
   Pangloss/CoCoON:  http://tiny.cc/Rivierre-archives
   – e.g. here for Cèmuhî
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/C%C3%A8muh%C3%AE?lang=en&mode=pro>.
   Many items are displayed with a text, e.g. scans from JC's publications
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?corpus=C%C3%A8muh%C3%AE&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-3db4368e-3d85-3b46-af95-4102b935ebf0&oai_secondary=cocoon-be4736d1-5426-376a-b436-180faba3f99f&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=&optionSentenceTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=&optionWordTranslations=&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&continuousPlay=false>
[1965],
   or interlinear text
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?corpus=C%C3%A8muh%C3%AE&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-f6ea7398-ca28-3cef-a411-991ee7bf1c10&oai_secondary=cocoon-e4d083cd-2def-391e-aea0-eafb69fe997a&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=phono&optionSentenceTranslations=fr%2Ben&optionWordTranscriptions=phono&optionWordTranslations=fr%2Ben&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&continuousPlay=false>
    [1971].

   Jean-Claude was one of the earliest Austronesianist contributors of the
   archive
   - together with †Françoise *Ozanne-Rivierre*
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/search?s=Ozanne-Rivierre&filter=%7B%22language%22%3A%22%22%2C%22format%22%3A%22%22%7D>
   [example from Fagauvea, Loyalty Is.
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?continuousPlay=false&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-5c583557-41b5-3858-99d7-7aa24e1801e1&oai_secondary=cocoon-85afd245-ed84-33ea-bb51-7fdbd6b4ff2e&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=phono&optionSentenceTranslations=fr&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=phono&optionWordTranslations=fr>,
   1971]
   and Claire *Moyse-Faurie*
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/search?s=Claire%20Moyse-Faurie> [example from
   Xârâcùù
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?continuousPlay=false&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-67f42724-e2a9-3498-bde6-5172d16d1362&oai_secondary=cocoon-6388ecfe-37ec-3826-bc9c-2868ee6c8754&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=phono&optionSentenceTranslations=fr&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=phono&optionWordTranslations=fr>
1982,
   or from Xârâgurè
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?corpus=X%C3%A2r%C3%A2gur%C3%A8&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-5cf1cfab-20d8-3ba0-ba17-7ea6df80d728&oai_secondary=cocoon-5cb15cda-92a1-33f6-90c4-cbd4e9204960&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=phono&optionSentenceTranslations=fr&optionWordTranscriptions=phono&optionWordTranslations=fr&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&continuousPlay=false>
   1977].
      (for Claire's Xârâgurè, see also this page on ELAR
   <https://www.elararchive.org/dk0589/> which includes some of her legacy
   recordings)

   + Isabelle *Bril*
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/search?s=Isabelle+Bril&filter=%7B%22language%22%3A%22%22%2C%22format%22%3A%22%22%7D&mode=pro&lang=en>
    [example from Nêlêmwa
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-11decbb1-d878-3b19-b7f4-fe57ba11b3dd&oai_secondary=cocoon-4b2c405f-52f1-31ba-9fca-f2898e9c15c0&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=phono&optionSentenceTranslations=fr&optionWordTranscriptions=phono&optionWordTranslations=fr&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&continuousPlay=false>,
   1991],  and later myself
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/search?s=Alexandre+Fran%C3%A7ois&mode=pro&lang=en>
   .


   - My 1997-98 Vanuatu recordings were also initially analog, and later
   digitized:
      - recordings in the Araki language
      <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Araki?lang=fr&mode=pro&seeMore=true>
      of Santo [example
      <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?continuousPlay=false&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-5ffcaf9d-3ced-31ff-9d2f-00711be8d98c&oai_secondary=cocoon-d7f13327-2fac-382b-aae6-83b953689459&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=phono&optionSentenceTranslations=en&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=%2Bphono&optionWordTranslations=%2Ben>
       1997],
      - of Vurës [1998 <https://doi.org/10.24397/pangloss-0006975>]
      and Mwesen [1998
      <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?continuousPlay=false&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-b11b6083-91bb-3bc0-b746-6884dbb9f2a7&oai_secondary=cocoon-6bcff0d2-453c-35ad-85de-42757f8cb1bb&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=autre%2Bother&optionSentenceTranslations=fr%2Ben&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionWordTranscriptions=&optionWordTranslations=>]
      (Banks Is.)
      - and my initial recordings of Mwotlap
      <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Mwotlap?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true>
       [example, 1998
      <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-b148006e-0711-3e50-9bf3-e997bc51b04c&oai_secondary=cocoon-128072b6-49b3-3edf-991d-6eca7d1bf238&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=other&optionSentenceTranslations=fr%2Ben&optionWordTranscriptions=&optionWordTranslations=&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&continuousPlay=false>
      ].

   - Anthropologist †*Bernard Vienne* handed me some recordings he had made
   in 1969 of Wanhan the last speaker of Volow, a now extinct language of
   Motalava (Banks islands).
   In 2003, I digitized the audio, and proceeded to transcribe and
   translate them with Wanhan's son Ronnie, the “last hearer” of the language
   (to quote Nick Evans' term) → see online text
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/show?corpus=Volow&lang=en&mode=pro&oai_primary=cocoon-3f26d897-8865-353c-a192-23a7e6981366&oai_secondary=cocoon-515ec670-1b05-3c36-aee3-5a95686062f7&optionTextTranscriptions=&optionTextTranslations=&optionSentenceTranscriptions=other&optionSentenceTranslations=fr&optionWordTranscriptions=&optionWordTranslations=&optionMorphemeTranscriptions=&optionMorphemeTranslations=&optionNotes=&continuousPlay=false>
   .
   More recently, I've been digitizing Vienne's valuable legacy materials in
   Volow <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Volow?lang=en&mode=pro> and other
   languages
   <https://cocoon.huma-num.fr/exist/crdo/search2.xql?page=1&max=500&lang=fr&nonce=OTk2MzY1Mg%3D%3D&contributor=http%3A%2F%2Fviaf.org%2Fviaf%2F94980622&keyword=Bernard+Vienne&del_1=&keyword2=&limit=10>
   .

   - My doctoral student Sandrine Bessis is in the process of archiving
   stories from the oral traditions of the Shepherd Is. (Vanuatu), notably
   around the 1452 Kuwae eruption
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1452/1453_mystery_eruption>. While this
   concerns mostly her own natively-digital field recordings
   <https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/search?s=Sandrine+Bessis&filter=%7B%22language%22%3A%22%22%2C%22format%22%3A%22%22%7D&lang=en&mode=pro>,
   she has also been working on transcribing audio materials recorded by
   earlier linguists (including Wolfgang Sperlich and Jean-Claude Rivierre)
   and anthropologists.


best
Alex
------------------------------

Alex François
LaTTiCe <http://www.lattice.cnrs.fr/en/alexandre-francois/> — CNRS–
<http://www.cnrs.fr/index.html>ENS
<https://www.ens.fr/laboratoire/lattice-langues-textes-traitements-informatiques-et-cognition-umr-8094>
–Sorbonne nouvelle
<http://www.univ-paris3.fr/lattice-langues-textes-traitements-informatiques-cognition-umr-8094-3458.kjsp>
Australian National University
<https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/francois-a>
Personal homepage <http://alex.francois.online.fr/>
_________________________________________


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Nick Thieberger <thien at unimelb.edu.au>
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2023 at 06:58
Subject: Re: [An-lang] Digital collections of pre-digital recordings with
Transcriptions
To: Hugh Paterson III <sil.linguist at gmail.com>, an-lang at anu.edu.au <
an-lang at anu.edu.au>


Hi Hugh,

We have been digitising audio (about 8,000 hours) and fieldnotes in
PARADISEC (paradisec.org.au), and have been incrementally transcribing and
summarising audio of those files as funds permit. In the Nyingarn platform (
nyingarn.net) we accept manuscript images to OCR or use crowdsourced or
other kinds of transcripts.
For some collections we have made an html view, e.g.,
Capell's papers: https://paradisec.org.au/fieldnotes/AC2.htm
Roesler: https://paradisec.org.au/fieldnotes/ROES/web/roes.htm
Wurm: https://paradisec.org.au/fieldnotes/SAW2/SAW2.htm

All the best,

Nick

------------------------------
*From:* An-lang <an-lang-bounces at anu.edu.au> on behalf of Hugh Paterson III
<sil.linguist at gmail.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, 2 February 2023 4:28 PM
*To:* an-lang at anu.edu.au <an-lang at anu.edu.au>
*Subject:* [An-lang] Digital collections of pre-digital recordings with
Transcriptions

Greetings,

Does anyone know of any projects which have looked at pre-digital audio and
connected those recordings to transcriptions (either new or older
transcriptions)? Essentially working with archival materials to create a
multi-modal interactive resource.

There are lots of things being done in this space with born-digital
materials, but I'm looking for examples using archival materials. The
textual materials could be transcriptions or field notes.


Kind regards,

Hugh Paterson III
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