Precodes and continuation markers

Brian MacWhinney macw at cmu.edu
Wed Dec 7 15:11:00 UTC 2011


Dear Kevin,

    Yes, the forms that can precede the precodes are the punctuation marks beginning with the +

--Brian

On Dec 7, 2011, at 6:09 AM, Kevin Donnelly wrote:

> Hi Brian
> 
> Thanks for the info, but just to clinch this ...
> 
> ::::On Tuesday 06 December 2011 Brian MacWhinney said::::
>> On Dec 6, 2011, at 2:47 PM, Kevin Donnelly wrote:
>>> Hi
>>> 
>>> We are using the new(er) precode system for marking language stretches in
>>> bilingual files.  There is not a great deal of information about this in
>>> the manual, so perhaps I could post a query on the list.
>>> 
>>> We have been putting the precodes first in the speaker tier, for reasons
>>> of readability, and also because it makes computer analysis of the tier
>>> a bit easier.  So we have, for instance:
>>> *IRI:    [- spa] +< no eso es totalmente natural .
>>> 
>>> However, when we run CHECK on these files, we get error messages saying:
>>> Item '+<' must be used at the beginning of tier.
>>> 
>>> Presumably this means that we have to write:
>>> *IRI:    +< [- spa] no eso es totalmente natural .
>> 
>> Right, the above form is the correct one.  We have to have a strict order
>> of codes in order to guarantee verification through XML.
>> 
>>> So:
>>> (a) Is it the case that precodes must follow markers like +< ?
>>> (b) Are there any other markers or other things to which this applies?
>>> (c) Are there any other "gotchas" we should watch out for when using
>>> precodes?
>> 
>> Nothing very serious.  As long as you run CHECK frequently, you will always
>> know if you have run into some problem.
> 
> We do need a list of markers, since we're also refactoring the file into a 
> database, which is our main analysis medium.
> 
> Would I be correct in saying that the issue applies to all the continuation 
> markers (linkers) listed in Section 7.10 of the CHAT manual, ie:
> +"
> +^
> +<
> +,
> ++
> 
> Are there any other markers which need to come first in the line?
> 
>>> As a subsidiary question, I assume that using the 3-letter ISO-639-3 or
>>> ISO-639-2 codes (http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp) instead of the 2-
>>> letter ISO-639-1 codes is OK, and fits in with the trend in CLAN towards
>>> those.
>> 
>> Yes, in accord with the more recent standards, we are now using the
>> 3-letter codes.
> 
> -- 
> Pob hwyl / Best wishes
> 
> Kevin Donnelly
> kevindonnelly.org.uk
> 
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