[Corpora-List] 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