Using full scale Wordcorr to guide Sherlock Holmes's thinking.
An overview of the kinds of information linguists need about Wordcorr collections.
Wordcorr is a computational tool that assists linguists in comparing natural languages systematically. It splits the work involved in applying the Comparative Method. Your responsibility is to identify patterns in the data that may show common origin. The computer's responsibility is to keep track of your judgments in a framework from which you can draw evidence about the development of later languages from earlier ones. Wordcorr does not perform the analysis for you; it organizes the evidence that you consider relevant to the analysis. The tool was developed under a grant from the National Science Foundation. With an introduction featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. [This partial version is being published to elicit reactions to the modules finished so far.]
Sherlock Holmes examines the word lists, notices patterns in them, and attempts analysis using a model of Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Second of three Comparison modules.
Sherlock Holmes, having pressed the Babbage Analytical Engine into service to solve a problem in comparative linguistics, explains the key concepts and the results to Dr. Watson. Last of three Comparison modules.
Sherlock Holmes is presented with a comparative word list. First of three Comparison modules.
We all make mistakes. Wordcorr has unsophisticated but adequate machinery to help you fix them.
You can always type data into Wordcorr using the keyboard. Even if you import some of your data from another computer, you can add entries, and even complete word lists, from the keyboard.
The data you will analyze appear on the Data panel. It provides means to type in new data, including a convenient way of handling IPA phonetic characters, and to edit data already entered. Along with the Data panel, the File menu gives you a way to back up the data and analysis in your collection at any time, and to import electronic data from elsewhere, including from spreadsheets.
The whole IPA alphabet, including diacritics and modifiers, is available to you through Easy IPA. If you touch type, you'll find yourself touch typing the IPA characters you use frequently in your collection.
Wordcorr backup is easy. You click File | Export XML, give a file name, and a compressed backup file appears. Burn it to a CD and email it to a few safe places, and your data and analyses will outlive the next tsunami.
Export XML puts out all the data in a collection, and all the analytical views you are working on. Sometimes you want to export only one view, or only the metadata that lets other linguists know your work exists.
If you have never installed Wordcorr on this computer before, these are the instructions to follow.
Wordcorr is a computational tool that assists in comparing natural languages. The course is a quick tutorial on how to set up the tool on your own computer. Another course, Comparative Phonology Using Wordcorr, is in preparation on how to use the tool. Wordcorr was developed under a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Computers crash. Software does crazy things. You can survive that, but can you survive the loss of your data? You can if you plan.
Download Wordcorr and get it running. Put in your personal metadata
If you have Wordcorr installed and a new release comes up, upgrading is better than installing the whole thing all over again. This tells you how.
Part of the identity of any speech variety is the geographical region where it is spoken, and in some cases the social groups that speak it.
Every speech variety has a unique name and a unique short name. It should have an international (ISO-639-3) language code and at least a tentative classification. It may have an abbreviation, an A to F judgment of quality for the word list, and one or more alternate language names.
Word lists in Wordcorr collections may come from published sources, but frequently come from unpublished sources such as live interviews.
