Lydia's Draft Proposal

I. Title: Central Alaskan Yup’ik: Linguistic Research Tool

II. Keywords: linguistics, Central Alaskan Yup’ik, Alaska, Eskimo-Inuit language family, research tool, data collection

Abstract:

Collection of original linguistic data in the form of video recordings of native speakers of Central Alaskan Yup’ik

Post-production and annotation

Generation of components for mock, ideal research tool

Survey of existing websites and tools for linguistic research

Creation of working architecture of linguistic research tool

III. Description

1. Genre/Audience
   This project consists of primary source data, original research, and improvements to the current systems set up for linguistic field work. It has particular significance to speakers of endangered languages, linguistic field workers and linguistic researchers.
2. Introduction
   Linguists face two particularly significant problems when doing research: many languages are spoken in remote locations and many are becoming extinct (i.e., they are no longer being spoken by younger generations, and will eventually not be spoken at all). The first problem makes it difficult to acquire primary source data, as doing so requires that the researcher travel to the remote location where the language is spoken. The second problem makes it crucial that linguistic data be collected efficiently and immediately, before there is permanent loss of the data.[1] I feel that the current models that seek to address these problems are inadequate.
3. Research Methodology
   First, I will do preliminary academic research on Central Alaskan Yup’ik by familiarizing myself with the corpus of information that already exists on the language. I’ve already begun to do this, but have much more material to go through. This also involves listening to the radio show recordings I purchased last summer which will introduce me to the lexicon, phonology, and grammar of the language. This will help me collect more relevant data.
   To collect the data, I will go to the Bristol Bay area of Alaska for approximately one month and use my Sony DCR-HC96 video camera and high quality lavalier microphone to record native speakers of Yup’ik.
   After that, I will return to Los Angeles and spend approximately one more month doing post-production work on the video footage I collect. This will involve editing and organizing the video footage into relevant and manageable clips at the IML lab. I will also annotate as much of the footage as is possible using the EUDICO Linguistic Annotator (ELAN).[2] Ideally, this will involve a transcription of the speech into the orthography currently used for the language and into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and a translation into English.
   Next, I will conduct a survey and analysis of the existing websites and tools for linguistic research. I will identify flaws and note ways that they can be improved. Then, using the primary source data from Alaska, I will create a proof-of-concept that combines the positive attributes of the existing systems and improves on them.
4. Delivery Format
   This project will eventually exist online as an easy-to-use prototype for what will ideally become a widely-accessible research tool. This will consist of a linguistic data archive and a user interface for accessing, uploading, and analyzing data.

5. Project Goals
   
1. The goal of this project is to create a working proof-of-concept for a tool that will make research on languages easier to conduct. This will also make endangered language preservation efforts more successful.
2. This project must be realized in multimedia because language is by nature an aural and visual medium. Although it can be laboriously transcribed, this can never capture all of the information conveyed by an audio recording device, and it is certainly not as efficient. Since endangered languages are at stake, efficiency is key. In addition to audio recordings, visual cues must also be captured, as they carry significant linguistic information, as demonstrated by the McGurk effect.
   
   
   
   In this video, one sees a recording of a man saying “ga ga – ga ga – ga ga” but hears a recording of the same man saying “ba ba – ba ba – ba ba.” Because there is a mismatch between the visual cues and the sound heard, the viewer/listener sometimes perceives that the man is actually saying, “da da – da da – da da,” which is in between the sounds “ga” and “ba.”
3. In the most ideal situation, a person using the full-grown version of this research tool should be able to easily access, upload, or analyze linguistic data, such as transcriptions, audio files, video files, and texts, on all studied languages of the world.
6. Significance
   This project is significant in many ways. It is directly significant to the Yup’ik people, as their language is endangered. Although it is one of the healthier native American languages, linguistically, it is being learned by children in only 17 of 68 Yup’ik villages, according to the Alaska Native Language Center of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.[3] It is of immediate value to certain graduate students at USC with whom I have been in contact who are doing research on the Yup’ik language and would benefit greatly from primary source data such as what I will be collecting this summer. This project also addresses United States policy as put forth in the Native American Languages Act of 1990 which states in section 102, article 1, “the status of the cultures and languages of Native Americans is unique and the United States has the responsibility to act together with Native Americans to ensure the survival of these unique cultures and languages.”[4] This project not only sets up a system that will ultimately improve the survival situation of all endangered languages, but it will immediately preserve a great deal of information about Central Alaskan Yup’ik.
   
   
7. Timeline
1. Early Summer 2008: Pre-research using established corpus of information
2. Mid Summer 2008: Data collection
3. Late Summer 2008: Post-production/annotation
4. Spring 2009: Survey and Analysis of existing linguistic research systems
5. Spring 2010: Creation of proof-of-concept linguistic research tool
   
   
8. Budget
1. Equipment
   Since I already purchased a video camera and microphone for this project last year, I don’t need money for that (although in the future it would be good to have higher quality equipment, especially a better microphone and my own equipment to do video editing and audio analysis). However, I need to purchase about 30-40 mini DV tapes and a few more spare batteries for the microphone (I definitely do not want to run out of either of those while I’m up there, as it is nearly impossible to get supplies while there). I also need funding to purchase books on the language, such as a dictionary ($44), a grammar ($33 paperback, plus $10 CD), and reference books on linguistic field work methodology (prices vary, although if I plan ahead enough I can interlibrary loan most of the field work books and photocopy pages that I think will be most helpful).[5]
2. Travel
   I also need money for my plane ticket ($900-$1200, depending on the time period when I fly up there), and for gas, which was $5 a gallon last summer. I will be staying 20 miles away from where most of the speakers I will be recording live. Fortunately, I have family that commutes to work in town nearly every day, so if I plan carefully then my gas expenses can be significantly reduced.
3. Per diem costs
   Since I will be staying with my extended family, I will probably not have to be paying much for food and lodging. Ideally, I would like to chip in, so I’m not just mooching off of them, but I can probably work out some kind of deal where I chip in with work in exchange for food and lodging
4. Funding Sources
1. Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship, $3000 – GRANTED![6]
2. Sophomore Opportunities for Academic Research, $1000 – application in process (I’m uncertain if I am still eligible, but I’m going to try anyway)[7]
3. Student Senate Academic Research Fund, $1000 – application in process[8]
   

9. Confirmed Advisors
   Bruce Zuckerman, School of Religion
   I’m still searching for someone in the Linguistics Department who will actually be helpful to this project
   
   
10. Presentation/Distribution Plans
    This project will be presented at the 2010 IML Senior Thesis Showcase.
    It will also be available online.
    
    
11. Production Resources
1. Sony DCR-HC96 video camera
2. Lavalier microphone
3. Yup’ik dictionary/grammar
4. Other reference books
5. FinalCut Pro
6. ELAN
7. Website design software
8. Flash
   
   
12. Prior Related Work
1. Research Experience
   During the first semester of my freshman year at USC I worked on a research project under the guidance of Professors Bruce Zuckerman and Lynn Swartz Dodd doing original research on cylinder seals from the Ancient Near East. This was my first exposure to serious academic research. After that I worked for a while with Robert Shanklin on a research project having to do with the Philosophy of Language.
2. Experience with Yup’ik
   I have spent two and a half summers in Alaska, doing commercial drift-net salmon fishing. During my time there, I have tried to learn as much as possible about Yup’ik, and last summer I was able to record about thirty minutes of one native speaker of the language, Gusty Bartman. The following are a few phrases and words of Yup’ik and their English translations.
   
   -clip of Gusty Bartman- (can't get it to work right now)
   
   
   
13. Bibliography (see footnotes below)
    

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[1]See the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Indigenous Language Initiative http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/mitili/language%20loss.html for a brief outline of facts and figures

[2] EUDICO Linguistic Annotator (ELAN), see http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/December2007/techreviews/berez.html for more information on the program

[3] http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/langs/cy.html

[4] See http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jWCRAWFORD/nala.htm

[5] Information about book prices: http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/pubs/cy.html

[6] http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/ugresearch/fellowships.shtml

[7] http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/general_studies/inds/soar/funding.html

[8] http://sait.usc.edu/ca/funding/sources_additional.htm