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The UGent Centre for Bantu Studies (BantUGent) stands for a transdisciplinary approach to the past and present of Bantu languages, Bantu speech communities and their (im)material worlds, both in Africa and in the diaspora.
Our research starts from the data-driven study of language and/or (im)material culture and relies on methods and theoretical insights from disciplines as diverse as linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, (art) history, botany, zoology, genetics, etc.
Within the field of Bantu linguistics, which is BantUGent’s centre of gravity, we strongly focus on historical linguistics, including language contact, and corpus linguistics and lexicography, which we strive to combine.
Our research is also integrated in several courses of the UGent BA in African Languages and Cultures and MA in African Studies, such as Introduction to African Linguistics, Language Documentation and Description in Africa, African Historical Linguistics, Bantu Corpus Linguistics and Lexicography, Comparative Bantu Grammar, and African Archaeology.
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Activities

  • Wed
    30
    Oct
    2024
    Thu
    31
    Oct
    2024

    Doctoral School training - Introduction to ELAN and FLEx: audio-visual data processing tools for linguists

    Faculty of Arts and Philosophy

    Any researcher that works with audio-visual data will need software to annotate, analyze and process said data, and FLEx and ELAN are powerful tools to do so. This course is an introduction to these two pieces of software, widely used in language documentation. It will offer hands-on training in each software application, and then go further to demonstrate how to use the two of them together.

    Figure 1: Example of ELAN set-up with a Mỹky speaker (courtesy of Bernat Bardagil)

     

    The course starts with audio segmentation, transcription, and translation in ELAN using EAF templates. Participants learn how to compile their data into a searchable corpus and how to conduct searches across their data. The course will then shift to FLEx, providing participants with basic knowledge of its primary functions and how to build a lexicon, work with texts, and parse and gloss data. Finally, participants will be guided through a step-by- step ELAN-FLEx-ELAN workflow so that they have the ability to benefit from the advantages offered by each program. See below for a preliminary program.

    The workshop will take place 30-31 October 2024 at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. The first day will be dedicated to ELAN, the second to FLEx and integration between the softwares. No prior experience is required. Registration can be done here until October 16. If you have questions, you can contact Bernat Bardagil (bernat.bardagil@ugent.be) or Nina van der Vlugt (nina.vandervlugt@ugent.be).

    Course lecturer: Prof. Andrew Harvey (University of Bayreuth)

    As an expert in the field of language description and documentation, professor Harvey has worked extensively with ELAN and FLEx throughout his career, including his ELDP project, also teaching how to use these pieces of software at different international venues, like summer schools.

    Andrew Harvey (University of Bayreuth)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    As this event is financed by the Doctoral School of UGent and the Flemish Government, doctoral students are given priority during registration. If PhD students participate in one of the sessions, it counts as a transferable skill course. If PhD students participate in both the sessions, it counts as a specialist course. Evaluation for PhD students are based on attendance and active participation

     

     

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