Building natural language processing tools for Runyakitara
-
Fridah Katushemererwe
,
Andrew Caines
Abstract
This paper describes an endeavour to build natural language processing (NLP) tools for Runyakitara, a group of four closely related Bantu languages spoken in western Uganda. In contrast with major world languages such as English, for which corpora are comparatively abundant and NLP tools are well developed, computational linguistic resources for Runyakitara are in short supply. First therefore, we need to collect corpora for these languages, before we can proceed to the design of a spell-checker, grammar-checker and applications for computer-assisted language learning (CALL). We explain how we are collecting primary data for a new Runya Corpus of speech and writing, we outline the design of a morphological analyser, and discuss how we can use these new resources to build NLP tools. We are initially working with Runyankore–Rukiga, a closely-related pair of Runyakitara languages, and we frame our project in the context of NLP for low-resource languages, as well as CALL for the preservation of endangered languages. We put our project forward as a test case for the revitalization of endangered languages through education and technology.
Funding source: The research that resulted into this article was funded by The Cambridge-Africa Programme for Research Excellence (CAPREx) and the ALBORADA Fund, UK
Appendix A: Expanded graded intergenerational disruption scale (EGIDS), from Lewis and Simons (2010)
| Level | Label | Description | UNESCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | International | The language is used internationally for a broad range of functions. | Safe |
| 1 | National | The language is used in education, work, mass media, government at the nationwide level. | Safe |
| 2 | Regional | The language is used for local and regional mass media and governmental services. | Safe |
| 3 | Trade | The language is used for local and regional work by both insiders and outsiders. | Safe |
| 4 | Educational | Literacy in the language is being transmitted through a system of public education. | Safe |
| 5 | Written | The language is used orally by all generations and is effectively used in written form in parts of the community. | Safe |
| 6a | Vigorous | The language is used orally by all generations and is being learned by children as their first language. | Safe |
| 6b | Threatened | The language is used orally by all generations but only some of the child-bearing generation are transmitting it to their children. | Vulnerable |
| 7 | Shifting | The child-bearing generation knows the language well enough to use it among themselves but none are transmitting it to their children. | Definitely endangered |
| 8a | Moribund | The only remaining active speakers of the language are members of the grandparent generation. | Severely endangered |
| 8b | Nearly extinct | The only remaining speakers of the language are members of the grandparent generation or older who have little opportunity to use the language. | Critically endangered |
| 9 | Dormant | The language serves as a reminder of heritage identity for an ethnic community. No one has more than symbolic proficiency. | Extinct |
| 10 | Extinct | No one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language, even for symbolic purposes. | Extinct |
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Introduction to the special issue “African languages and development”
- Research Articles
- Educational language policy in an African country: Making a place for code-switching/translanguaging
- Voices of ignorance versus voices of knowledge: Debates on English as medium of instruction in Malawian primary schools
- The role of communities in Uganda’s mother tongue-based education: Perspectives from a literacy learning enhancement project in Arua district
- Teaching multilingual literacy in Ugandan classrooms: The promise of the African Storybook
- Building natural language processing tools for Runyakitara
- Tributes
- Gregory Hankoni Kamwendo (1965–2018): a tribute
- Dr. Juliet Tembe (1954–2016)
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Introduction to the special issue “African languages and development”
- Research Articles
- Educational language policy in an African country: Making a place for code-switching/translanguaging
- Voices of ignorance versus voices of knowledge: Debates on English as medium of instruction in Malawian primary schools
- The role of communities in Uganda’s mother tongue-based education: Perspectives from a literacy learning enhancement project in Arua district
- Teaching multilingual literacy in Ugandan classrooms: The promise of the African Storybook
- Building natural language processing tools for Runyakitara
- Tributes
- Gregory Hankoni Kamwendo (1965–2018): a tribute
- Dr. Juliet Tembe (1954–2016)
