In this paper, we discuss the possibilities for mining lexical variation data across (potential) lects in Swedish Sign Language (SSL). The data come from the SSL Corpus (SSLC), a continuously expanding corpus of SSL, its latest release containing 43307 annotated sign tokens, distributed over 42 signers and 75 time-aligned video and annotation files. After extracting the raw data from the SSLC annotation files, we created a database for investigating lexical distribution/variation across three possible lects, by merging the raw data with an external metadata file, containing information about the age, gender, and regional background of each of the 42 signers in the corpus. We go on to present a first version of an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) that can be used as a tool for investigating lexical variation across different lects, and demonstrate a few interesting finds. This tool makes it easier for researchers and non-researchers alike to have the corpus frequencies for individual signs visualized in an instant, and the tool can easily be updated with future expansions of the SSLC.
@inproceedings{borstell:16004:sign-lang:lrec,
author = {B{\"o}rstell, Carl and {\"O}stling, Robert},
title = {Visualizing Lects in a Sign Language Corpus: Mining Lexical Variation Data in Lects of {Swedish} {Sign} {Language}},
pages = {13--18},
editor = {Efthimiou, Eleni and Fotinea, Stavroula-Evita and Hanke, Thomas and Hochgesang, Julie A. and Kristoffersen, Jette and Mesch, Johanna},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the {LREC2016} 7th Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Corpus Mining},
maintitle = {10th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation ({LREC} 2016)},
publisher = {{European Language Resources Association (ELRA)}},
address = {Portoro{\v z}, Slovenia},
day = {28},
month = may,
year = {2016},
language = {english},
url = {https://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/lrec/pub/16004.pdf}
}
| Östling, Robert