Subject: cfp : language resources for european minority languages

workshop on language resources for european minority languages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - granada , spain - may 27 1998 ( morning ) call for papers this workshop will be held in conjunction with the international conference on language resources and evaluation ( lrec ) , granada , spain : may 28-30 , 1998 . the workshop will provide a forum for researchers working on the development of speech and language resources for the indigenous minority languages of europe . workshop scope and aims - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - the minority or " lesser used " languages of europe ( e . g . basque , welsh , breton ) are under increasing pressure from the major languages . some of them ( e . g . gaelic ) are becoming endangered , but others ( e . g . catalan ) are in a stronger position , with a certain amount of official recognition and funding . however , the situation with regard to language resources is fragmented and disorganised . some minority languages have been adequately researched linguistically , but most have not , and the vast majority do not yet possess basic speech and language resources ( such as text and speech corpora ) which are sufficient to permit commercial development of products . if this situation were to continue , the minority languages of europe would fall a long way behind the major languages , as regards the availability of commercial speech and language products . this in turn will accelerate the decline of those languages that are already struggling to survive , as speakers are forced to use the majority language for interaction with these products . to break this vicious circle , it is important to encourage the development of basic language resources . the workshop is a very small first step towards encouraging the development of such resources . the aim is to share information , so that isolated researchers will not need to start from nothing . an important aspect will be the forming of personal contacts , which at present do not exist . the aim is to make it easier for isolated researchers with little funding and no existing corpora to begin developing a usuable speech or text database . there will be a balance between presentations of existing language resources , and more general presentations designed to give background information . technical areas covered will include : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - presentation of existing speech and text databases for minority languages , with particular emphasis on their design and their annotation . presentation of existing lexicons for minority languages , with particular emphasis on fast production methods . encouragement of standardisation , using the recommendations formulated by the eagles working groups . presentation of the eu 's policy towards minority languages , and the situation of minority languages in europe . papers are invited that will describe existing speech and language resources for minority languages ( speech databases , text databases , and lexicons ) , also papers based on the analysis of these resources . presentations will last 20 minutes each . all presentations will be given in english , since it cannot be assumed that each listener will speak all the minority languages discussed . organizers : briony williams university of edinburgh , scotland , uk climent nadeu universitat politecnica de catalunya , catalunya , spain alex monaghan dublin city university , ireland paper submission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - papers should not exceed 4000 words or 10 pages . they can be submitted in one of two ways : hard copy or electronic submission . they should be in a4 size and in english . a ) hard copies : three hard copies should be sent to : dr . briony williams cstr 80 south bridge edinburgh eh1 1hn scotland , uk please also send an email to briony williams ( briony @ cstr . ed . ac . uk ) informing her of the hard copy submission . this is in case the hard copy does not reach its destination . this email should contain the information specified in the section below . b ) electronic submission : electronic submission may be in self-contained latex , postcript or ms - word format . submissions should be sent to briony @ cstr . ed . ac . uk . an electronic submission should be accompanied by a plain ascii text email message giving the following details : # name : name of first author # title : title of the paper # pages : number of pages # note : any relevant instructions about the format etc . # abstr : abstract of the paper # email : email address of the first author # addr : postal address of the first author # tel : telephone number of the first author # fax : fax number of the first author important dates paper submission deadline february 27 paper notification march 27 camera - ready papers due april 22 workshop may 26 conference information - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - general information about the main conference is at : http : / / www . icp . inpg . fr / elra / conflre . html specific queries about the conference should be directed to : lrec secretariat facultad de traduccion e interpretacion dpto . de traduccion e interpretacion c / puentezuelas , 55 18002 granada , spain tel : + 34 58 24 41 00 - fax : + 34 58 24 41 04 reli98 @ goliat . ugr . es - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
