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Table of Contents

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Introduction: Transcription

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It may be the case that while working with audio and video, you want to add text and document what is said in your language, with an English equivalent, a French one perhaps too, or breakdown the speech even more finely. This method and task is known as transcription or the  or the systematic (organized) representation of utterances (phrases and words) in a written form.

While not every language has a written form, individuals and language revitalizationists often find it beneficial to have this documentation and written form as an extra level of information and a long-term preservation strategy for future generations.

There are many ways to transcribe, and different

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methods exist to transcribe different types of speech. Common guidelines and principles of transcribing include the

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Leipzig Conventions that many linguists use to segment morphemes (meaningful units) in words and sentences also in tiers. In this module, you will learn how to download, configure, and use ELAN software to add layered or tiered transcription over audio-files.

Getting to Know ELAN

ELAN is an annotation tool that can segment and aid in transcribing Indigenous language recordings, both new and old.

ELAN comes from The Language Archive (TLA) https://archive.mpi.nl/tla/ of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

The software is a mainstay for linguists who focus on morphology (word formation) and syntax (word order in sentences). Oftentimes, these categories are combined into morpho-syntax, as words can be whole phrases in some languages.

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Info

Only certain files can be added to ELAN. If you are experiencing trouble uploading a file, confirm it is one of the approved formats: .mpg, .mpeg, .wav, .mp4, .mpg4, .mov, .qt


Once you save the file, it will be a new .eaf file or ELAN EAF Document. And, the 'Automatic Backups' will ensure that the program is regularly saving a backup as an extension (eaf.00X) in the same location as your original audio.

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One of the main content pieces of ELAN is the ability to make different tiers. You can rename and align them in whatever way best suits your project and personal needs like in the image below.Image Removed

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Many language revitalizationists and linguists will have specific tiers made for different types of information they want to jot down (e.g. Part of Speech). Here are some examples of tiers you might think of adding:

Tier

Description

Purpose

Your Language

The transcription of the Indigenous language you are working with in its own orthography (if applicable)

  • Have a written record of speech in the target language

*This tier is essential!

Other Language 

A translation tier into a different language like English or French

  • Have a translation in a shared language that more people can understand at first glance

  • Comparison between languages

Part of Speech

Grammatical parts of speech of phrases and words

  • Identify grammatical aspects and characteristics between words

  • Collect meta-data for dictionary or FirstVoices entries

Semantic (

or 

or Thematic) roles

The relationships that parts of an utterance play in regard to the verb (e.g. Agent or Instrument)

  • Identify grammatical aspects and characteristics between words and phrases

  • Comparison of phrases and word use

Speaker

Each speaker in the recording has a tier for when they speak; this tier can be further specialized with what language(s) the participant is speaking

(e.g. Speaker: Ben / Language: Catalan & Speaker: Ben / Language: English)

  • Document different pronunciations and word choices

  • Annotation of a conversation or multi-person story/session

Phonetic transcription

Phonetic transcription

The transcription of speech in a phonetic orthography to document each sound that is being used

  • Identify pronunciation differences

  • See what sounds are present in your language

Multiple orthographies

Multiple orthographies

The transcription of speech in an alternate orthography or related community writing format

  • Maximize readability

  • Increase comfort level for readers less familiar with some writing systems

By morpheme

The

transcription

transcription and segmentation of each meaningful unit of speech, often including roots, suffixes, prefixes and clitics (e.g. affixes)

  • Write examples for a community grammar

  • Document different environments/contexts for words

  • Document the internal structure of phrases and words

When you first open your ELAN file, you will have a 'default tier'. You can modify this tier and add new ones by navigating to the 'Tier' tab on the top of the ELAN screen. There it will take you to a new window to edit tiers accordingly.

More information on this process and how to arrange and modify your tiers in the module.

Annotation

Annotation is the next step after making the tiers that you that you want for your ELAN space.

This process refers to chunking, splicing, and labelling the portions of the tiers relating to the audio where you want to add information: these are your annotations.

To start annotating, the first, most instinctual response is probably to just left-click and then drag to approximately where you want a section to end. This method definitely will get the job done. In short:

  1. Left-click at the beginning

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  1.  of the section you want to isolate

  2. Drag until the end of the section, making sure the interior is highlighted

  3. Double-click

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  1.  within the highlighted portion

  2. You just

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  1. made an editable segment!

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Another option is to use 'Selection Mode'. In this case, you will select this box (see image below) and then:

  1. Left-click at the beginning

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  1.  of the section you want to isolate

  2. Click again

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  1.  where you want the border of the annotation to be

  2. Right-click in the highlighted portion

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  1.  and in the options window,

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  1. select 'New Annotation Here'

  2. You just

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  1. made an editable segment!

'Selection Mode' prioritizes  prioritizes selecting annotations over everything else. If you click anywhere in the tiers portion, it will highlight the interior. Remember to uncheck this box after you are finished using it!Image Removed

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What is left to do after you have your annotation is to edit it.

This step is most easily accomplished by right-clicking the annotation you want to edit. The many options at your disposal will be then available, and you can do a variety of functions.Image Removed

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Since ELAN allows you to stack tiers, it is easy to position the same annotations over each other. This way, if you want to show the translation of a word, put a morpheme directly above or below a section of a phrase, or demonstrate how different orthographies might transcribe an utterance, you can!

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Inside the module, you will find more information and detailed steps on how to configure ELAN for your device(s), add and edit tiers, and utilize and arrange annotations.

title
Info

Link to Interactive Module

Please follow this link to take you to the interactive module:

Transcribing with ELAN

The essential takeaways from this module that you should at least feel knowledgeable about include:

  • How to download ELAN

  • Enable 'Automatic Backups'

     and save your

     and save your file

  • Create

     and 

     and rename tiers

  • Make

     and 

     and edit annotations (e.g. add text, split, redraw, merge,

     and 

     and delete segmentations)

There is still much to learn about how to use ELAN, including how to add subtitles to videos and navigate through different internal modes for transcription.

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