To be a digital, online language we might expect that various support tools are required, foundations if you like.
Languages need computer support, digital tools and from these a range of advances become possible. Without these tools and foundations then might languages struggle in an online world?
This is only a starting point, but we might well ask:
- what is a digital language; and
- what might be necessary or sufficient to support a digital language?
As a simple example, unless a font exists that contain the basic character set of the language, computer user interfaces and applications in that language are not possible. Then we move on to spell checkers, grammar checkers and more advanced applications such as voice recognition and voice generation (text to speech).
Resources provided through or under the Welsh Language Commissioner's office can be found here. Other relevant links can be found below in this list of requirements for a digital language. This is not an exhaustive list by any means.
Fundamentals
- Fonts/language encoding: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_8859-14
- Operating system support (Windows, Mac: OS X, iOS, Linux.
- For each of these support is mixed from full language pack to only keyboard support.
Utility
- Application support
- Applications User Interface (UI)
- OS UI
- Application support: spellcheck, grammar check, etc. ( link)
Internet
- DNS (Domain Name System)character support in Domain Names http://www.nominet.org.uk/sites/default/files/CymruWalesIDNPolicy_0.pdf
- gTLD (generic Top Level Domains .wales .cymru)
- Registrars: http://registrars.nominet.org.uk/namespace/cymru-wales
- http://ourhomeonline.wales buying domains. Or e.g. https://www.one.com/en/
- Web Applications & platform support: search, web UI, social media: Facebook, twitter, … mixed support. Welsh language services like http://hedyn.net/wici/Hafan
Advanced and Research
- Advanced Apps/research areas
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
- Speech Recognition (command, control, transcription, translation - see list below - no Welsh Language support)
- Translation: https://translate.google.co.uk/#en/cy
- ID/Biometric speech recognition
- Text To Speech (TTS)
- Font support for archaic language versions
So, easy huh!
In addition a lively culture and ecology of digital artists, performers, coders and hacktivists might be nice. One day.
Events
- Hacio'r iaith: http://hedyn.net/wici/Hacio%27r_Iaith_2015 and http://techiaith.org/conference-2015/hacior-iaith/?lang=en
Further reading:
- List of Speech Recognition Software – Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speech_recognition_software
- Vocapia: http://www.vocapia.com/speech-to-text.html
- CMUsphinx: http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net
- Kaldi: http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/aghoshal/pubs/asru11-kaldi.pdf
- RNNLM toolkit: http://rnnlm.org old site: http://www.fit.vutbr.cz/~imikolov/rnnlm/
- Julius: http://julius.osdn.jp/en_index.php
- Microsoft: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh362938(v=office.14).aspx
- HTK: http://htk.eng.cam.ac.uk (older?)
- Summary of a few: http://www.mico-project.eu/experiences-from-development-with-open-source-speech-recognition-libraries/
- Review of open source tools 2014: http://suendermann.com/su/pdf/oasis2014.pdf
- News release from Bangor University about it: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/canolfanbedwyr/newyddion/newyddion_18_02_15.php.en
