Methodological and technical challenges of a corpus-based study of Naija
Methodological and technical challenges of a corpus-based study of Naija

Author(s): Bernard Caron
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Atlantic pidgins and creoles; corpus studies; natural language processing; syntax; prosody
Summary/Abstract: This paper presents early reflections on the NaijaSynCor survey (NSC) financed by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche. The nature of the language surveyed (Naija, a post-creole spoken in Nigeria as a second language by close to 100 million speakers) has induced a specific choice of theoretical framework (variationist sociolinguistics) and methodology (a corpus-based study using Natural Language Processing). Half-way through the 4 year-study, the initial methodological choices are assessed taking into account the nature of the data that has been collected, and the problems that occurred as early as the initial stages of their annotation.

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