ScotsSyntaxAtlas_logo

This 2-day data hack offers postgraduate students the first opportunity to work with the Scots Syntax Atlas, a major new online resource for the study of language use across time and space.

Participants in the hack will have access to:

  • around 300 hours of recorded and transcribed conversational data, from communities across Scotland from Shetland to Stranraer, amounting to over 3 million words
  • Likert scale judgment data on over 250 linguistic features from over 550 speakers in 140+ communities across Scotland, giving a total of 110,000+ judgments
  • raw .csv data on the linguistic forms used across geography and generations
  • an online atlas which visualises these speech patterns

Working with such data will allow participants to produce collaborative outputs as well as gaining experience in working with a large data set. Potential data hack projects will be proposed by the atlas team, but participants will also be able to propose their own projects. These may involve addressing research questions about language variation and change; developing visualisations or tools for data analysis, or creating works incorporating the range of diverse voices across time and space.

The hack will be facilitated by a number of experts across a range of fields:

  • Dr Tam Blaxter (University of Cambridge – data visualisation + dialectology)
  • Dr Amanda Thomson (Glasgow School of Art – mapping/printing + Scots in art)
  • Dr Andrew Weir (NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology – theoretical syntax + semantics)

In addition to the hack, we will run a series of masterclasses with these facilitators where they share their research methodologies and findings.

The details:

The hack will take place on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th June 2019 at the University of Glasgow.

Participants will receive funding up to £300 in travel and accommodation expenses. Lunches will be provided, as well as dinner on the final evening.

How to apply:

Potential participants can apply by completing this Google form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCilVQSRKOTfGE43ABgtobv3vKnJTw7L0e8E0JKJTz-NFPIw/viewform

Selection will be based on your answers to the two 100 word questions on the Google form.

The deadline for applications is 29th March 2019. We will let you know if you have been selected w/c 8th April 2019.

Please mail scotssyntaxatlas@gmail.com with general inquiries.

First published: 12 February 2019

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