8.1 Summary

Language documentation can move forward at a rapid pace using tools now commonly available. These include tools for transcription and translation. A challenge for annotators is unpacking morphological complexity and keeping track of their analyses as they develop.  A hierarchical method of glossing allows for some harmonization between languages; and in large databases, this kind of comparable data can be a powerful tool to speed up analyses and reveal patterns of theoretical interest.

While the Leipzig Glossing Rules (LGR) provide general standards and principles for IGT, we have laid out here annotation methods for not-yet confirmed analyses as these are confirmed through iterative analysis.

When I (Chelliah) have spoken with linguistics students about corpus-building, there has always been a dissenting voice saying that the time investment is prohibitive. If you are working towards a degree in 4 years and one year is taken to build the corpus, then that is simply too dear a price to pay for better data.

This is a valid point. Corpus-building is time-consuming. In summarizing this textbook, we would like to point out the following:

1. New technologies speed up the process of corpus building at various stages.
2. The more IGT corpora available for related languages, the easier it will be to develop the conventions and structure for the creation of a new corpus.
3. Annotation methods such as hierarchical glossing provide a pathway to analysis.
4. Novice annotators, who otherwise feel the task is overwhelming, can use this method as a scaffold to move forward in creating corpora and improving analytic outcomes.