linglit

Programmatic access to linguistic literature

Overview

linglit provides programmatic access to data buried in linguistic literature. Currently, this means extracting

• bibliographies
• IGT examples

from

• books published with Language Science Press (if LaTeX sources are publicly available)
• papers published in Glossa (if XML downloads are publicly available)

linglit does not come with any data (except some configuration), but it provides functionality to create and curate repositories with the "raw" data per publication provider (see CLI). For Language Science Press such a repository is publicly available at https://github.com/langsci/raw_texfiles .

Install

Install from PyPI with pip:

pip install linglit

Some linglit funtionality depends on other programs that need to be installed separately:

• Extracting data from LSP books requires bibtool.
• Creating a local repository of LSP data requires gh (but this is only necessary if you are not happy with the content in https://github.com/langsci/raw_texfiles, which can simply be cloned or downloaded from a release).

CLI

Installing the linglit python package will also install a commandline tool linglit. All functionality is provided by subcommands. To see a list of available subcommands, run

$ linglit -h
usage: linglit [-h] [--log-level LOG_LEVEL] COMMAND ...

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --log-level LOG_LEVEL
                        log level [ERROR|WARN|INFO|DEBUG] (default: 20)

available commands:
  Run "COMAMND -h" to get help for a specific command.

  COMMAND
    bib                 Show the bibliography of a publication
    igt                 Show the IGT examples of a publication
    update              Update a linglit data repository

Downloading "raw" data

Running

linglit update <PROVIDER> <DIRECTORY>

will load the raw data for a provider in the existing directory <DIRECTORY>.

Extracting bibliographies

Running

linglit bib <PROVIDER> <DIRECTORY> <PUBID>

will print the bibliography of a publication in a serialization format roughly following the Unified Stylesheet for Linguistics.

$ linglit bib glossa ../../cldf_datasets/imtvault/raw/glossa/ 6371 
Aissen, Judith. 2003. Differential object marking: Iconicity vs. economy. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 21. 435-483.

Ameka, Felix and de Witte, Carlien and Wilkins, David and Wilkins, David. 1999. Picture series for positional verbs: Eliciting the verbal component in locative descriptions. In Manual for the 1999 field season, 48-54. Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
...

Using the --bibtex option will print out the bibliography formatted in BibTeX:

$ linglit bib glossa ../../cldf_datasets/imtvault/raw/glossa/ 6371 --bibtex
@article{glossa6371:B1,
  author  = {Aissen, Judith},
  year    = {2003},
  pages   = {435-483},
  doi     = {10.1023/A:1024109008573},
  title   = {Differential object marking: Iconicity vs. economy},
  journal = {Natural Language and Linguistic Theory},
  volume  = {21}
}

@incollection{glossa6371:B2,
  author    = {Ameka, Felix and de Witte, Carlien and Wilkins, David and Wilkins, David},
  year      = {1999},
  pages     = {48-54},
  title     = {Picture series for positional verbs: Eliciting the verbal component in locative descriptions},
  booktitle = {Manual for the 1999 field season},
  address   = {Nijmegen},
  publisher = {Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics}
}
...

Extracting IGT examples

Running

linglit igt <PROVIDER> <DIRECTORY> <PUBID>

will print the IGT examples from a publication.

$ linglit igt glossa ../../cldf_datasets/imtvault/raw/glossa/ 6371 
(1) daww1239 (glossa6371: 1)
tir ka’ mãr [yeg ked/*rid/*∅)]
tir    ka’             mãr    [yeg      ked/*rid/*∅)]
3SG    lie.in.hammock  REP    [hammock  in/*LOC/*∅]
‘He was lying in the hammock [inanimate noun], they say.’ (MS, ailla:254700, 20130724_historia_McS.wav, 4:30–4:46)’

(2) daww1239 (glossa6371: 2)
‘aa’ nẽed dôo’ [baal’ rid/*ked/ *∅)]
‘aa’    nẽed    dôo’        [baal’    rid/*ked/ *∅)]
ANPH    come    AUX:source  [Manaus   LOC/*IN/*∅]
‘He came yesterday from Manaus [place name].’ (MFM, ailla:254700, 20130723_historia_MFM.wav, 6:50–7:30)’

...

Python API

linglit provides a python API to access the content of different publication providers in a unified way. The main point of access for data is a Repository. Each provider is implemented as subclass of linglit.base.Repository, which can be retrieved by provider ID:

>>> from linglit import PROVIDERS
>>> repo_cls = PROVIDERS['langsci']
>>> langsci = repo_cls('langsci')
>>> print(langsci['17'])
Wilbur, Joshua 2014. A grammar of Pite Saami

IGT examples

Examples are modeled as instances of linglit.base.Example. These can be accessed as follows:

>>> ex = langsci['17'].examples[10]
>>> print(ex.as_igt())
dä virtiv válldet giehpajd ja ribbrev ja dagarijd ulgos
dä    virti-v       vállde-t    giehpa-jd    ja    ribbre-v      ja    dagari-jd    ulgos
then  must-1SG.PRS  take-INF    lung-ACC.PL  and   liver-ACC.SG  and   such-ACC.PL  out
‘Then I have to take out the lungs, the liver and such things. 080909103’

References

References are modeled as pycldf.sources.Source instances.

>>> src = langsci['17'].cited_references[5]
>>> print(src)
Grundström, Harald and Väisänen, A. O. 1958. Lapska sånger: Texter och melodier från svenska Lappland (Jonas Eriksson Steggos sånger). (Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmåls- och Folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala, 1.) Uppsala: Lundequistska bokhandeln.
>>> print(src.bibtex())
@book{langsci17:grundstroem1958a,
  address   = {Uppsala},
  keywords  = {Pite, Jojk, Musicology},
  language  = {Swedish and German and Pite Saami},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Lundequistska bokhandeln},
  series    = {Skrifter utgivna genom Landsmåls- och Folkminne