ox-linguistics

ox-linguistics is a package to make it easy to write linguistics-style examples in Org mode documents. It supports writing example sentences using ordinary Org mode lists. Examples are exported to LaTeX using a linguistics example package such as linguex or gb4e. For example:

#+ATTR_LINGUISTICS: :package linguex
1) ? A questionable example am I. <<s:questionable>>
2) Is this a question? <<q:question>>
   - Yes. <<a:yes>>
   - I don't think so. <<a:no>>

Here I refer back to sentence [[s:questionable]].

will be exported to LaTeX as:

\ex.?\label{s:questionable}A questionable example am I.
\par
\ex.\label{q:question}Is this a question?
\a.\label{a:yes}Yes.
\b.\label{a:no}I don't think so.
\z.
\par

Here I refer back to sentence \ref{s:questionable}.

This has a few advantages:

• you can write examples with Org's more pleasant syntax
• you can easily switch from one backend package to another
• you can use Org's internal links to reference examples

The package currently supports examples using \ex. ...\par in linguex and \begin{exe}...\end{exe} in gb4e, but it does not support gloss versions of these commands. I am considering adding support for the philex package, as well as an HTML backend. Feedback on how you would like to use this package would be appreciated!

Installation

There are no releases of ox-linguistics (yet); to install it, do:

$ cd $WHEREVER
$ git clone https://github.com/wyleyr/ox-linguistics.git

Then, somewhere in your .emacs, add:

(add-to-list 'load-path "$WHEREVER/ox-linguistics/lisp")
(require 'ox-linguistics)

Use

Once you've loaded the ox-linguistics package, using it from Org mode is simple. To turn a regular list into a list of example sentences, you need to tell the ox-linguistics backend which LaTeX package you want to use to typeset the list. You do this by providing an #+ATTR_LINGUISTICS header to the list which specifies the desired package using the :package attribute. The package keywords that ox-linguistics recognizes are:

• linguex for linguex examples
• gb4e for gb4e examples

So, for example, a list like:

#+ATTR_LINGUISTICS: :package gb4e
1) Example 1
2) * Example 2
3) ?? Example 3

will be exported as a gb4e example. ox-linguistics takes care of properly placing labels and judgments for whatever LaTeX package you select.

Don't forget to load the appropriate package in your document preamble. Here you would need:

#+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage{gb4e}

or similar in your Org file.

Labels

To label an example, use Org's target syntax:

#+ATTR_LINGUISTICS: :package linguex
1) This is my first example sentence. <<s:first>>

Here, the target will be exported as a \label with key s:first:

\ex.\label{s:first}This is my first example sentence.
\par

You can place the target anywhere in the Org list item; ox-linguistics will take care of placing the \label command in the correct place in the exported LaTeX.

Using the target syntax allows you to refer back to example sentences using Org's link syntax, which will be exported as \ref commands:

Here, I refer back to sentence [[s:first]], which was not very interesting.

Judgments

To add a judgment to an example, simply place it at the beginning of the example, with whitespace afterward.

#+ATTR_LINGUISTICS: :package gb4e
1) * This my second example sentence. <<s:second>>
2) ?? My third example this is. <<s:yoda>>
3) % No need to escape judgment markers that are also LaTeX syntax. <<s:fourth>>

As with labels, ox-linguistics will place the judgment appropriately in the exported LaTeX code. Here, for example, the judgments will be passed as optional arguments to gb4e's \ex command:

\begin{exe}
\ex[*]{\label{s:second}This my second example sentence.}
\ex[??]{\label{s:yoda}My third example this is.}
\ex[\%]{\label{s:fourth}No need to escape judgment markers that are also LaTeX syntax.}
\end{exe}

Overriding default numbering

By default, the gb4e and linguex packages use a running counter to assign numbers as identifiers for your examples. You can override this numbering for a given example by providing a tag for its list item. The tag will be used to generate an alternative identifier. For example,

#+ATTR_LINGUISTICS: :package gb4e
- Principle C. ::  An R-expression is free only
  - \alpha) :: with respect to potential binders in A-positions, or
  - \beta) :: within the domain of its chain

will be exported as:

\begin{exe}
\exi{Principle C.}{An R-expression is free only}
\begin{xlist}
\exi{\(\alpha\))}{with respect to potential binders in A-positions, or}
\exi{\(\beta\))}{within the domain of its chain}
\end{xlist}
\end{exe}

which will produce the desired identifiers in the output document.

You can use this mechanism to repeat earlier examples: simply use a link to the earlier example as the list item tag.

Exporting

ox-linguistics works by providing an export backend that derives from Org's own LaTeX export backend. To export an Org document using ox-linguistics, invoke Org's export dispatcher via C-c C-e. The ox-linguistics commands are the same as the LaTeX exporter commands, but they fall under the d prefix. For example, dp generates a PDF file.