Kirrkirr: A flexible and approachable software interface to indigenous dictionaries Christopher Manning & Kristen Parton Computer Science and Linguistics, Stanford University

Research Program n A language is more than words with definitions – We want to make this information accessible and visible n Dictionaries on computers are commonplace, but few tools exploit the medium – Aim is fun dictionary tools that are effective for browsing and language learning by children and native speakers – Focus is on exploration/dissemination, not creation n Initial focus is Warlpiri, an Indigenous Australian language of the Tanami desert (NW of Alice Springs) – Existing rich lexical materials have not been made available – Warlpiri is the first language of a reasonable-sized group n Educational goals: usable by children and speakers

Kirrkirr: A Warlpiri dictionary browser (Jansz 1998; Jansz, Manning and Indurkhya 1999, etc.) n An environment for the interactive exploration of dictionaries, applicable to any dictionary n Data is stored in XML (conversion of source format) n Written in Java (JDK1.1 + Swing, so we can still support MacOS 9, used by schools, linguists) n Emphasis is on browsing and exploration n System provides learner supports, such as fuzzy spelling, word list n Recent work is on making English-Warlpiri dictionary automatically (something sought by many users)

(Kirrkirr screen shot)

Endangered language dictionaries (Corris, Manning, Poetsch, and Simpson 2001). Based on 79 people. n We’ve been testing both paper and electronic dictionary desires, use, and usability –competing goals: documentation dictionaries vs. maintenance/learning dictionaries (linguist vs. other user) –symbolic organization vs. practically useful organization –lack of understanding of dictionaries, and limited literacy can make paper dictionaries ineffective 45–60 minutes for 12 dictionary lookups… –lack of electricity makes e-dictionaries ineffective in some places (e.g., Indonesia – but OK in Australian schools) n E-dictionaries can solve many usability issues –font size, amount of info, ‘infinite’ space, easy lookup, sound

Interim Conclusions n Kirrkirr is a prototype of what one can do to develop new ways to organize and visualize lexicons n We have addressed the challenge of making dictionary information accessible and usable in the creation of an application which mediates between well-structured data and users’ needs and insights in searching/browsing and presentation n This allows us to provide at low cost greatly expanded functionality: – Turning an X-English dictionary into an English-X dictionary – Games and explorative exercises for children