Abstract: In the present article we will discuss the experience of creating software for the typological database “Languages of the World”. The DB “Languages of the World” is one of the biggest typological computer resources. We have done a review of the software connected with the DB “Languages of the World”. The following questions are discussed: compatibility of the versions, choice of the best structure of the data, development of the content in newer versions of the DB, creation of bilingual version, correct citing. The main lessons learnt from the project by the workgroup, are: Long development and creation of different versions of the product during its life cycle (over 20 years), providing its livability against the background of changing of operational systems and paradigms of programming makes us seriously think about a technology of providing for compatibility between different versions of the product, documenting of the code, preserving the key participants of the workgroup. The structure of the DB is a secondary moment in the relation to the content. In the end, choice of a certain structure of data presentation in a certain realization of the product is a question of comfortable programming. Besides, choice of the structure of the data is in many situation defined by the environment of data storage, dates and budget of the product. Planning a long life cycle of a linguistic resource for scientific purposes must foresee tools of fixation and archiving the inevitable changes of the content. Lack of such tools or links to the contents without invariant binding lowers the quality and the value of the received scientific results. The creation of the bilingual version of the product demanded thorough elaboration of the terminological part of the DB, as well as linkage of the languages to the international system of coding. Along with it, the specificity of Russian scientific linguistic school and a more detailed description of the languages of Eurasia in the DB “Languages of the World” did not allow us to withdraw these contradictions completely. The main scientific results received for the past 5 years with the use of the DB, are enumerated. The perspectives of its future development and use are studied.

Keywords: language typology, linguistic database

Link:

THE EXPERIENCE OF DEVELOPING SOFTWARE FOR TYPOLOGICAL DATABASES (ON THE EXAMPLE OF DB “LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD”)

Vladimir Polyakov

http://www.foibg.com/ijitk/ijitk-vol04/ijitk04-3-p05.pdf