Transcripteur Documentation

Documentation is always a work in progress as it is only useful when users are actually able to benefit from it.

We have compiled here the information that we believe will be of practical use. If you find that something merits being included or discussed in more detail, contact us at info@sequencepublishing.com and we will adjust this document as appropriate.

Table of Contents

1. What is Transcripteur? [^]

Transcripteur has been designed to simplify the task of creating, maintaining, managing, and searching through collections of phonetic transcriptions.

2. System Requirements [^]

Transcripteur has been developed for the Windows 2000/NT/XP/Vista operating systems.

2.1 Installing [^]

Run the setup executable program and follow the instructions. Once installed, run Transcripteur from the Start menu, Desktop, Quick Launch bar, or directly from the installation folder.

2.2 Installing as Portable [^]

The installer provides the option of installing Transcripteur as a portable application so that it can be used from flash drives or similar devices.

Note that this option has been made available for convenience only. Transcripteur itself does not use the registry nor is it dependent on specific system resources. A "Standard" install, followed by a copy of the entire installation folder to a flash drive, will make Transcripteur portable and it will function as expected. Naturally, uninstall information will remain in the original computer and, thus, it is recommended that the "Make Application Portable" option is used in the intallation procedure if that is what is intended.

2.3 Uninstalling [^]

Run the uninstall utility provided (via the Start menu) or through the 'Add/Remove Programs' applet.

If Transcripteur is installed as a portable application, simply remove the directory where Transcripteur was installed.

3. Graphical User Interface [^]

Transcripteur has been designed with simplicity of use in mind, striving to be as intuitive as possible. The left side features a collapsable navigation control that can be resized as needed. The right side shows the work area where the transcription list can be manipulated.

Across the top, four green buttons provide (from left to right) access to Transcripteur's documentation, contact/license information, send Transcripteur to the System Tray, and make Transcripteur the top-most window.

The navigation control contains 5 panels that will be discussed shortly. The control itself features a snapper bar (left side) that expands/hides the control and a resize bar (right side) that can be dragged to adjust the size of the control. Further, clicking on the bottom and top tips of the resize bar have the same effect as the snapper bar.

Run as many instances of Transcripteur as necessary when working with multiple transcription lists. Data can be copied to and from each list via CTRL-C, CTRL-V, and CTRL-X shortcut keys. Entries can be deleted by selecting relevant rows and pressing the delete key. Blank rows can be inserted by pressing the insert key.

3.1 Button Panel [^]

The Button Panel contains six buttons. From left to right, create a new transcription list, open an existing transcription list, save the working transcription list, save the working transcription list with a new filename, attach and view additional information (author, dialect, notes) in the working transcription list, and export the working transcription list as an HTML file (automatically displayed using the default browser).

For information and examples regarding the HTML export feature, please see [Section 5.2 Exporting to HTML].

3.2 Application Settings Panel [^]

The Application Settings Panel is shown below. The "Font" combobox makes it possible to chose any of the six fonts as explained in [Section 4 Phonetic Input].

If "Allow sorting in the transcription list" is checked, the headers "Orthographic" and "Phonetic" can be employed to sort the list alphabetically (ascending and descending). Note that phonetic sorting follows SAMPA and results may be unexpected.

Transcripteur resolves clipboard formating automatically (SAMPA or UNICODE). Note that each orthographic/phonetic pair is (must be) followed by a new line character <\n>. When the "SAMPA format in clipboard" is checked, copy/cut operations place pairs using SAMPA for the transcription pole of the pair.

Information tooltips, such as the one shown above, can be toggled on/off in the Application Settings Panel. Their goal is to help familiarize users with the interface and it is recommended these are kept on while first using Transcripteur.

3.3 Phonetic Search Panel [^]

Transcripteur makes it possible to carry out relatively sophisticated pattern searches of the phonetic pole of the working transcription list. Results are displayed by means of tabs, each label showing the pattern employed. Tabs can be closed by right and middle clicking on them. Note that clicking on any of the orthographic/phonetic pairs in the result lists, will scroll the working transcription list to the appropriate corresponding pair (if available).

Transcripteur checks for the validity of a pattern before conducting a search and, therefore, understanding the syntax of patterns is important. Wilcard patterns can contain the following elements in addition to phonetic characters/symbols:

Wildcard	Description
*	Matches any number of (including none) consonant and vowel symbols.
?	Matches any one consonant or vowel symbol.
$	Matches any one consonant symbol.
#	Matches any one vowel symbol.
(ŋɛθə)	Matches any one of the symbols inside the parenthesis ('ŋ', 'ɛ', 'θ', or 'ə', in this example).
(?-ŋɛθə)	Matches any one consonant or vowel symbol except those listed ('ŋ', 'ɛ', 'θ', or 'ə', in this example).
($-ŋθ)	Matches any one consonant symbol except those listed ('ŋ' and 'θ', in this example).
(#-ɛə)	Matches any one vowel except symbol those listed ('ɛ' and 'ə', in this example).
.	Matches a syllable boundary marker.
ˈ	Matches a primary stress marker.
ˌ	Matches a secondary stress marker.

Examples of valid (and possibly useful) search patterns are provided in [Section 4.2 Examples of Wildcard Patterns].

3.4 Orthographic Search Panel [^]

Orthographic searches are limited to the wildcards * (any number of characters, including none) and ? (exactly one character). The reason is that the orthographic pole of the transcription pair can use any alphabet available in UNICODE (Thai, Hebrew, Arabic, etc). Thus, consonant and vowel wildcards are not used because they would, for example, render syllabic alphabets such as the Japanese hiragana and katakana unsearchable.

Naturally, neither syllable nor stress markers apply. Orthgraphic searches only apply to the orthographic pole of the working transcription list.

The entry field labeled "As you type:" dynamically scrolls the working transcription list to the first orthographic entry that starts with whatever characters are typed. If no match is found, no scrolling takes place.

3.5 SAMPA Key Mappings Panel [^]

The SAMPA encoding used by Transcriteur is available below in [Section 4.1 SAMPA Encoding]. For convenience, it is also available as a navigation panel, as shown below.

Further, when typing in a phonetic transcription, right-click invokes a menu that, in addition to clipboard and select operations, directly appends to the transcription the vowel, consonant, and marker of choice.

Note that the SAMPA Key Mappings Panel will not insert phonetic symbols into the transcription. It is purely informative.

4. Phonetic Input [^]

Transcripteur makes use of previously installed fonts that contain phonetic gliphs. In particular, any one of the following fonts needs to be installed in the target system for Transcripteur to work: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode, Charis SIL, Doulos SIL, Thryomanes, Gentium. The first two are generally installed on all Windows OS's. However, if it is the case that none of these fonts are found, Transcripteur will report the problem and exit.

All six fonts can be downloaded, free of charge, from the internet. They are free for personal use but may be restricted for other uses (check the respective licenses if relevant). For your convenience, we supply here links to their location but, be warned, the fleeting nature of internet content may render these links obsolete at any moment:

• Arial Unicode MS can be found here.
• Lucida Sans Unicode can be found here.
• Charis SIL can be found here.
• Doulos SIL can be found here.
• Thryomanes can be found here.
• Gentium can be found here.

Assuming several fonts are installed, switching between fonts can be done at any moment via the [Application Settings Panel].

Note, again, that Transcripteur makes it possible to type phonetic characters directly into the transcription list in accordance with the [SAMPA encoding].

4.1 SAMPA Encoding [^]

Transcripteur uses the SAMPA encoding to input phonetic characters. That is, typing 'E' will display 'ɛ', typing '@' will display 'ə', typing '{' will display 'æ', typing 'D' will display 'ð', typing 'N' will display 'ŋ', and so on.

The following table has been adapted from the the SAMPA page.

Keyboard	Symbol	Description
Vowels
A	ɑ	Open back unrounded, Cardinal 5, Eng. start
{	æ	Near-open front unrounded, Eng. trap
6	ɐ	Open schwa, Ger. besser
Q	ɒ	Open back rounded, Eng. lot
E	ɛ	Open-mid front unrounded, C3, Fr. même
@	ə	Schwa, Eng. banana
3	ɜ	Long mid central, Eng. nurse
I	ɪ	Lax close front unrounded, Eng. kit
O	ɔ	Open-mid back rounded, Eng. thought
2	ø	Close-mid front rounded, Fr. deux
9	œ	Open-mid front rounded, Fr. neuf
&	ɶ	Open front rounded
U	ʊ	Lax close back rounded, Eng. foot
}	ʉ	Close central rounded, Swedish sju
V	ʌ	Open-mid back unrounded, Eng. strut
Y	ʏ	Lax [y], Ger. hübsch
Consonants
B	β	Voiced bilabial fricative, Sp. cabo
C	ç	Voiceless palatal fricative, Ger. ich
D	ð	Voiced dental fricative, Eng. then
G	ɣ	Voiced velar fricative, Sp. fuego
L	ʎ	Palatal lateral, It. famiglia
J	ɲ	Palatal nasal, Sp. año
N	ŋ	Velar nasal, Eng. thing
R	ʁ	Vd. uvular fric. or trill, Fr. roi
S	ʃ	Voiceless palatoalveolar fricative, Eng. ship
T	θ	Voiceless dental fricative, Eng. thin
H	ɥ	Labial-palatal semivowel, Fr. huit
Z	ʒ	Vd. palatoalveolar fric., Eng. measure
Length and Stress
:	ː	Length mark
"	ˈ	Primary stress
%	ˌ	Secondary stress

Note that, in order to view phonetic characters, any ONE of the following fonts needs to be installed in your system: Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode, Charis SIL, Doulos SIL, Thryomanes, Gentium.

4.2 Examples of Wildcard Patterns [^]

The following examples are meant to illustrate phonetic search patterns.

Pattern	Description	Would match words like
p#t	Words that start with /p/, end with /t/, and have any single vowel as nucleus.	pet, pot, put.
$?#?#	Words of exactly five phonemes in length that start with a consonant, followed by a vowel or consonant, followed by a vowel, followed by a vowel or consonant, and end in a vowel.	baby, beauty, daily.
*##$##*	Words that contain the sequence vowel-vowel-consonant-vowel-vowel in any position.	association, daylight, highway.
(pb)(#-əæ)(td)	Words that start with either /p/ or /b/, end with either /t/ or /d/, and have any single vowel as nucleus except /ə/ and /æ/.	beat, bed, put.
*ðo*	Words that contain the sequence /ðo/ in any position.	although, though, without.
ə*ə(rn)	Words that start with schwa and end with schwa plus either /r/ or /n/.	adoption, opinion, upper.
str*(tθ)	Words that start with 'str' and end with either /t/ or /θ/.	straight, street, strict.
ɔ(lf)*(?-r)	Words of at least three phonemes in length that start with /ɔ/ followed by either /l/ or /f/ and end with any single consonant or vowel except /r/.	almost, already, office.
*dʒ##*	Words that contain, in any position, the sequence /dʒ/ followed by at least two vowels.	joint, joke, rejoice.
(?-pbtdkg)#(ɪʊ)*(nl)d	Words of at least five phonemes in length that start with any vowel or consonant except /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/ followed by any vowel pairing with either /ɪ/ or /ʊ/, and end in either /n/ or /l/ pairing with a /d/.	find, hold, round.
*əm.	Monosyllabic (note the closing period) words that end in schwa plus /m/.	come, some, thumb.
*.ɛ*	Disyllabic words whose second syllabe starts with /ɛ/.	except, excess, weekend.
*.???.*d	Trisyllabic words whose second syllable has exactly three phonemes and whose third syllable ends in /d/.	motherhood, neighborhood, understand.
*.*.*.(nm)*	Tetrasyllabic words whose last syllable starts with either /n/ or /m/.	ceremony, experiment.
*.*.*.*.ʃɪn	Pentasyllabic words whose last syllable is /ʃɪn/.	association, dissatisfaction, multiplication.
*.(mn)#$.*	Trisyllabic words whose second syllable is exactly three phonemes in length, the first either /m/ or /n/, the second any one vowel, and the third any one consonant.	businessman, commercial, honesty.
ˈ*.m*l	Disyllabic words stressed on the first syllable and whose second syllable starts with /m/ and ends in /l/.	female, formal.
ə$.ˈ*	Disyllabic words stressed on the second syllable and whose first syllable starts with a schwa followed by a consonant.	admire, employ, observe.
ˈ#*.$#$.ˌ*	Trisyllabic words whose first syllable receives primary stress and starts with a vowel, whose second syllable is a consonant-vowel-consonant sequence, and whose last syllable receives secondary stress.	advertise, otherwise, uppermost.
*#.ˈ*#.*#	Trisyllabic words stressed on the second syllable and whose three syllables end in empty codas.	committee, tobacco, tomorrow.
ˌ$#.*.ˈ$#.*	Tetrasyllabic words whose first syllable receives secondary stress and is composed of a consonant followed by a vowel, and whose third syllable receives primary stress and is composed of a consonant followed by a vowel.	politician, recognition, repetition.
*.ˈ*.*.ˌ*.*	Pentasyllabic words whose second syllable receives primary stress and whose fourth syllable receives secondary stress.	congratulation, extraordinary, imaginative.

Note that, as mentioned in the example [*əm.], a search pattern that contains no syllable markers but that is followed by one, returns only monosyllabic words.

5. File Formats [^]

Transcripteur reads and writes files in both ASCII and UNICODE format.

5.1 Transcripteur files [^]

Transcripteur operates with text files where each row contains two elements separated by a '|' (vertical bar). The first element is the orthographic description and, the second, a series of characters corresponding to SAMPA-encoded phonetic descriptions. Therefore, any file that respects such a layout will be loaded without a problem by Transcripteur.

Files created with Transcripteur can specify the dialect employed as well as the author information. A notes field is also provided for additinal comments. The Details dialog can be invoked via the [Button Panel].

As we use transcription lists in several of our programs (analysis, reference, etc), we have developed a simple set of conventions to ensure compatibility.

• Phonetic variations are separated by a '|' (vertical bar).
• Part-of-speech information is tagged according to the following schema:
  - [a] adjective
  - [c] conjunction
  - [d] determiner
  - [n] noun
  - [o] pronoun
  - [p] preposition
  - [r] adverb
  - [v] verb
  

You are not required to conform to these guidelines but doing so will ensure that the feature [Export to HTML] benefits from every available functionality.

5.2 Exporting to HTML [^]

Perusing transcription files can be trying for those without expert command of the SAMPA encoding. For convenience, Transcripteur can generate a file in HTML format by simply clicking on the right-most button in the [Button Panel].

• Click here to see an example a transcription list that includes part of speech markers and alternations.
• Click here to see an example a transcription list that includes several languages.

6. Updates and Contact [^]

The development phase of Transcripteur project has ended as all objectives have been accomplished and no additional functionality is planned for this project. Updates will be made available only if enhancements can be found for the algorithms employed or bugs are reported.

We value feedback. Please, contact us at info@sequencepublishing.com with any comments, bug reports, etc.

Visit www.SequencePublishing.com for up-to-date information regarding Transcripteur.

Feedback Form

We value feedback. Feel free to contact us via the form below (or send us an email if you prefer) with comments and questions.

Name: Email: Comments:

7. License Agreement [^]

READ CAREFULLY ALL TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT BEFORE USING THIS SOFTWARE

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT, YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE THIS SOFTWARE

Permission is hereby granted to anyone to freely use Transcripteur (hereafter referred to as 'this software') for any purpose with the exception of including it in a product, in which case both permission and acknowledgment are required.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the software and documentation are provided "as is". Franc Morales and Leah Gilner (hereafter referred to as 'the authors') disclaim all other warranties and conditions, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, conformance with description, title and non-infringement of third party rights. In no event shall the authors be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages or lost profits whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use or inability to use the software product, even if the authors have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The authors allow you to distribute this software if all of the following conditions are met: you are not charging any money for it, the distribution files are kept together and unmodified, and the authors' permission is obtained before distribution. You may give this software package to friends or colleagues, burn it onto cd-rom's (or other media) and upload it to free/shareware sites as long as the original package remains unmodified.

All rights to this software (including any images or text incorporated into this software) are owned by the authors.

You may not disassemble or reverse engineer any part of this software.

You may not rent or lease this software.

The authors are not required to make available technical support for this software. The authors may, from time to time, revise or update this software. In so doing, the authors incur no obligation to furnish such revision or updates to you.

This license agreement will immediately and automatically terminate without notice if you fail to comply with any one of the terms and conditions cited. Upon termination of this license agreement, you agree to promptly remove the software from your system.

Transcripteur.
Copyright 2001-2007 by Franc Morales and Leah Gilner.
All rights reserved.