Text database and dictionary of Classical Maya

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The project text database and dictionary of Classical Maya (short: TWKM) serves to research the script and language of the pre- Hispanic Mayan culture . It was set up in 2014 by the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts as a position at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn . The long-term project planned for 15 years, which is headed by Nikolai Grube from the Department of Ancient American Studies at the University of Bonn, aims at the computer-aided epigraphic and cultural-historical processing of all Maya hieroglyphic texts, on the basis of which a database and a comprehensive dictionary of the classical Maya language is created and will be published.

Project subject

The text database as well as the dictionary compiled from it at the end of the project period are based on the available text carriers of the Mayan culture, which in the pre-Hispanic period (3rd century BC - 1500 AD) in the area of ​​today's states Mexico, Guatemala , Belize and Honduras were created. The thousands of surviving scripts, for example in the form of monuments, ceramics or everyday objects, reflect the vocabulary written in hieroglyphics. For the project, both the original spelling of the logo-syllabic Maya hieroglyphs and their transcription (transcription and transliteration in Latin letters) will be digitally reproduced. The data are also annotated with various epigraphic analyzes, translations and other object-specific context information.

Project partner

The creation and provision of the data and metadata as well as the publication of the research results are implemented using digital technologies. As a result, the project is methodically moved into the field of the digital humanities, the so-called digital humanities . The project is being carried out in cooperation with the project partners, the research association for eHumanities TextGrid and the University and State Library of Bonn . The digital work environment currently under construction, in which the data and metadata are created and annotated, will be implemented in the TextGrid Laboratory , a software of the virtual research environment . Another part of this software, the TextGrid repository , will make the data authorized for publication freely available on the web and ensure their long-term storage. The tools of the modular and expandable TextGrid-Lab for the workflow of data creation and annotation offer all possibilities to implement the typical epigraphic workflow of the research team. This usually begins with the documentation of the text carriers and the recording of descriptive data, continues with the various levels of the epigraphic, linguistic analysis and, at best, ends with the translation of the analyzed inscription and a publication on it. Through cooperation with the University and State Library of Bonn (ULB), selected data is also presented. The project's virtual inscription archive will present selected text carriers from the data published in the repository, together with a picture, brief information, epigraphic analysis and translation in the digital collections of the ULB on the web.

project goal

One of the goals of the project is to edit the dictionary of Classical Maya digitally and in a print version towards the end of the project period. Furthermore, a freely accessible database with a corpus of inscriptions, their translations and epigraphic analyzes are to be created. In addition, the database links all of its contextual object data ontology-like with the inscriptions and with each other, whereby a cultural-historical classification of all contents within the epochs of the Mayan culture can be made. The contents of the database are also linked to information on the relevant research literature. This means that a bibliography depicting the history of research as well as a knowledge base on the area of ​​ancient Mayan culture and writing will be made freely available to experts and interested parties. In addition, the Classical Maya script will be compiled and documented into an extensive linguistic corpus with the help of all the information gathered in its temporally localized language stages and in its spatially comprehensible varieties. In collaboration with all those involved in the project, the corpus data are to be used in order to be able to use a wide variety of comparable analyzes as well as computer linguistic e.g. B. inference-based methods to confirm the so far only partially secured readings of some hieroglyphs and finally to decipher the classical Mayan script in full.

literature

  • Katja Diederichs: The “Open Science” strategy in the project “Text database and dictionary of Classical Maya” - Working Paper 1, 2015, doi : 10.20376 / IDIOM-23665556.15.wp001.de
  • Petra Maier: The creation of a TEI metadata schema for the labeling of texts of the Classical Maya [electronic resource]. Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen, Göttingen 2015, ISSN of the template: 2198-4670, Persistent Identifier: urn: nbn: de: gbv: 7-dariah-2015-1-6 , ( PDF )
  • Christian Prager: The Text Database and Dictionary Project of Classical Maya. Opportunities and challenges of digital epigraphy. In: Heike Neuroth, Andrea Rapp, Sibylle Söring (eds.): TextGrid: From the community - for the community . Universitätsverlag Göttingen, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-86488-077-3 , pp. 105–125, doi : 10.3249 / webdoc-3947 ( PDF )
  • Nikolai Grube, Christian Prager, Katja Diederichs, Sven Gronemeyer, Elisabeth Wagner, Maximilian Brodhun, Franziska Diehr: "Milestone Report 2014-2016" - Project Report 4, 2017, doi : 10.20376 / IDIOM-23665556.17.pr004.de

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Project information on the website of the NRW AWK Project information on the website of the NRW Academy of Sciences and Arts. Retrieved March 31, 2015
  2. ↑ Project information under "Current projects" on the website of the Department of Ancient American Studies Project information on the website of the Department of Ancient American Studies at the University of Bonn. Retrieved March 31, 2015
  3. ↑ TextGrid Tools and Services ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. TextGrid website with tools and services. Retrieved March 31, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.textgrid.de
  4. ↑ The digital collections of the ULB Bonn on the web Web presence of the digital collections within the ULB Bonn website. Retrieved March 31, 2015