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Implementing NLP-Projects for Small
Languages: Instructions for Funding Bodies,
Strategies for Developers
29
Oliver Streiter
This research starts from the assumption that the conditions under which ‘Small
Language’ Projects (SLPs) and ‘Big Language’ Projects (BLPs) are conducted are
different. These differences have far-reaching consequences that go beyond the
material conditions of projects. We will therefore try to identify strategies or
techniques that aim to handle these problems. A central idea we put forward is
pooling the resources to be developed with other similar Open Source resources. We
will elaborate the expected advantages of this approach, and suggest that it is of such
crucial importance that funding organisations should put it as condicio sine qua non
into the project contract.
1. Introduction: Small Language & ‘Big Language’ Projects - An Analysis of
their Differences
Implementing NLP-projects for Small Languages: Is this an issue that requires
special attention? Are Small Language Projects (SLPs) different from ‘Big Language’
Projects (BLPs)? What might happen if SLPs are handled in the same way as BLPs? What
are the risks? How can they be reduced? Can we formulate general guidelines so that
such projects might be conducted more safely? Although the processing of minority
languages and other Small Languages has been subject to a series of workshops, this
subject has been barely tackled as such. While most contributions discuss specific
achievements (e.g. an implementation or transfer of a technique from Big Languages
to Small Languages), only a few articles transcend to higher levels of reflection on
how Small Language Projects might be conducted in general.
In this contribution, we will compare SLPs and BLPs at the abstract schematic
level. This comparison reveals differences that affect, among other things, the status
of the researcher, the research paradigm to be chosen, the attractiveness of the
research for young researchers, as well as the persistence and availability of the
elaborated data - all to the disadvantage of Small Languages. We will advance one far-
reaching solution that overcomes some of these problems inherent to SLPs, that is,
to pool the developed resources with other similar Open Source resources and make