May 24, 2012
Media tips & leads
New Language App Means More Than Word
For thousands of years, Aboriginal words have been passed along orally from generation to generation. Now, in this era of tweets and touch screens, there is a rich and growing cache of talking dictionaries and the University of Victoria, along with the Tlicho Community Services Agency (TCSA), has just launched the Yati Dictionary App for the Tlicho language.
Yati means “word” or “language.” Tlicho is one of the Dene languages of the Northwest Territories. The app contains over 1,300 words and phrases with sounds, pictures and more and is intended for people who know the language well and for language learners. Users can compare their voices to professional studio recordings of elders and others speaking the language.
Senior Tlicho language coordinator and current UVic student Rosa Mantla says the app "moves us toward the future in promoting our language. It is like an elder talking to us.” Current UVic student and TCSA language coordinator Tammy Steinwand-Deschambeault worked closely with Dr. Leslie Saxon and programmer Chris Coey of Uvic’s linguistics department in developing the app.
Version 1.0 of the app was released by iTunes on May 18 and can be downloaded for free on iPod, iPad or iPhone: http://bit.ly/JfREt3. The database of words comes from the online Tlicho dictionary (http://tlicho.ling.uvic.ca), which the app co-developers have been researching and supplementing for close to 10 years.
The UVic linguistics department is publishing high-tech language tools in collaboration with communities. “The key element of our academic and technological innovations has been the community initiative,” says department chair Dr. John Esling. “It’s a long history of interwoven collaboration.”
In July 2012, the linguistics department will welcome Dr. Peter Jacobs of the Squamish Nation as an assistant professor specializing in Indigenous language revitalization. He’ll be teaching in UVic’s new master’s program: http://bit.ly/JAb95P.
—30—
Dr. Leslie Saxon (Department of Linguistics) at saxon@uvic.ca
Saxon is in Waterloo attending Congress 2012 in the humanities and social sciences and is best reached by email to set-up interviews until June 5.
Tara Sharpe (UVic Communications) at 250-721-6248 or tksharpe@uvic.ca
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uvicnews
Deep-Sea Expedition To Install Tsunami "Antenna"
The first NEPTUNE Canada ocean expedition of 2012 is preparing to cast off from Esquimalt on Sunday, May 27 aboard the 274-ft. research vessel, Thomas G. Thompson. A major highlight of the month-long operations “cruise” is the installation of a deep-sea tsunami “antenna”—the first of its kind in the world. The star-shaped array of four ultra-sensitive bottom-pressure recorders will be positioned at the ends of new 25-km arms of powered fibre optic cable, and will provide real-time data to Canadian scientists and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Network. "By allowing researchers to refine models of how tsunami waves approach our coast, this new technology will provide early warning information that will potentially protect lives and property,” says Dr. Kate Moran, director of NEPTUNE Canada.
During the cruise, scientists and engineers will also install new technology to monitor increasingly low oxygen levels that may severely affect fisheries and aquaculture, and the Vertical Profiler System, a suite of instruments to help scientists better understand the complex biology and chemistry of the ocean. To view live video streams of deep-sea dives, as well as live updates and visual highlights, visit the new expedition website, “Wiring the Abyss 2012,” at http://www.neptunecanada.ca/cruise12/
NEPTUNE Canada is managed by Ocean Networks Canada for a consortium led by the University of Victoria. Along with its coastal sister network, VENUS, it pioneers a new generation of ocean observation systems that, using power and the Internet, provides continuous, long-term monitoring of ocean processes and events, as they happen.
—30—
Members of the news media are invited to the Esquimalt Graving Dock on Saturday, May 26, from 10 a.m. to noon, to see deep-sea equipment being loaded via crane onto the ship. Members of the NEPTUNE Canada team will be on hand for interviews. Pre-registration is required. To register, please call Leslie Elliott (NEPTUNE Canada communications) at 250-516-1246 by 1 p.m., Friday, May 25.
High-res photographs of cruise preparation including the tsunami array are available at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neptunecanada/collections/72157629990886797/
Media Contacts:
Dr. Kate Moran (NEPTUNE Canada) at 250-472-5400 or kmoran@uvic.ca
Dr. Kim Juniper (NEPTUNE Canada) at 250-472-5400 or kjuniper@uvic.ca
Before May 27: Leslie Elliott (NEPTUNE Canada communications) at ellliottl@uvic.ca or 250-516-1246 (cell)
After May 27: Virginia Keast (ONC communications) at 250-216-7510 (cell) or vkeast@uvic.ca
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uvicnews
