README.DOC
September 11, 1991
IT: interlinear text processor, version 1.1c
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When unzipping the file IT11C.ZIP, you should use the -d option
in order to preserve the subdirectory structure. If you didn't do
this, it might be best to delete all the files except IT11C.ZIP
and start over:
1. Make a directory called IT and place IT11C.ZIP in it.
2. Unzip the file using the -d option (unzip -d it11c).
3. Look at FILES.LST to see if you got everything right.
4. Add C:\IT (or whatever) to your MS-DOS PATH string.
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What is IT?
----------The IT ('eye-tee' for Interlinear Text) software has been
developed by the Summer Institute of Linguistics to give
linguists, literary scholars, translators, and anthropologists a
tool for developing a corpus of annotated interlinear text. The
centerpiece of IT is a program called itp--an interactive and
automated interlinear text processor. Itp insures consistency in
text analysis by retrieving interlinear word and morpheme
annotations from an on-line database of lexical information which
it maintains. The interlinear text file produced by itp is a
clean ASCII file which is accessible by other text processing
software for purposes such as concordancing, indexing, or display
formatting. In addition to itp, the IT package includes a
collection of other software tools which support the conversion
of conventional texts to interlinear text format and which
support the maintenance of the auxiliary lexical database files.
Many interlinear text processing systems support only a fixed,
two-line model of interlinear text. IT views text as a sequence
of text units, each of which contains a text line plus a
multidimensional set of annotations entered according to a model
provided by the analyst. In addition to word and morpheme level
annotations, the IT system supports freeform annotations of the
whole text unit, such as translations.
With IT you can start with a raw text like this:
Unuunua sulia tee wane si kada 'e kasia tee baru.
and produce an interlinear text like this:
\tx
\mr
\mg
Unuunua
sulia
tee wane si
kada
unu-unu
-a
suli -a
tee wane si
kada
RDP-tell.a.story-NMZR about-3s.O one man PARTV time
\tx
\mr
'e
'e
kasia
kasi -a
tee baru
tee baru
\mg
3s.G build-3s.O one canoe
\ft
The story about when a man built a canoe.
The \tx line contains the original text, the \mr line adds
morpheme breaks, and the \mg line provides morpheme glosses. The
\ft line is a freeform annotation for the free translation.
Program documentation
--------------------The definitive guide to using IT is:
HOW TO USE IT: A guide to interlinear text processing
by Gary F. Simons and Larry Versaw
Summer Institute of Linguistics
1988, 346 pages, ISBN 0-88312-735-0
(Out of print, revised edition in preparation)
More than just a user's manual, this volume explains dozens of
ways to apply the system in text analysis, with numerous examples
and references to the literature. The basic concepts underlying
the IT system and an overview of the entire software system are
clearly developed and illustrated. Using a cookbook analogy, the
book guides new users step by step through the mechanics of using
IT. A reference section documents file formats, program usage,
and all error messages. A glossary and index are included.
Status of the IT program
-----------------------IT version 1.0 for MS-DOS appeared in May 1987. Version 1.1c, the
last released update, appeared in June 1988. The book "How to use
IT" by Simons and Versaw is now out of print. Version 1.2 of the
software and the updated manual are in preparation. In the
meantime, we are making version 1.1c available to the general
academic community via public software archives such as SIMTEL20.
There is also a Macintosh version of IT. The data files used by
the MS-DOS and Macintosh versions are completely compatible. Mac
IT is sold under exclusive license by:
Linguist's Software
P.O. Box 580
Edmonds, WA 98020-0580
U.S.A.
phone: 206-775-1130
fax:
206-771-5911
Permission to use and copy this network version of IT 1.1c
----------------------------------------------------------
The IT software and documentation are copyrighted property of the
Summer Institute of Linguistics. Permission is hereby given for
anyone to use it on the understanding that the program is
provided on an "as is" basis and anyone using it does so entirely
at their own risk. This special network release of IT may be used
at no charge or obligation. Permission is hereby given to copy or
distribute this special network release of IT 1.1c provided that
(1) all the files listed in FILES.LST are included in unmodified
form and (2) it is distributed free of charge.
Getting started
--------------For documentation we have included three files (taken from the
book "How to use IT"):
TUTOR.DOC
PROGRAMS.DOC
FORMATS.DOC
a tutorial introduction to IT
reference guide to IT programs
reference guide to IT file format
(These are in plain ASCII format and can be directly printed
using the DOS Print command. The first file is paginated [with
formfeed characters and page headers]; the others are not.)
If you aren't sure how to install the IT software, follow the
instructions in the first section of TUTOR.DOC. The rest of the
tutorial gives step-by-step instructions for running the
interlinear text processor on a text from the Lau language of the
Solomon Islands.
In addition there is an on-line demo that allows you to enter a
short text of your choice and then annotate it. To run the demo,
execute the command "rap itdemo" (without the quotes of course).
We have also provided a glossed full-length text from the Sambal
language of the Philippines. Find the files that match the
pattern SAMBAL.* and execute the command "itp sambal" (without
the quotes of course).
Since you do not have the full IT documentation, we do not expect
that you will be able to exploit the full power of the software.
However, we hope that by using it at no cost you can determine if
IT is useful to you. If you want to be notified when version 1.2
and the updated manual become available, please let us know. I
(Evan Antworth) am willing to do a limited amount of user support
by e-mail or phone. For information on other SIL linguistic
software, see the file OPAC.BIB.
Evan Antworth
Academic Computing Department
Summer Institute of Linguistics
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Road
Dallas, TX
U.S.A.
Internet:
UUCP:
phone:
fax:
75236
evan@sil.org <------- new address as of September 1991
...!uunet!convex!txsil!evan
214/709-2418
214/709-3387