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Article published In: International Journal of Corpus Linguistics
Vol. 29:2 (2024) ► pp.213–257

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Advancing Sino-Philippine linguistics and sociolinguistics using the Lannang Corpus (LanCorp)

A multilingual, POS-tagged, and audio-textual databank

ORCiD logo with link | The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Published online: 26 October 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.22096.gon
Abstract
This paper introduces the Lannang Corpus (LanCorp), a public 375,000-word collection of raw and transcribed recordings of Lannang languages spoken in metropolitan Manila, which have been annotated with part-of-speech tags and linked to 40 types of sociolinguistic metadata. It begins by providing an overview of the LanCorp (e.g. design, formats, accessibility). Then, it goes on to show various examples of how the corpus can be used for variationist sociolinguistic research, using Lánnang-uè data as a case study. The findings from the exploratory studies indicate that Lannang languages are influenced by sociolinguistic factors, demonstrating the intricate nature of the Sino-Philippine sociolinguistic ecology. Due to its large size, sociolinguistic metadata, and various formats, LanCorp can be used to study Lannang languages in general and how they are used by specific social groups. It enables scholars to investigate multilingual interactions in a wide range of sociolinguistic factors, furthering the field of Sino-Philippine (socio)linguistics.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The Lannangs and language
    • 1.2The state of (socio)linguistic research in the Lannang and Sino-Philippine context
    • 1.3LanCorp as a solution
  • 2.Considerations in the creation of LanCorp
  • 3.Procedure
    • 3.1Collection
    • 3.2Transcription
    • 3.3Processing
  • 4.Corpus data distribution by selected factors
    • 4.1Style
    • 4.2Age groups
    • 4.3Sex
    • 4.4Religion
    • 4.5Language
  • 5.Metadata
  • 6.Format and accessibility
  • 7.LanCorp in action: Exploratory analyses
    • 7.1Variation in the first-person inclusive pronoun
    • 7.2Variation in conjunctions with adversative function: Tagalog-derived vs. Hokkien-derived
    • 7.3Variation in conjunctions of manner: Tagalog-derived vs. Hokkien-derived
    • 7.4Variation in Hokkien-derived conjunctions of manner: Khânân(g) vs. khâlân(g)
  • 8.Conclusion
  • References
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