FarsiSum is an attempt to create an automatic text summarization system for Persian. The system is implemented as a HTTP client/server application written in Perl. It uses modules implemented in an existing summarizer geared towards the Germanic languages, a Persian stop-list in Unicode format and a small set of heuristic rules.

A noteworthy feature of Yiddish present tense verbal inflection is that, unlike many other Germanic languages, Yiddish has virtually no irregular stem vowel changes. Whereas Middle High German (the source language for Yiddish verbal inflection1) had numerous subclasses of verbs with different patterns of present tense vowel alternations, Yiddish verbs have the same vowel for all persons and num...

This study investigates cross-language differences in pitch range and variation in four languages from two language groups: English and German (Germanic) and Bulgarian and Polish (Slavic). The analysis is based on large multi-speaker corpora (48 speakers for Polish, 60 for each of the other three languages). Linear mixed models were computed that include various distributional measures of pitch...

Abstract As is well-known, the Alps are a zone of long-standing, intensive contact and multilingualism among Germanic, Romance Slavic languages varieties. In this introductory paper, some reflections presented on viability Sprachbund hypothesis to encompass occurring phenomena convergence observed throughout whole area.

NPs occurring in canonical argumental positions) from a crosslinguistic point of view. It is proposed that languages may vary in what they let their NPs denote. In some languages (like Chinese), NPs are argumental (names of kinds) and can thus occur freely without determiner in argument position; in others they are predicates (Romance), and this prevents NPs from occurring as arguments, unless ...

Preposition Stranding (henceforth PS) is a syntactic construction that can be found across Germanic languages (Bolinger 1977, 1978). PS involves a non-canonical word order, in which a preposition and its object noun phrase (henceforth NP) are not adjacent, hence they appear to be “stranded”. PS includes three sub-types of constructions: pseudo-passives, relative clauses and wh-constructions (Ko...

Based on specific linguistic landmarks in the speech signal, this study investigates pitch level and pitch span differences in English, German, Bulgarian and Polish. The analysis is based on 22 speakers per language (11 males and 11 females). Linear mixed models were computed that include various linguistic measures of pitch level and span, revealing characteristic differences across languages ...