autoPG: Docs script for crowdsourced pronunciation guides

Packet databases and other quizbowl sites, apps, or software should be discussed here.
Post Reply
aseem.keyal
Wakka
Posts: 125
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:01 pm

autoPG: Docs script for crowdsourced pronunciation guides

Post by aseem.keyal »

Here is the Github link for the project, and here is a video of it in action.

The idea is for the community to contribute to a public list of pronunciation guides, which can be applied by writers to their finished packets to reduce the time and duplicated work that comes along with the task. Ideally, the script would cover most of the guides needed, and the writers would add guides for the words the script missed. Once the set becomes clear, the writers could provide these PGs so that future writers would have a more robust data set.

As you can see, the code is currently very simple (although new features and bug fixes might complicate it somewhat), with the bulk of the work of the project coming from adding PGs. The current CSV file of guides is based on a list compiled by Matt Weiner, and will hopefully be amended with new pronunciation guides in the future.

Please let me know if you want to contribute to this project, or have feedback about its viability or usefulness. Thanks!

EDIT: It also just occurred to me that giving my script permission to look at the contents of unclear questions seems like it could have the potential for misuse. If you have any doubts about the security of the project, feel free to direct questions about the code to me or anyone else who can read Javascript.
Aseem Keyal
Berkeley '18
User avatar
i never see pigeons in wheeling
Rikku
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 3:57 am

Re: autoPG: Docs script for crowdsourced pronunciation guides

Post by i never see pigeons in wheeling »

This is great stuff! One question I had is how we as a community will hash out who gets to determine the crowdsourced pronunciation guides. I think that several extant pronunciation guides can be incorrect to the point of confusing players (I encounter this fairly frequently with Indian names, I'm sure you do as well). Maybe you could specifically pick people with intimate knowledge of how various things are pronounced (like a classicist for Greek words or a Chinese person for Chinese words) to contribute to the crowdsourcing? They, in turn, would be expected to make the PG easy enough for the average person to follow.
Ankit
Cal '16
Bellarmine College Preparatory '12
aseem.keyal
Wakka
Posts: 125
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:01 pm

Re: autoPG: Docs script for crowdsourced pronunciation guides

Post by aseem.keyal »

i never see pigeons in wheeling wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 4:42 pm This is great stuff! One question I had is how we as a community will hash out who gets to determine the crowdsourced pronunciation guides. I think that several extant pronunciation guides can be incorrect to the point of confusing players (I encounter this fairly frequently with Indian names, I'm sure you do as well). Maybe you could specifically pick people with intimate knowledge of how various things are pronounced (like a classicist for Greek words or a Chinese person for Chinese words) to contribute to the crowdsourcing? They, in turn, would be expected to make the PG easy enough for the average person to follow.
One of the first things on my todo list is to add a "Reviewer" column, which will have the name of the person who reviewed the guide for accuracy. This way, anyone can add PGs, but they'll only be included in the database upon review by someone with qualifications. I've been chatting with a couple people who are interested in this task, but I'm always interested in if more people want to contribute, there's over 3k words in the CSV file!

As someone who knows very little linguistics, I don't have a strongly developed position on moderator accessibility over player intelligibility, when those two factors come into conflict. I do think establishing a standard on that tradeoff would be a good idea, at least for contributions to this project.
Aseem Keyal
Berkeley '18
Post Reply