oralnu

Oralnu is a proposed data standard and toolkit for the collection, annotation, and preservation of oral language data, intended for use in field linguistics, sociolinguistics, and language documentation. The name combines 'oral' with a suffix intended to suggest novelty in organizing spoken-language data.

Core components of Oralnu include a data model for audio files, time-aligned transcripts, speaker labels, language codes, and licensing information; a transcription schema supporting multiple tiers (utterance, word, phoneme) and precise time stamps; and an API and file formats designed for long-term preservation and interoperability with other standards.

Development and status: The concept was proposed by researchers in the 2020s as a response to fragmentation among existing tools for transcription, annotation, and archival. While several prototype implementations exist, Oralnu has not achieved universal adoption and remains under discussion in linguistics and digital humanities communities.

Applications and impact: In practice, Oralnu aims to streamline data sharing, reproducibility, and reusability of oral-language resources. Potential benefits include improved discoverability, standardized licensing metadata, and easier cross-project analysis. Challenges include the complexity of the model, the learning curve for researchers, and alignment with existing archives and standards.

See also: Linguistic data formats, TEI, OLAC, and speech annotation.