This book constitutes refereed proceedings from the First International Conference on Speech and Language Technologies for Low-resource Languages, SPELLL 2022, held in Kalavakkam, India, in November 2022. The 25 presented papers were thoroughly reviewed and selected from 70 submissions. The papers are organised in the following topical sections: ​language resources; language technologies; speech technologies; multimodal data analysis; fake news detection in low-resource languages (regional-fake); low resource cross-domain, cross-lingualand cross-modal offensie content analysis (LC4).

This book addresses state-of-the-art systems and achievements in various topics in the research field of speech and language technologies. Book chapters are organized in different sections covering diverse problems, which have to be solved in speech recognition and language understanding systems. In the first section machine translation systems based on large parallel corpora using rule-based and statistical-based translation methods are presented. The third chapter presents work on real time two way speech-to-speech translation systems. In the second section two papers explore the use of speech technologies in language learning. The third section presents a work on language modeling used for speech recognition. The chapters in section Text-to-speech systems and emotional speech describe corpus-based speech synthesis and highlight the importance of speech prosody in speech recognition. In the fifth section the problem of speaker diarization is addressed. The last section presents various topics in speech technology applications like audio-visual speech recognition and lip reading systems.

In our increasingly interconnected world, low-resource languages face the threat of oblivion. These linguistic gems, often spoken by marginalized communities, are at risk of fading away due to limited data and resources. The neglect of these languages not only erodes cultural diversity but also hinders effective communication, education, and social inclusion. Academics, practitioners, and policymakers grapple with the urgent need for a comprehensive solution to preserve and empower these vulnerable languages. Empowering Low-Resource Languages With NLP Solutions is a pioneering book that stands as the definitive answer to the pressing problem at hand. It tackles head-on the challenges that low-resource languages face in the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP). Through real-world case studies, expert insights, and a comprehensive array of topics, this book equips its readers—academics, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers—with the tools, strategies, and ethical considerations needed to address the crisis facing low-resource languages.

AUTOMATIC SPEECH RECOGNITION and TRANSLATION for LOW-RESOURCE LANGUAGES This book is a comprehensive exploration into the cutting-edge research, methodologies, and advancements in addressing the unique challenges associated with ASR and translation for low-resource languages. Automatic Speech Recognition and Translation for Low Resource Languages contains groundbreaking research from experts and researchers sharing innovative solutions that address language challenges in low-resource environments. The book begins by delving into the fundamental concepts of ASR and translation, providing readers with a solid foundation for understanding the subsequent chapters. It then explores the intricacies of low-resource languages, analyzing the factors that contribute to their challenges and the significance of developing tailored solutions to overcome them. The chapters encompass a wide range of topics, ranging from both the theoretical and practical aspects of ASR and translation for low-resource languages. The book discusses data augmentation techniques, transfer learning, and multilingual training approaches that leverage the power of existing linguistic resources to improve accuracy and performance. Additionally, it investigates the possibilities offered by unsupervised and semi-supervised learning, as well as the benefits of active learning and crowdsourcing in enriching the training data. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on the importance of considering the cultural and linguistic context of low-resource languages, recognizing the unique nuances and intricacies that influence accurate ASR and translation. Furthermore, the book explores the potential impact of these technologies in various domains, such as healthcare, education, and commerce, empowering individuals and communities by breaking down language barriers. Audience The book targets researchers and professionals in the fields of natural language processing, computational linguistics, and speech technology. It will also be of interest to engineers, linguists, and individuals in industries and organizations working on cross-lingual communication, accessibility, and global connectivity.

Throughout the last decade, the Baltic states have played an active role in regional and international language technology activities, supporting less-resourced languages in the digital age. This book presents the proceedings of the 7th International Conference: Human Language Technologies – The Baltic Perspective (Baltic HLT 2016), held in Riga, Latvia, in October 2016. Baltic HLT 2016 provided a forum for sharing ideas and recent advances in human language processing with a special focus on less-resourced languages. Papers selected for the conference cover a wide range of topics, including a general overview of language technology progress in the Baltic states, actual research topics in written and spoken language processing, the creation of language resources and their applications, and proposals for a European language platform. The book is divided into five sections: overview; speech technologies and corpora; machine translation; written language resources; and methods and tools for language processing. The book will be a useful resource, not only for Baltic language researchers, but also for those working with other less-resourced languages in Europe and beyond.

Natural Language Processing In Healthcare: A Special Focus on Low Resource Languages covers the theoretical and practical aspects as well as ethical and social implications of NLP in healthcare. It showcases the latest research and developments contributing to the rising awareness and importance of maintaining linguistic diversity. The book goes on to present current advances and scenarios based on solutions in healthcare and low resource languages and identifies the major challenges and opportunities that will impact NLP in clinical practice and health studies.