Asheninka is a powerful linguistic tool designed to help researchers and language enthusiasts explore various syllabification algorithms and insert discretionary hyphens in word lists for typesetting text. Using Asheninka can be an engaging process, much like playing a game. By setting up your project correctly and following a series of steps, you can achieve optimal results in both linguistic research and practical applications.

Steps

Install Asheninka

Follow steps on How to Install Asheninka

Setting Up Your Project

Setting up your project in Asheninka is like preparing the board for a game. You’ll need to ensure all the elements are in place before you start.

1. Create a New Project
   • Open Asheninka and go to File > New to create a new project.
   • If you have an existing project similar to your new one, you can use File > Save As to duplicate it.
2. Set Font and Sort Order
   • Navigate to Settings to configure the font and sort order for both the vernacular and analysis languages.
3. Check Segment Inventory
   • Ensure the Segment Inventory includes all the segments in your orthography. Add necessary environments for graphemes within segments.
   • For the Onset-Nucleus-Coda approach, check the appropriate boxes for each segment.
4. Assign Natural Classes or Sonority Hierarchy
   • Place each segment in a natural class for the CV pattern approach or within the sonority hierarchy for other approaches.
5. Create CV Syllable Patterns
   • Define CV Syllable Patterns that reflect the syllable structure of the language, including vowel-initial syllables if applicable.
6. Set Syllabification Parameters
   • Configure the parameters needed for your chosen syllabification approach.
7. Write Rules for Nuclear Projection Approach
   • If using the Nuclear Projection approach, write the necessary syllabification rules.
8. Create Constraints for Optimality Theory
   • For the Optimality Theory approach, develop and rank the constraints.
9. Import or Enter Words
   • Import a list of words or enter them manually.
10. Back Up Your Project
    • Regularly back up your project using File > Project Management > Back up this project.

Playing the Game

Now that your project is set up, it’s time to “play the game” by parsing and analyzing your word list.

1. Parse All Words
   • Use Parser > Parse all Words to syllabify the words in the current view.
2. Review Results
   • Sort by the Parser Result column to identify words that failed to parse correctly.
   • Make frequent labeled backups to preserve progress.
3. Adjust and Retry
   • If a word doesn’t parse as expected, adjust segments, syllable patterns, or parameters. Re-parse and evaluate the changes.
   • Restore from backups if necessary.

Additional Tools and Tips

To enhance your gameplay, use the following tools and tips to refine your project further.

1. Compare Implementations
   • Use Tools > Compare Implementations to compare different project states and identify changes.
2. Test Individual Words
   • Use Parser > Try a Word to test specific words and troubleshoot parsing issues.
3. Find Patterns
   • Utilize Tools > Find Word and other filters to detect patterns and understand data better.
4. Manual Corrections
   • Use the Predicted vs. Correct view to identify and manually correct problematic words. Not all words need perfect parsing, especially loan words or misspellings.
5. Set Correct Syllabification
   • Use Tools > Predicted to correct syllabification before exporting results for more efficient processing.

By following these steps, you can effectively use Asheninka to explore syllabification algorithms and prepare word lists for typesetting with accurate hyphenation. For more detailed information, refer to the User Documentation within the program under Help > User Documentation.

For further assistance, contact us at asheninka_support@sil.org. Enjoy playing and learning with Asheninka!