COMPUTING FACILITIES

The computer room of the Institute has housed an HITAC M-640/35 system, which is linked to the UNIX sub-system since March 1993. This computer system consists of a 64 MB memory, two disk units of a total 25 GB, four optical disk units and three magnetic tape-decks. TSS terminals can be used for inputting and three LASER-BEAM printers for outputting. Software has been developed which adapts these printers for printing the scripts of Asian and African languages in various font shapes and sizes. We have also installed a word-usage retrieval system, which is designed to process Asian and African languages in their original scripts without having to convert them into Latin alphabet or numerical forms. This system not only accepts the data in its original scripts, but can also print out word-usages from chosen corpora in their original scripts as well. This system is suitable for linguistic research and also has application in such fields as history and anthropology . Five graphic display terminals are also available, and future plans include the automatisation of teaching Asian and African languages, in the form of a CAI(Computer Assisted Instruction) system.
In 1993, this system was integrated into a LAN (Local Area Network) which covers the entire Institute; Institute members can tap into any system from their own personal computers, which are connected to the main-frame and sub-system. In 1994, this LAN was connected to TRAIN (Tokyo Regional Academic Inter Network), which is a part of the INTERNET.

LIBRARY


In order to facilitate inter-university joint research, the Institute library has been making every effort since its establishment in 1964 to collect materials and basic data indispensable for the study and research of languages and cultures of Asia and Africa. As of March 1996 library holdings totalled 85,020 volumes, 8,880 reels of microfilm, 27,686 sheets of microfiche, in addition to research reports and dissertations from the numerous overseas academic institutions with which the Institute has mutual exchange agreements.
The library possesses approximately 1,600 periodicals, besides a collection of national language textbooks ranging from the elementary to high school level published in Asian and African countries during the 1960s, a collection of Bibles written in different languages of the world, and a full collection of back numbers (including microfilm copies) of relevant academic journals published throughout the world. These include back numbers of the monthly Bengali literary journals published during the 19th and 20th centuries, such as, Bharati, Pantha, Sahitya, Janmabhumi, Bamabodhini Patrika, and 65 Iranian newspapers issued from the late 19th century to 1970, as well as a complete set of the Takvim-i Vekayi, 1831-1835 (Gazette of the Osman Empire) and Resmi Gazete, 1920-1983 (Gazette of the Republic of Turkey).
The holdings also include 1,950 Burmese books donated by the University of Yangon, and many other source materials written in the different native languages of East Asia, South-East Asia, South Asia, West Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Western Europe, East Europe, Russia and the Pacific region.
Another characteristic of the library is the personal collection of five prominent linguists and historians.
(1) YAMAMOTO Collection (acquired in 1967)
The collection of the late Professor Kengo YAMAMOTO (1920-65) of Atomi Gakuen College, which includes a large number of books relating to Manchurian and Tungus, covering the fields of linguistics, phonetics and Altaic studies (totalling 598 volumes in Japanese and European languages).
(2) ASAI Collection (acquired in 1970)
Academic works and dictionaries of Asian and African languages (totalling 870 volumes in Japanese and European languages and 18 sheets of manuscript) collected by the late Dr. Erin ASAI (1895-1969), a renowned scholar of Austronesian studies. The collection includes valuable materials on the languages of the Formosan ethnic groups, which Dr. ASAI brought back with him from Taiwan.
(3) KOBAYASHI Collection (acquired in 1976)
The personal collection of Professor Takashiro KOBAYASHI (1905-87), formerly of Yokohama National University, and a famous scholar of Mongolian history, which consists of 1,671 volumes in Japanese and European languages, covering the life, manners and customs of the Mongolian people.
(4) MAEJIMA Collection (acquired in 1986)
This collection consists of 1,272 books written in Japanese and Chinese, which the late Professor Shinji MAEJIMA (1903-83), one of the pioneers of Islamic studies in Japan, collected for the study of Oriental history, East-West cultural relations and other related topics.

PHONETICS LABORATORY
In the phonetics laboratory, various types of machines and instruments are employed in the study of sound materials collected in field studies. In order to record and examine the characteristics of the sounds and the articulation of speech sounds, the following machines for analyses are available: a sound-spectrograph, a pitch extractor and an electro-palatograph.
The sound-spectrograph attached to small computer makes frequency analyses of sound waves, extracts components of the sound wave at a certain time, and shows them as a particular pattern in black and grey colours on the screen. The pattern can be printed out on a special paper. The pattern may be obtained either on wide-band or narrow band. The wide-band pattern mainly shows the length and quality of each sound wave, while the narrow-band one shows the height of the fundamental frequency and its height change, as well as its length. Furthermore, this machine includes functions of FFT analysis as a certain time (i. e., setion analysis), LPC analysis (to estimate of the vocal tract transfer function) and so forth. The maximum recording time is about ten minutes (at 20KHz sampling) on the present computer system and the machines can analyse long time data like sentences. Furthermore, a part of the recorded sound wave can be deleted or a part of a different sound wave can be appended at any point of the originally recorded sound wave, and a new sound wave can be created with this machine.
The pitch extractor analyses the fundamental frequency and the degree of sound strength, and displays the result on the screen. This machine can select frequency ranges for input sounds (e. g., male, female and child sounds) and it enables us to obtain much more exact data on fundamental frequency than can be obtained by using the sound-spectrograph. The electro-palatograph is one of the devices for observing directly and recording the articulatory movements of the tongue. The artificial palate, which is embedded with 32 small electrodes, is attached to the speaker's hard palate. The 332 small lamps on the front surface of the machine indicate, by going on and off, how the tongue contacts with the electrodes at each point of time. The result is recorded on special paper. In addition, there are tape duplicators for copying tapes and a video tape editor. There are also various types of tape recorders and a sound-proof room for exact recording.
The speech and language library attached to the phonetics laboratory holds important recorded materials on languages, folk tales and folk music obtained through field studies. Recorded disks and tapes of various languages in the world are available for loan.

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