01 / DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Independently built
Let linguists study the language.
Let software handle the spreadsheet.
Accurate translation depends on understanding how a language communicates meaning. That means studying patterns across whole texts, not simply replacing individual words.
In 2021, while learning Tok Pisin in Madang, Papua New Guinea, I attended a discourse-analysis class. Students were working with an Excel-based tool from 2013. It was outdated, glitchy, difficult to use, and would not work on some participants’ computers. A demanding analytical process also required users to manage the spreadsheet itself.
I began building a prototype that week. It grew into Discourse Analysis, an offline desktop editor that brings text, translation, grammatical annotation, and labeled relationships into one workspace. It automates work analysts previously handled in Excel so they can concentrate on the language.
Inside the engineering
Different methods, one adaptable tool
Different grammatical frameworks and discourse types track different features. I built configurable grammar options, discourse-specific templates, and custom labels so analysts could adapt the application to their method rather than force every analysis into the same structure.
Interactions that protect the work
Analysts can reorder participants without rebuilding their annotations, work through cells with keyboard shortcuts, and draw, resize, move, and label relationships between passages. The application counts relation labels to help reveal recurring patterns.
Finding patterns and revisiting decisions
AND/OR filters let users combine conditions to examine matching rows. Autosave and saved drafts support an iterative process: an analyst can revisit an earlier interpretation and continue from it.
Designed through use and feedback
I use the application myself and develop around the analyst’s workflow. These examples are demonstrated in an earlier tutorial; development has continued since then. I continue to handle troubleshooting and feature requests from users internationally.