Learn how to use Python for linguistics and digital humanities research, perfect for students working with Python for the first time Python programming is no longer only for computer science students; it is now an essential skill in linguistics, the digital humanities (DH), and social science programs that involve text analytics. Python Programming for Linguistics and Digital Humanities provides a comprehensive introduction to this widely used programming language, offering guidance on using Python to perform various processing and analysis techniques on text. Assuming no prior knowledge of programming, this student-friendly guide covers essential topics and concepts such as installing Python, using the command line, working with strings, writing modular code, designing a simple graphical user interface (GUI), annotating language data in XML and TEI, creating basic visualizations, and more. This invaluable text explains the basic tools students will need to perform their own research projects and tackle various data analysis problems. Throughout the book, hands-on exercises provide students with the opportunity to apply concepts to particular questions or projects in processing textual data and solving language-related issues. Each chapter concludes with a detailed discussion of the code applied, possible alternatives, and potential pitfalls or error messages. Teaches students how to use Python to tackle the types of problems they will encounter in linguistics and the digital humanities Features numerous practical examples of language analysis, gradually moving from simple concepts and programs to more complex projects Describes how to build a variety of data visualizations, such as frequency plots and word clouds Focuses on the text processing applications of Python, including creating word and frequency lists, recognizing linguistic patterns, and processing words for morphological analysis Includes access to a companion website with all Python programs produced in the chapter exercises and additional Python programming resources Python Programming for Linguistics and Digital Humanities: Applications for Text-Focused Fields is a must-have resource for students pursuing text-based research in the humanities, the social sciences, and all subfields of linguistics, particularly computational linguistics and corpus linguistics.

A gentle introduction to programming for students and researchers interested in conducting computer-based analysis in linguistics, this book is an ideal starting point for linguists approaching programming for the first time. Assuming no background knowledge of programming, the author introduces basic notions and techniques needed for linguistics programming and helps readers to develop their understanding of electronic texts. The book includes many examples based on diverse topics in linguistics in order to demonstrate the applicability of the concepts at the heart of programming. Practical examples are designed to help the reader to: *Identify basic issues in handling language data, including Unicode processing *Conduct simple analyses in morphology/morphosyntax, and phonotactics *Understanding techniques for matching linguistic patterns *Learn to convert data into formats and data structures suitable for linguistic analysis *Create frequency lists from corpus materials to gather basic descriptive statistics on texts *Understand, obtain and 'clean up' web-based data *Design graphical user interfaces for writing more efficient and easy-to-use analysis tools. Two different types of exercise help readers to either learn to interpret and understand illustrative sample code, or to develop algorithmic thinking and solution strategies through turning a series of instructions into sample programs. Readers will be equipped with the necessary tools for designing their own extended projects. Key Features: *Ideal introduction for students of linguistics attempting to process corpus materials or literary texts for dissertations, theses or advanced research work *Linguistic examples throughout the text clearly demonstrate the application of programming theory and techniques *Coverage ranging from basic to more complex topics and methodologies enables the reader to progress at their own pace *Two chapters on the advantages of modularity and associated issues provide a basis for more advanced projects *A final main chapter introduces graphical user interfaces, providing a basis for user-friendly programs and multi-lingual analysis.