FOLKER
FOLKER is a transcription editor for transcription and annotation work in the FOLK research and teaching corpus, particularly work involving spoken German.
What FOLKER is
FOLKER is a transcription editor for transcription and annotation work in the FOLK research and teaching corpus, particularly work involving spoken German. It supports conversation-analytical transcription under cGAT conventions, for either minimal or basic transcripts. FOLKER is based on and interoperable with EXMARaLDA, and has been distributed as part of that system since April 2017. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and is free to download. The EXMARaLDA download page provides a Windows installer with a choice of tools, Linux packages, and Mac disk images for Apple Silicon and Intel; Intel Macs are not expected to be supported in future releases. The listed FOLKER release is version 1.3.3, dated December 29, 2025. For additional transcript work, the related tool OrthoNormal supports orthographic normalization, lemmatization, and part-of-speech tagging. Documentation includes a quick-start guide, video tutorial, user manual, and developer materials. Users with unanswered questions can consult the manual and contact EXMARaLDA support; the IDS also offers workshops at irregular intervals.
Good
- Free to download.
- Supports cGAT minimal or basic transcripts.
- Interoperable with EXMARaLDA.
- Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- Includes a quick-start guide and user manual.
Watch out
- Intel Mac support is not planned for future releases.
- Workshop availability is irregular.
Who it suits
FOLKER suits researchers and educators working with spoken German corpus material who need cGAT-style minimal or basic transcripts. It is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Verdict
FOLKER is a focused option for transcription and annotation in spoken German research and teaching corpus work. Its EXMARaLDA interoperability and documentation support that workflow, though Intel Mac users should note the stated support limitation.
Plans and prices
From FOLKER's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| FOLKER | Free | FOLKER is available as a download within the EXMARaLDA tools |
The facts
Each one read from FOLKER's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Current listed version
- The official releases page lists FOLKER version 1.3.3 among releases dated December 29, 2025.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Distribution
- FOLKER has been distributed as a component of EXMARaLDA since April 2017.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- The FOLKER page links a quick-start guide, a video tutorial, a user manual, and developer documentation for the data model and schema.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The maker describes FOLKER as a tool developed for research and teaching corpus work involving spoken German.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Interoperability
- FOLKER is based on and interoperable with the EXMARaLDA system.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- FOLKER is a transcription editor developed for transcription and annotation in the FOLK research and teaching corpus.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Related tool
- OrthoNormal supports orthographic normalization, lemmatization, and part-of-speech tagging of transcripts.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The FOLKER page advises users to consult the manual and contact EXMARaLDA support if their questions remain unanswered.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Training
- The IDS says it offers FOLKER workshops at irregular intervals and invites interested people to email [email protected].checked 4 Oct 2026
- Transcription
- FOLKER supports conversation analytical transcription following cGAT conventions as a minimal or basic transcript.checked 4 Oct 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 23 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Linux download
- The EXMARaLDA download page lists Linux packages, including a Debian package and a Java-integrated tarball.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Mac download
- The official download page provides FOLKER disk images for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and states that Intel Macs will not be supported in future releases.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Windows download
- The official EXMARaLDA download page provides a Windows installer and lets users choose which tools to install.checked 4 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker
- The linked imprint identifies the Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS) in Mannheim as the responsible institution for the site.checked 4 Oct 2026
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