Eckhard Bick - VISL

2.2.3.2 The inflexional endings lexicon
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inflexion base condition word class combination output
ending
condition rules
(alternation
condition)
iam - v A V COND 3P
iam er- v i V IMPF 3P
IND
o - v B V PR 1S IND
as o a ADJ F P
as o s f: N F P
eis il a TP ADJ M/F P
Inflexion ending is what the program cuts off the target word form, working
backwards from the last letter.
Base condition is what the inflexion ending has to be substituted with before
root search is undertaken. It is attached to the remaining word trunk, which then has
to match one or more lexicon root forms.
Word class condition is then used to filter these possible root forms.
Combination rules are 1-letter-markings for verb stem class, stress pattern
etc., that also appear with entries in the main lexicon. To match, the inflexion
endings combination rule marker has to be part of the "allowing" string of
combination rule markers in field 4 of the corresponding main lexicon root entry.
E.g., the inflexion ending '-o' demands 'B' class of the combining verb root, and
'along-' allows it. Thus, 'alongo' is - correctly - analysed as 'V PR 1S IND', with the
tag string taken from the field 5.
The Output field contains the tag string to be added to the active analysis line
if a root is found that obeys all the relevant combination conditions. For non-verb
word forms with a zero-morpheme-ending, the inflexion status is generated directly
by the program, since checking for whole word lexeme entries constitutes the first
step of inflexion analysis. Thus, if not marked otherwise, noun entries in the main
lexicon are all classified 'singular'. Similarly, adjectives in root entry form are
presented as 'male singular'.
In all, there are some 220 inflexion endings in the lexicon, differing very much
in frequency. Some verbal endings (2. person plural) almost never occur in Brazilian
Portuguese, and some irregular plural forms (like '-ães' for certain '-ão' nouns) are so
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