A-rule
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;The symbol “^” is used for negation (“^MCL” means “not MCL”): | ;The symbol “^” is used for negation (“^MCL” means “not MCL”): | ||
:NOU&^MCL:=”x”:”y”; (If NOU and not MCL then replace “x” by “y”) | :NOU&^MCL:=”x”:”y”; (If NOU and not MCL then replace “x” by “y”) | ||
| − | ;“<<” and “>>” add blank spaces | + | ;“<<” and “>>” add blank spaces<ref>This feature is not supported by the UNL<sup>dev</sup> and it is automatically replaced, in the UNL<sup>arium</sup>, by a blank space. |
:X:=”a”<<”b” (“bc” becomes “a bc” and not “abc”) | :X:=”a”<<”b” (“bc” becomes “a bc” and not “abc”) | ||
Revision as of 16:18, 11 February 2010
A-rule (affixation rule) is the formalism used for generating affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes) in the UNLarium framework.
Contents |
When to use a-rules
A-rules are used for prefixation, suffixation and infixation, i.e., for adding morphemes to a given base form. They are used for generating inflections (such as "book">"books", "love">"loved") or derivations (such as "dress">"undress", "write">"writer").
When not to use a-rules
A-rules are not to be used for composition (i.e., to form new words by combining or putting together old words), as in "give">"give in", "go">"have gone" or "man">"fireman"). This should be treated by c-rules.
Types of a-rules
There are two types of a-rules:
- simple a-rules involve a single action (such as prefixation, suffixation, infixation and replacement); and
- complex a-rules involve more than one action (such as circumfixation).
Simple a-rules
There are four types of simple a-rules:
- prefixation, for adding morphemes at the beginning of a base form
- suffixation, for adding morphemes at the end of a base form
- infixation, for adding morphemes to the middle of the base form
- replacement, for changing the base form
Syntax
The syntax for simple a-rules is the following:
prefixation
CONDITION := "ADDED" < DELETED;
suffixation
CONDITION := DELETED > "ADDED";
infixation
CONDITION := [REFERENCE] > "ADDED"; CONDITION := "ADDED" < [REFERENCE];
replacement
CONDITION := DELETED : "ADDED";
Where:
- CONDITION = tag (such as “PLR”, “FEM”, etc) or list of tags (“FEM&PLR”) that indicates when the rule should be applied
- ADDED (between quotes) = the string to be added ;
- REFERENCE (between square brackets) = the reference string (between quotes) or the position (without quotes) of the string to be added;
- DELETED = the string (between quotes) or the number of characters (without quotes) to be deleted.
Examples
| RULE | BEHAVIOR | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| X:=”y”<”z”; | if X replace the string “z” by the string “y” in the beginning of the string | zabc | yabc |
| X:=”y”<1; | if X replace the first character of the string by “y” | zabc | yabc |
| X:=”y”<0; | if X add the string “y” to the beginning of the string | zabc | yzabc |
| X:=”y”<; | if X add the string “y” to the beginning of the string (idem previous) | zabc | yzabc |
| X:=”y”<<0; | if X add the string “y” and a blank space to the beginning of the string | zabc | y zabc |
| X:=”y”<<; | if X add the string “y” and a blank space to the beginning of the string (idem previous) | zabc | y zabc |
| RULE | BEHAVIOR | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| X:=”z”>”y”; | if X replace the string “z” by the string “y” in the end of the string | abcz | abcy |
| X:=1>”y”; | if X replace the last character of the string by “y” | abcz | abcy |
| X:=0>”y”; | if X add the string “y” to the end of the string | abcz | abczy |
| X:=>”y”; | if X add the string “y” to the end of the string (idem previous) | abcz | abczy |
| X:=0>>”y”; | if X add a blank space and the string “y” to the end of the string | abcz | abcz y |
| X:=>>”y”; | if X add a blank space and the string “y” to the end of the string (idem previous) | abcz | abcz y |
| RULE | BEHAVIOR | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| X:=[2]>"y"; | if X add "y" to the right of the second character | abc | abyc |
| X:="y"<[3]; | if X add "y" to the left of the third character | abc | abyc |
| X:=["b"]>”y”; | if X add "y" to the right of "b"; | abc | abyc |
| X:="y"<["c"]; | if X add "y" to the left of "c" | abc | abyc |
| RULE | BEHAVIOR | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| X:=”y”; | if X replace the whole by “y” | X | y |
| X:=”z”:”y”; | if X replace the string “z” by “y” | azbc | aybc |
| X:=[2-3]:”y”; | if X replace the second to the third character by “z” | abcz | ayz |
Observations
- Rules will only be applied if all conditions are true
- X:=”y”<”z”; ( “zabc” changes to “yabc”, but “abc” remains “abc” since there is no "z" to be replaced)
- Each action is applied only once (i.e, rules are not exhaustive)
- PLR:=0>”s”; ("X" becomes "Xs", and not "Xssssss...")
- The replacement rule applies only once to the same string
- X:=”a”:”b”; ( “aaa” becomes “baa” and not “bbb”)
- In prefixation and suffixation rules, the part to be deleted may be represented by the number of characters (without quotes)
| PLR := “X”<””; | = | PLR := “X”<0; | (ABC becomes XABC) |
| PLR:= “X”<”A”; | = | PLR:= “X”<1; | (ABC becomes XBC) |
| PLR:= “XY”<”AB”; | = | PLR:= “XY”<2; | (ABC becomes XYC) |
| PLR:=””>”X”; | = | PLR:= 0>”X”; | (ABC becomes ABCX) |
| PLR:=”C”>”X”; | = | PLR:= 1>”X”; | (ABC becomes ABX) |
| PLR:=”BC”>”XY”; | = | PLR:= 2>”XY”; | (ABC becomes AXY) |
- In infixation rules, the position of the addition may be made with reference to the end of string by using "-".
| RULE | BEHAVIOR | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| X:=[1]>"y"; | if X add "y" to the right of the first character | abc | aybc |
| X:=[-1]>"y"; | if X add "y" to the right of the last character | abc | abyc |
| X:="y"<[2]; | if X add "y" to the left of the second character | abcde | aybc |
| X:="y"<[-2]; | if X add "y" to the left of the second character | abcde | abcyde |
- In replacement rules, the part to be deleted may be omitted if the whole string is to be replaced
| PLR:=”ABC”:”XYZ”; | = | PLR:=”XYZ” | (ABC becomes XYZ) |
- In replacement rules, the part to be deleted may be represented by an interval of characters in the format [beginning-end]
| PLR:=”B”:”X”; | = | PLR:=[2-2]:”X”; | (ABC becomes AXC) |
- The symbol “^” is used for negation (“^MCL” means “not MCL”)
- NOU&^MCL:=”x”:”y”; (If NOU and not MCL then replace “x” by “y”)
- “<<” and “>>” add blank spaces[1]
