[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-1998-smets-paradigmatic-treatment-arabic-morphology/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [docs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/) / [papers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/) / [Semitic languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/sem/) / Paradigmatic Treatment of Arabic Morphology # Paradigmatic Treatment of Arabic Morphology **Authors:** [Martine Smets](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/martine-smets/) · **Year:** 1998 · **Venue:** Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages **Link:** [aclanthology.org/W98-1008](https://aclanthology.org/W98-1008/) · library `aclbulk-1998-smets-paradigmatic-treatment-arabic-morphology` · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) — summary only [**2** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W1987355655) openalex · 2026-10-18[Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages](https://aclanthology.org/volumes/W98-10/)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/W98-1008/) - [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/W98-1008.pdf) - [DOI 10.3115/1621753.1621764](https://doi.org/10.3115/1621753.1621764) - [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W1987355655) **Authors (1)** 1. [Smets, Martine](https://openalex.org/A5081174651) h 6 · 220 citations · 27 works Citations and author metrics from openalex (2026-10-18); authors with the same name are not always told apart. ## What it is about The paper proposes a declarative language for morphology, built on feature unification, in which a morphological process is a paradigm instead of a set of rewrite rules. Helping paradigms give partial pieces of a word: a vowel melody tied to an aspect and voice, or a consonant template such as the prefix and doubling of Form V. Main paradigms combine helping paradigms by unifying their strings and features, so that a root receives a fully specified form. Feature classes sit in an inheritance hierarchy, so a regular class is written once and irregular entries override only what differs. The author argues that this covers non-concatenative Arabic morphology and fits HPSG-style parsing. It is a design paper: the language is stated as not yet implemented, and no measurements are given. ## Ideas - I1. Split each Hebrew verb into two tables: a binyan template (the prefix and infix pattern of nif'al, hif'il, hitpa'el and the rest) and a vowel melody per aspect and voice (qal perfect, qal imperfect, the passive melodies). Combine them as a main paradigm does, so that entries need only the template and the melody, not the full form. Count the entries saved on one verb class before deciding. - I2. Monotonic inheritance for weak verbs: write the regular paradigm once and let the classes pe-nun, ayin-waw, lamed-he and pe-guttural override only the slots that change. - I3. Keep lexical entries as consonant roots only, and let the forms be derived from paradigms. Where a helping paradigm carries a feature label, the Rust side can use an enum for that label, not a string. ## For Mova I1 goes into [The verb](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/06-verb/) (binyanim and melodies) and into the lexicon design of `tools/hbo`; the same split applies to [The verb in Biblical Aramaic](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc/verbs/). I2 goes into [The weak verbs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/07-weak-verbs/). I3 is a design note for the verb module, not a measured gain. ## Cite The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.3115/1621753.1621764](https://doi.org/10.3115/1621753.1621764) ``` @inproceedings{smets1998paradigmatic, title = {{Paradigmatic Treatment of Arabic Morphology}}, author = {Smets, Martine}, booktitle = {Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages}, year = {1998}, doi = {10.3115/1621753.1621764}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3115/1621753.1621764} } ``` - [← previous Arabic Morphology Using Only Finite-State Operations](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-1998-beesley-arabic-morphology-only-finite-state/) - [next → A Morphologically Sensitive Clustering Algorithm for Identifying Arabic Roots](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-2000-roeck-morphologically-sensitive-clustering-algorithm-identifying/) - [↑ back to Semitic languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/sem/) ## References 20 references, 1 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet. 1. Anderson, S. 1992. A-Morphous Morphology, Camnbridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Anderson%2C+S%2E+1992%2E+A%2DMorphous+Morphology%2C+Camnbridge+University+Press%2E) 2. Bear, J. 1986. "A morphological recognizer with syntactic and phonological rules", Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, pages 272-276. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bear%2C+J%2E+1986%2E+%22A+morphological+recognizer+with+syntactic+and+phonological+rules%22%2C+Proceedings+of+the+7th+International+Conference+on+Computational+Linguistics%2C+pages+272%2D276%2E) 3. Beesley, K.R. 1991. "Computer analysis of Arabic nmrphology: a two-level approach with detours", Comrie, B. and Eid, M., eds., Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics lII: Papers from the Third Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, pages 155-172. Benjamins, Amsterdam. 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