[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-2007-smrz-elixirfm-implementation-functional-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/) / ElixirFM – Implementation of Functional Arabic Morphology

# ElixirFM – Implementation of Functional Arabic Morphology

**Authors:** Smrž, Otakar · **Year:** 2007 · **Venue:** Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop on Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages: Common Issues and Resources **Link:** [aclanthology.org/W07-0801](https://aclanthology.org/W07-0801/) · library `aclbulk-2007-smrz-elixirfm-implementation-functional-arabic-morphology` · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) (ACL Anthology, before 2016) — summary only

[**22** citations in our library](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/cited-by/aclbulk-2007-smrz-elixirfm-implementation-functional-arabic-morphology/) of the 140673 papers whose bibliographies we read[Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop on Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages: Common Issues and Resources](https://aclanthology.org/volumes/W07-08/)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

- [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/W07-0801/)
- [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/W07-0801.pdf)

**Authors (1)**

1. Smrž, Otakar

Citations and author metrics from OpenAlex (); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

ElixirFM is a Haskell implementation of Functional Arabic Morphology, a model of the Arabic inflectional system that is built to fit the syntax–morphology interface. Grammatical categories (case, number, person, voice, mood, gender) are enumerated types. The "state" of a noun is split into two independent parameters: whether the definite article is prefixed (a Maybe-Bool value) and whether the noun heads an annexation that reduces its suffixes (a Bool). Lexemes are a root plus a morphophonemic pattern (for example IstaFAL against IstaFCaL, which share a CV shape but differ in form), and prefixes and suffixes are combined with operators on a Morphs type. Paradigms are functions over the categories: three verbal paradigms (perfect, imperfect with mood, imperative) and five nominal ones; sandhi rules are separate functions applied after concatenation. The lexicon is derived from the Buckwalter lexicon and enriched with annotation from the PADT, and it is written as a domain-specific language nested under roots. The paper reports no measurements; its claims are about modelling and reuse.

## Ideas

- I1. Two independent parameters for the noun state: for Hebrew, the definite article ha- and the construct state (smikhut) can be two fields rather than one six-valued state. Check first whether the two can co-occur in any Hebrew form; if not, the field simplifies, and the rule is one line in [The Noun, the Adjective and the Numeral](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/04-noun/).
- I2. A root-first lexicon layout: entries sit under their root, grouped by pattern, with the gloss and the lexical class, as in the paper's figure. `macula dict` has no roots yet; a root-first file with the same layout would be the first step for [The lexicon](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/10-lexicon/), and the structure can be read by `tools/hbo` and by the Rust structs.
- I3. Types as the check: the paradigm functions only accept the combinations the category types allow (the imperative has only second-person forms), so impossible forms cannot be generated. In Rust the same effect comes from enums and match arms; a verb generator for Hebrew binyanim, with sandhi rules as separate rewrite functions, belongs in the weak-verb chapter [The weak verbs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/07-weak-verbs/).

## For Mova

I1 goes into [The Noun, the Adjective and the Numeral](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/04-noun/) and [Nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/he/04-nouns-adjectives-pronouns/), and into the enum of `tools/macula` (the noun features). I2 is a plan for [The lexicon](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/10-lexicon/). I3 is a design rule for the verb paradigms in [The verb](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/06-verb/) and the sandhi rules in [The weak verbs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/07-weak-verbs/).

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```
@inproceedings{smrz2007elixirfm,
  title = {{ElixirFM – Implementation of Functional Arabic Morphology}},
  author = {Smrž, Otakar},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2007 Workshop on Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages: Common Issues and Resources},
  year = {2007},
  url = {https://aclanthology.org/W07-0801/}
}
```

- [← previous Arabic Diacritization through Full Morphological Tagging](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-2007-habash-arabic-diacritization-through-full-morphological/)
- [next → Construct State Modification in the Arabic Treebank](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-2008-gabbard-construct-state-modification-arabic-treebank/)
- [↑ back to Semitic languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/sem/)

## References

22 references, 1 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Elsaid Badawi, Mike G. Carter, and Adrian Gully. 2004. Modern Written Arabic: A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Elsaid+Badawi%2C+Mike+G%2E+Carter%2C+and+Adrian+Gully%2E+2004%2E+Modern+Written+Arabic%3A+A+Comprehensive+Grammar%2E+Routledge%2E)
2. Matthew Baerman, Dunstan Brown, and Greville G. Corbett. 2006. The Syntax-Morphology Interface. A Study of Syncretism. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511486234)
3. Kenneth R. Beesley. 2001. Finite-State Morphological Analysis and Generation of Arabic at Xerox Research: Status and Plans in 2001. In EACL 2001 Workshop Proceedings on Arabic Language Processing: Status and Prospects, pages 1–8, Toulouse, France. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kenneth+R%2E+Beesley%2E+2001%2E+Finite%2DState+Morphological+Analysis+and+Generation+of+Arabic+at+Xerox+Research%3A+Status+and+Plans+in+2001%2E+In+EACL+2001+Workshop+Proceedings+on+Arabic+Language+Processing%3A+Sta)
4. Tim Buckwalter. 2002. Buckwalter Arabic Morphological Analyzer Version 1.0. LDC catalog number LDC2002L49, ISBN 1-58563-257-0. [↗](https://doi.org/10.35111/7vzm-mb15)
5. Ali El Dada and Aarne Ranta. 2006. Open Source Arabic Grammars in Grammatical Framework. In Proceedings of the Arabic Language Processing Conference (JETALA), Rabat, Morocco, June 2006. IERA. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ali+El+Dada+and+Aarne+Ranta%2E+2006%2E+Open+Source+Arabic+Grammars+in+Grammatical+Framework%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+Arabic+Language+Processing+Conference+%28JETALA%29%2C+Rabat%2C+Morocco%2C+June+2006%2E+IERA%2E)
6. Wolfdietrich Fischer. 2001. A Grammar of Classical Arabic. Yale Language Series. Yale University Press, third revised edition. Translated by Jonathan Rodgers. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Wolfdietrich+Fischer%2E+2001%2E+A+Grammar+of+Classical+Arabic%2E+Yale+Language+Series%2E+Yale+University+Press%2C+third+revised+edition%2E+Translated+by+Jonathan+Rodgers%2E)
7. Markus Forsberg and Aarne Ranta. 2004. Functional Morphology. In Proceedings of the Ninth ACM SIG-PLAN International Conference on Functional Programming, ICFP 2004, pages 213–223. ACM Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Markus+Forsberg+and+Aarne+Ranta%2E+2004%2E+Functional+Morphology%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+Ninth+ACM+SIG%2DPLAN+International+Conference+on+Functional+Programming%2C+ICFP+2004%2C+pages+213%E2%80%93223%2E+ACM+Press%2E)
8. Nizar Habash, Owen Rambow, and George Kiraz. 2005. Morphological Analysis and Generation for Arabic Dialects. In Proceedings of the ACL Workshop on Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages, pages 17–24, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Association for Computational Linguistics. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Nizar+Habash%2C+Owen+Rambow%2C+and+George+Kiraz%2E+2005%2E+Morphological+Analysis+and+Generation+for+Arabic+Dialects%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+ACL+Workshop+on+Computational+Approaches+to+Semitic+Languages%2C+pages) [our card](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/aclbulk-2005-habash-morphological-analysis-generation-arabic-dialects/)
9. Nizar Habash. 2004. Large Scale Lexeme Based Arabic Morphological Generation. In JEP-TALN 2004, Session Traitement Automatique de l’Arabe, Fes, Morocco, April 2004. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Nizar+Habash%2E+2004%2E+Large+Scale+Lexeme+Based+Arabic+Morphological+Generation%2E+In+JEP%2DTALN+2004%2C+Session+Traitement+Automatique+de+l%E2%80%99Arabe%2C+Fes%2C+Morocco%2C+April+2004%2E)
10. Jan Hajič, Otakar Smrž, Petr Zemánek, Jan Šnaidauf, and Emanuel Beška. 2004. Prague Arabic Dependency Treebank: Development in Data and Tools. In NEM-LAR International Conference on Arabic Language Resources and Tools, pages 110–117. ELDA. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Jan+Hajic%CC%8C%2C+Otakar+Smrz%CC%8C%2C+Petr+Zema%CC%81nek%2C+Jan+S%CC%8Cnaidauf%2C+and+Emanuel+Bes%CC%8Cka%2E+2004%2E+Prague+Arabic+Dependency+Treebank%3A+Development+in+Data+and+Tools%2E+In+NEM%2DLAR+International+Conference+on+Arabic+Langua)
11. Paul Hudak. 2000. The Haskell School of Expression: Learning Functional Programming through Multimedia. Cambridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Paul+Hudak%2E+2000%2E+The+Haskell+School+of+Expression%3A+Learning+Functional+Programming+through+Multimedia%2E+Cambridge+University+Press%2E)
12. Mark P. Jones. 2000. Type Classes with Functional Dependencies. In ESOP ’00: Proceedings of the 9th European Symposium on Programming Languages and Systems, pages 230–244, London, UK. Springer. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Mark+P%2E+Jones%2E+2000%2E+Type+Classes+with+Functional+Dependencies%2E+In+ESOP+%E2%80%9900%3A+Proceedings+of+the+9th+European+Symposium+on+Programming+Languages+and+Systems%2C+pages+230%E2%80%93244%2C+London%2C+UK%2E+Springer%2E)
13. Joost Kremers. 2003. The Arabic Noun Phrase. A Minimalist Approach. Ph.D. thesis, University of Nijmegen. LOT Dissertation Series 79. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Joost+Kremers%2E+2003%2E+The+Arabic+Noun+Phrase%2E+A+Minimalist+Approach%2E+Ph%2ED%2E+thesis%2C+University+of+Nijmegen%2E+LOT+Dissertation+Series+79%2E)
14. Klaus Lagally. 2004. ArabTEX: Typesetting Arabic and Hebrew, User Manual Version 4.00. Technical Report 2004/03, Fakultät Informatik, Universität Stuttgart. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Klaus+Lagally%2E+2004%2E+ArabTEX%3A+Typesetting+Arabic+and+Hebrew%2C+User+Manual+Version+4%2E00%2E+Technical+Report+2004%2F03%2C+Fakulta%CC%88t+Informatik%2C+Universita%CC%88t+Stuttgart%2E)
15. Peter Ljunglöf. 2002. Pure Functional Parsing. An Advanced Tutorial. Licenciate thesis, Göteborg University & Chalmers University of Technology. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Peter+Ljunglo%CC%88f%2E+2002%2E+Pure+Functional+Parsing%2E+An+Advanced+Tutorial%2E+Licenciate+thesis%2C+Go%CC%88teborg+University+%26+Chalmers+University+of+Technology%2E)
16. Allan Ramsay and Hanady Mansur. 2001. Arabic morphology: a categorial approach. In EACL 2001 Workshop Proceedings on Arabic Language Processing: Status and Prospects, pages 17–22, Toulouse, France. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Allan+Ramsay+and+Hanady+Mansur%2E+2001%2E+Arabic+morphology%3A+a+categorial+approach%2E+In+EACL+2001+Workshop+Proceedings+on+Arabic+Language+Processing%3A+Status+and+Prospects%2C+pages+17%E2%80%9322%2C+Toulouse%2C+France%2E)
17. Otakar Smrž. 2007. Functional Arabic Morphology. Formal System and Implementation. Ph.D. thesis, Charles University in Prague. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Otakar+Smrz%CC%8C%2E+2007%2E+Functional+Arabic+Morphology%2E+Formal+System+and+Implementation%2E+Ph%2ED%2E+thesis%2C+Charles+University+in+Prague%2E)
18. Abdelhadi Soudi, Violetta Cavalli-Sforza, and Abderrahim Jamari. 2001. A Computational Lexeme-Based Treatment of Arabic Morphology. In EACL 2001 Workshop Proceedings on Arabic Language Processing: Status and Prospects, pages 155–162, Toulouse. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Abdelhadi+Soudi%2C+Violetta+Cavalli%2DSforza%2C+and+Abderrahim+Jamari%2E+2001%2E+A+Computational+Lexeme%2DBased+Treatment+of+Arabic+Morphology%2E+In+EACL+2001+Workshop+Proceedings+on+Arabic+Language+Processing%3A+Sta)
19. Andrew Spencer. 2004. Generalized Paradigm Function Morphology. [http://privatewww.essex](http://privatewww.essex). ac.uk/˜spena/papers/GPFM.pdf, October 6. [↗](http://privatewww.essex)
20. Gregory T. Stump. 2001. Inflectional Morphology. A Theory of Paradigm Structure. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Gregory+T%2E+Stump%2E+2001%2E+Inflectional+Morphology%2E+A+Theory+of+Paradigm+Structure%2E+Cambridge+Studies+in+Linguistics%2E+Cambridge+University+Press%2E)
21. Philip Wadler. 2003. A Prettier Printer. In Jeremy Gibbons and Oege de Moor, editors, The Fun of Programming, Cornerstones of Computing, pages 223– 243. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-91518-7_11)
22. Palgrave Macmillan, March 2003. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Palgrave+Macmillan%2C+March+2003%2E)