Beyond concatenative morphology : applying OntoLex-Morph to Maltese

Abstract

OntoLex-Morph is an extension of OntoLex-lemon, (a de facto standard vocabulary for publishing lexical data) that is designed to accommodate the description of morphological phenomena into lexical datasets. It is intended to be universally applicable, but so far its application has been focused on the more familiar European languages. This article attempts to show that the morphology extension to OntoLex-lemon can also be applied to Maltese, and by extension, to other Semitic languages. We present our modelling, show how generation rules can be used, and offer some recommendations for changes to the module which would considerably improve the transparency of descriptions that make use of it. Finally, we conclude that if such recommendations are accepted, future discussion should attempt to better delimit the scope of the module to avoid incorporation of information that rightly belongs elsewhere.