Using finite state technology in natural language processing of Basque

Abstract

This paper describes the components used in the design and implementation of NLP tools for Basque. These components are based on finite state technology and are devoted to the morphological analysis of Basque, an agglutinative pre-Indo-European language. We think that our design can be interesting for the treatment of other languages. The main components developed are a general and robust morphological analyser/generator and a spelling checker/corrector for Basque named Xuxen. The analyser is a basic tool for current and future work on NLP of Basque, such as the lemmatiser/tagger Euslem, an Intranet search engine or an assistant for verse-making.