An Automated Template Approach to Morphology and Syntax Description for Ayta Abellen (using FLEx and PAWS)

Abstract

This thesis can be called applied computational linguistics for the Ayta Abellen language of the Philippines. FieldWorks Language Explorer (FLEx) was used to model morphology while Parser and Writer of Syntax (PAWS) was used to model syntax. These tools both generate computer readable files that can be used for automated parsing of morphology and syntax. The tools also generate automated linguistic sketches in which the data are presented as conventionally structured linguistic descriptions. This thesis not only evaluates the effectiveness of these tools when used for computational modeling of an Austronesian language but also considers the effectiveness of the resulting template-based automated descriptions for morphology and syntax. The morphological parser reached a 99.8% parsing rate while the syntactical parser was able to parse 75-80% of natural language sentences. The automated descriptions of morphology and syntax needed further editing and refinement but were helpful in providing a good starting point for linguistic description.