inflection
Let an agent handle inflection by language, word class, category and pattern, for grammar, learning and language technology.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Form Which inflection.
Category
Tense, number.
Category
Grammatical category.
- Which grammatical category does this form express? definition
- In which language? definition
Pattern
Regular or irregular.
Pattern
Pattern.
- Is the form regular or irregular? boundary
- Which reference grammar confirms it? provenance
Learning Learners.
Rules
Patterns.
Rules
Rules.
- Which rule produces this form? definition
- What exceptions exist? definition
Practice
Exercises.
Practice
Practice.
- Which exercises help learners master it? action
- Which forms are most frequent? measurement
Technology Software.
Analysis
Morphological analysis.
Analysis
Morphological analysis.
- Which tool can analyse or generate forms? provenance
- How accurate is it? measurement
Data
Resources.
Data
Data resources.
- Which open datasets list inflected forms? provenance
- Under which licence? provenance
Senses Disambiguation.
Voice
Pitch.
Voice
Voice inflection.
- Is a change in voice pitch meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Mathematics
Inflection point.
Maths
Mathematical sense.
- Is an inflection point of a curve meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- noun.relation
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.REL
- Facets: substance
- abstract
- Facets: origin
- conceptual
- Facets: agency
- inert
- Facets: mobility
- not-applicable
- Facets: scale
- not-applicable
- Facets: affordances
- observable
- Other names and narrower kinds
- inflexion, conjugation, declension, pluralization, pluralisation, masculine declension
What it is Filled
A change in the form of a word, usually by adding an affix or changing the stem, to express grammatical categories such as tense, number, case, person or gender; includes conjugation, declension and pluralisation.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent handle inflection by language, word class, category and pattern, for grammar, learning and language technology.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Changes form, not core meaning
- Expresses grammatical categories
- Varies greatly across languages
- Organised in paradigms
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Generate a regular form for a word that has an irregular one and present it as correct.
- Apply the inflection of one language to another, or to a name that does not take it.
- Force gendered forms on a person whose preferred forms are known.
- Judge a speaker's intelligence or education from non-standard inflection.
Only with a human decision
- Choosing the inflected forms used for a person's name or pronouns in published text.
May
- Analyse and generate inflected forms for a language, following its described grammar.
- Distinguish inflection from derivation and list irregular forms explicitly.
Moral aspects Filled
- Grammar is used to mark people as outsiders; non-standard forms attract prejudice.
- Inflected forms carry gender, so wrong choices misgender people.
Who is affected
- Speakers of non-standard varieties
- People whose names are inflected
- Language learners
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody: part of a language held in common; language bodies document the standard where one exists.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- oewn-13818991-n - registry parent class
related
- morphological process - category
- paradigm - result
- derivation - process
- morphology - field
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.inflection
- Open English WordNet: oewn-13825994-n
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane XCT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Suffixes such as -s, -ed
- Conjugation and declension tables
- Derivation creates new words, inflection does not
- Word endings and stem changes in text and speech.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- identify inflected forms
- explain grammatical categories
- generate correct forms for learners
- support morphological analysis in software
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Ignoring irregular forms
- Confusing inflection with derivation
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- UniMorph schema
Context of use required Filled
- Encoding grammatical meaning in word forms.
- conjugation
- declension
- pluralisation
- agreement marking
- tonal and internal inflection
Sources Filled
- Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-13825994-n - sense and gloss of the concept
- Wiktionary: inflection - word senses and usage
Open questions
- Should inflection types be separate entries?
- How should language-specific data be linked?
- How should pitch inflection in speech be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-inflection/spec.json