A New Computational Schema for Euphonic Conjunctions in Sanskrit Processing
Automated language processing is central to the drive to enable
facilitated referencing of increasingly available Sanskrit E-texts.
The first step towards processing Sanskrit text involves the
handling of Sanskrit compound words that are an integral part of
Sanskrit texts. This firstly necessitates the processing of euphonic
conjunctions or sandhi-s, which are points in words or between
words, at which adjacent letters coalesce and transform.
The ancient Sanskrit grammarian Panini's codification of the
Sanskrit grammar is the accepted authority in the subject. His
famed sutra-s or aphorisms, numbering approximately four
thousand, tersely, precisely and comprehensively codify the rules
of the grammar, including all the rules pertaining to sandhi-s.
This work presents a fresh new approach to processing sandhi-s in
terms of a computational schema. This new computational model
is based on Panini's complex codification of the rules of grammar.
The model has simple beginnings and is yet powerful,
comprehensive and computationally lean.
Keywords: Sanskrit, euphonic conjunction, sandhi, linguistics,
Panini, aphorism, sutra
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