Malayalam grammar learning software based on finite state transducer

Abstract

India is a country with a diversity of languages. Malayalam belongs to the Dravidian family of languages with literary tradition. In 2013, it is designated as one of the classical languages in India and is the official language of Kerala, the south-western state in India. In Kerala, people give a high priority for education. In most of the schools run by private trusts and individuals in Kerala, English is the medium of instruction. But the State Government schools use both English and Malayalam as language of instruction. The structure of spoken English has influenced the structure of spoken Malayalam in certain aspects. Due to this influence, Malayalam has assumed certain new dimensions on account of the impact of English grammar. It is also seen that Malayalam grammar is taught using the linguistic terms in English. For example, the words noun and verb are more commonly used instead of the corresponding Malayalam words and tafto even while teaching Malayalam grammar. Most students do not like grammar. This has resulted in the elimination of grammar from today's classrooms. In this paper, we have presented the details of how Finite State Transducer is utilized to implement a Malayalam morphological generator. The software helps the students to discover the rules of Malayalam grammar. The children of keralites, who are settled abroad can learn the rules of their mother tongue and know how native speakers speak in real Malayalam conversation. They can study structures of word, like morphemes. Morph generator provides different types of inflections to the root word according to the provided morpholexical information. In the present version of the software, two modules are included. In learning module, the user can study the grammar. Exercise module, conducts test to know the level of knowledge the user learned.