Lemma Markup Format

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• Lemma Markup Format
  • Installation
  • Basic Format
  • Examples
  • Entry Types
    • Standard Lemma
    • Lemma with Sublemmas
    • Redirection Entry
    • Mixed Format
  • Advanced Features
    • Validation
    • File Operations
  • LexM Format Specification
  • Attribution
    • How to Cite
  • License

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LexM is a concise, human-readable format for representing dictionary-ready lexical entries with their various forms, relationships, and redirections. It's designed to be both easy to write by hand and simple to parse programmatically.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'lexm'

And then execute:

$ bundle install

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install lexm

Basic Format

A LexM entry consists of a lemma (headword) and optional elements:

lemma[annotations]|sublemma1,sublemma2,>(relation)target

Note

The format is designed to be human-readable while still being structured enough for programmatic processing. This makes it ideal for dictionary development, computational linguistics, and language learning applications.

Examples

require 'lexm'
include LexM

# Create a lemma with annotations
lemma = Lemma.new("rise[sp:rose,pp:risen]")
puts lemma
# => rise[sp:rose,pp:risen]

# Create a lemma with sublemmas
lemma = Lemma.new("abandon|abandoned,abandonment")
puts lemma
# => abandon|abandoned,abandonment

# Create a redirection entry
lemma = Lemma.new("better>>(cmp)good")
puts lemma
# => better>>(cmp)good

# Create a lemma with a redirection sublemma
lemma = Lemma.new("rose|>(sp)rise")
puts lemma
# => rose|>(sp)rise

# Build a lemma programmatically
lemma = Lemma.new
lemma.text = "run"
lemma.setAnnotations({"sp" => "ran", "pp" => "run"})
lemma.addSublemmas(["run away", "run up"])
puts lemma
# => run[sp:ran,pp:run]|run away,run up

# Work with a collection of lemmas
list = LemmaList.new
list.addLemma(Lemma.new("go[sp:went,pp:gone]|go about,go ahead"))
list.addLemma(Lemma.new("better>>(cmp)good"))

# Find lemmas that redirect to "good"
good_redirects = list.findRedirectionsTo("good")

# Iterate through all words
list.eachWord do |word|
    puts "Word: #{word}"
end

Tip

When using addLemma, the method will automatically merge lemmas with the same headword by default, combining their annotations and adding new sublemmas. Use addLemma(lemma, false) to add a lemma without merging.

Entry Types

Standard Lemma

A standard dictionary entry with a headword and optional annotations:

run[sp:ran,pp:run]

Lemma with Sublemmas

A headword with related forms or expressions:

abandon|abandoned,abandonment

Redirection Entry

A pure redirection that points to another lemma:

better>>(cmp)good

Mixed Format

A lemma that has sublemmas including a redirection:

left|left-handed,>(sp,pp)leave

Advanced Features

Validation

LexM includes comprehensive validation to ensure your dictionary data is consistent and free of conflicts:

list = LemmaList.new
# Add lemmas...

# Option 1: Validates and returns true/false
if list.validate
  puts "Dictionary is valid!"
else
  puts "Dictionary contains errors"
end

# Option 2: Get a list of all validation errors
errors = list.validateAll
if errors.empty?
  puts "Dictionary is valid!"
else
  puts "Validation errors:"
  errors.each { |error| puts "- #{error}" }
end

Important

The validateAll method checks for all validation issues at once, including:

• Duplicate headwords
• Words that appear as both headwords and sublemmas
• Words that appear as both normal headwords and redirection headwords
• Circular dependencies and redirections

File Operations

Load from and save to LexM files:

# Load from file
lemmas = LemmaList.new("dictionary.lexm")

# Save to file
lemmas.save("updated_dictionary.lexm")

LexM Format Specification

Element	Syntax	Example
Lemma	word	run
Annotations	[key:value,key2:value2]	[sp:ran,pp:run]
Sublemmas	|sublemma1,sublemma2	|run away,run up
Redirection	>>(type)target	>>(pl)child
Sublemma Redirection	>(type)target	>(sp)rise

Attribution

LexM was created and developed by Yanis Zafirópulos (a.k.a. Dr.Kameleon). If you use this software, please maintain this attribution.

How to Cite

If you use LexM in your research or applications, please cite it as:

Yanis Zafirópulos (2025). "LexM: Lemma Markup Format." GitHub repository: https://github.com/drkameleon/lexm

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Yanis Zafirópulos (aka Dr.Kameleon)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.