Algorithms for certain classes of Tamil Spelling correction

TL;DR

This paper reviews and proposes algorithmic techniques for Tamil spelling correction, addressing challenges posed by the language's morphological complexity and out-of-dictionary words, to improve spell checking tools.

Contribution

It summarizes existing algorithms for Tamil spelling errors and suggests improvements for handling conjoined words and morphological variations.

Findings

Proposed algorithms efficiently handle out-of-dictionary words

Summarized known techniques for Tamil spelling correction

Identified gaps in current rule-based spell checkers

Abstract

Tamil language has an agglutinative, diglossic, alpha-syllabary structure which provides a significant combinatorial explosion of morphological forms all of which are effectively used in Tamil prose, poetry from antiquity to the modern age in an unbroken chain of continuity. However, for the language understanding, spelling correction purposes some of these present challenges as out-of-dictionary words. In this paper the authors propose algorithmic techniques to handle specific problems of conjoined-words (out-of-dictionary) (transliteration)[thendRalkattRu] = [thendRal]+[kattRu] when parts are alone present in word-list in efficient way. Morphological structure of Tamil makes it necessary to depend on synthesis-analysis approach and dictionary lists will never be sufficient to truly capture the language. In this paper we have attempted to make a summary of various known algorithms for specific classes of Tamil spelling errors. We believe this collection of suggestions to improve future spelling checkers. We also note do not cover many important techniques like affix removal and other such techniques of key importance in rule-based spell checkers.