Morphological Analyzer for Maithili using Machine Learning

I n the ever-expanding landscape of Natural Language Processing (NLP) the ability to dissect and understand the building blocks of a language is a foundational step. While powerful tools for morphological analysis exist for globally dominant languages like English a vast number of the world's languages particularly those with rich oral traditions and distinct linguistic structures have been left behind in the digital revolution. This is especially true for Maithili a language spoken by millions across the Mithila region of India and Nepal yet one that has remained largely underrepresented in the digital sphere. The development of a robust morphological analyzer for Maithili is not just a technological feat; it is a critical step toward preserving and promoting its unique heritage in the modern age.Morphological analysis is the process of breaking down words into their constituent morphemes-the smallest units of meaning. For a language like Maithili with its complex system of verb conjugations case markers and grammatical agreements this task is particularly challenging. A word like पढैछी (paṛhaichī) must be broken down to its root पढ (paṛha) meaning to read and the suffix -ैछी (-aichī) which denotes the first-person singular present tense. Similarly विद्यार्थीहरूले (vidyārthīharūle) contains the base word विद्यार्थी (vidyārthī) for student the plural marker -हरू (-harū) and the case marker -ले (-le) that indicates the agent of an action. Accurately parsing these structures is essential for any advanced language processing application.Traditional rule-based approaches which rely on manually created dictionaries and a fixed set of grammatical rules often fall short when dealing with Maithili. Its extensive irregularities nuanced phonetic shifts and a wide array of dialectal variations make it difficult to create a comprehensive and scalable rule set. Any small change or new word would require a manual update to the system making it brittle and high-maintenance. This is where the power of machine learning provides a transformative solution.