Formal Structure of Sanskrit Text: Requirements Analysis for a Mechanical Sanskrit Processor

We discuss the mathematical structure of various levels of representation of Sanskrit text in order to guide the design of computer aids aiming at useful processing of the digitalised Sanskrit corpus. Two main levels are identified, respectively called the linear and functional level. The design space of these two levels is sketched, and the computational implications of the main design choices are discussed. Current solutions to the problems of mechanical segmentation, tagging, and parsing of Sanskrit text are briefly surveyed in this light. An analysis of the requirements of relevant linguistic resources is provided, in view of justifying standards allowing inter-operability of computer tools. This paper does not attempt to provide definitive solutions to the representation of Sanskrit at the various levels. It should rather be considered as a survey of various choices, allowing an open discussion of such issues in a formally precise general framework.