A lexicon server toolkit for Maltese

Abstract

This thesis implements a cooperative framework able to support the compilation and development of a computational lexicon for Maltese. As a consequence, this framework must provide all the tools needed by the user to communicate with the central server, and access the various services that are provided. Since some of the services were not expected to be developed in this project, one issue of paramount importance was the fact that the framework had to be easily extensible. The system provides access both to the linguist and programmer in a coherent fashion. In addition, a series of tools aiding the linguist in text file processing and word list building, is also provided. Finally, a website where system development is monitored, and new user registration is permitted, was set up. In addition, this website provides the first free searchable Maltese dictionary, which apart from being built in a distributed fashion, tries to match with high quality works already existing in Maltese.