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Open-Source Thesaurus Development for Under-Resourced Languages: a Welsh Case Study

Khallaf, Nouran; Arfon, Elin; El-Haj, Mo; Morris, Jonathan; Knight, Dawn; Rayson, Paul; Hammouda, Tymaa Hasanain; (2023) Open-Source Thesaurus Development for Under-Resourced Languages: a Welsh Case Study. In: Carvalho, Sara and Khan, Anas Fahad and Anić, Ana Ostroški and Spahiu, Blerina and Gracia, Jorge and McCrae, John P and Gromann, Dagmar and Heinisch, Barbara and Salgado, Ana, (eds.) Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Language, Data and Knowledge. (pp. pp. 306-315). NOVA CLUNL, Portugal: Vienna, Austria. Green open access

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Abstract

This paper introduces an open-access, userfriendly online thesaurus for the Welsh language, aimed at enriching digital resources for Welsh speakers and learners. Utilising advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP), our approach combines pre-existing word embeddings, a Welsh semantic tagger, and human evaluation to establish related terms. In this case, an initial list of 250 words was expanded by adding 6,953 synonyms provided by linguists, creating a more extensive foundation for building the gold-standards. With this expanded list, when a user queries a particular word, the thesaurus presents all of its synonyms, allowing them to choose from a wider range of options. This is especially helpful when a user is unsure of the exact word they want to use or wants to explore different ways to express a concept. The resulting thesaurus offers a comprehensive, reliable resource for Welsh language users, fostering enhanced communication and expression. Our work promotes Welsh NLP and showcases NLP’s potential to support under-resourced languages. The thesaurus will be accessible via a bilingual website, and the accompanying Python code will be available in a bilingual, public GitHub repository. Our approach presents a more efficient, costeffective method for thesaurus creation, with potential applicability to other under-resourced languages.

Type: Proceedings paper
Title: Open-Source Thesaurus Development for Under-Resourced Languages: a Welsh Case Study
Event: LDK 2023 – 4th Conference on Language, Data and Knowledge
Location: Vienna, Austria
Dates: 12 Sep 2023 - 15 Sep 2023
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: https://aclanthology.org/2023.ldk-1.30
Language: English
Additional information: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10190716
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