Provided by: liblingua-stem-perl_0.84-1_all 
NAME
Lingua::Stem - Stemming of words
SYNOPSIS
use Lingua::Stem qw(stem);
my $stemmmed_words_anon_array = stem(@words);
or for the OO inclined,
use Lingua::Stem;
my $stemmer = Lingua::Stem->new(-locale => 'EN-UK');
$stemmer->stem_caching({ -level => 2 });
my $stemmmed_words_anon_array = $stemmer->stem(@words);
DESCRIPTION
This routine applies stemming algorithms to its parameters, returning the stemmed words as
appropriate to the selected locale.
You can import some or all of the class methods.
use Lingua::Stem qw (stem clear_stem_cache stem_caching
add_exceptions delete_exceptions
get_exceptions set_locale get_locale
:all :locale :exceptions :stem :caching);
:all - imports stem add_exceptions delete_exceptions get_exceptions
set_locale get_locale
:stem - imports stem
:caching - imports stem_caching clear_stem_cache
:locale - imports set_locale get_locale
:exceptions - imports add_exceptions delete_exceptions get_exceptions
Currently supported locales are:
DA - Danish
DE - German
EN - English (also EN-US and EN-UK)
FR - French
GL - Galician
IT - Italian
NO - Norwegian
PT - Portuguese
RU - Russian (also RU-RU and RU-RU.KOI8-R)
SV - Swedish
If you have the memory and lots of stemming to do, I strongly suggest using cache level 2
and processing lists in 'big chunks' (long lists) for best performance.
Comparision with Lingua::Stem::Snowball
It functions fairly similarly to the Lingua::Stem::Snowball suite of stemmers, with the
most significant differences being
1) Lingua::Stem is a 'pure perl' (no compiled XS code is needed) suite.
Lingua::Stem::Snowball is XS based (must be compiled).
2) Lingua::Stem works with Perl 5.6 or later
Lingua::Stem::Snowball works with Perl 5.8 or later
3) Lingua::Stem has an 'exceptions' system allowing you to override stemming on a 'case by
case' basis.
Lingua::Stem::Snowball does not have an 'exceptions' system.
4) A somewhat different set of supported languages:
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Language | ISO code | Lingua::Stem | Lingua::Stem::Snowball |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| Danish | da | yes | yes |
| Dutch | nl | no | yes |
| English | en | yes | yes |
| Finnish | fi | no | yes |
| French | fr | yes | yes |
| Galacian | gl | yes | no |
| German | de | yes | yes |
| Italian | it | yes | yes |
| Norwegian | no | yes | yes |
| Portuguese | pt | yes | yes |
| Russian | ru | yes | yes |
| Spanish | es | no | yes |
| Swedish | sv | yes | yes |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
5) Lingua::Stem is faster for 'stem' (circa 30% faster than Lingua::Stem::Snowball)
6) Lingua::Stem::Snowball is faster for 'stem_in_place' (circa 30% faster than
Lingua::Stem)
7) Lingua::Stem::Snowball is more consistent with regard to character set issues.
8) Lingua::Stem::Snowball is under active development. Lingua::Stem is currently fairly
static.
Some benchmarks using Lingua::Stem 0.82 and Lingua::Stem::Snowball 0.94 gives an idea of
how various options impact performance. The dataset was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe,
volumes 1-5 from the Gutenberg Project processed 10 times in a row as single batch of
words (processing a long text one word at a time is very inefficient and drops the
performance of Lingua::Stem by about 90%: So "Don't Do That" ;) )
The benchmarks were run on a 3.06 Ghz P4 with HT on Fedora Core 5 Linux using Perl 5.8.8.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| source: collected_works_poe.txt | words: 454691 | unique words: 22802 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| module | config | avg secs | words/sec |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Lingua::Stem 0.82 | no cache | 1.922 | 236560 |
| Lingua::Stem 0.82 | cache level 2 | 1.235 | 368292 |
| Lingua::Stem 0.82 | cachelv2, sip | 0.798 | 569494 |
| Lingua::Stem::Snowball 0.94 | stem | 1.622 | 280276 |
| Lingua::Stem::Snowball 0.94 | stem_in_place | 0.627 | 725129 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The script for the benchmark is included in the examples/ directory of this distribution
as benchmark_stemmers.plx.
CHANGES
0.84 2010.04.29 - Documentation fixes to the En stemmer and removal
of the accidentally included lib/Lingua/test.pl file
Thanks goes to Aaron Naiman for bringing the
documentation error to my attention and to
Alexandr Ciornii and 'kmx' for the pointing out
the problem with the test.pl file.
0.83 2007.06.23 - Disabled Italian locale build tests due to
changes in Lingua::Stem::It breaking the tests.
0.82 2006.07.23 - Added 'stem_in_place' to base package.
Tweaks to documentation and build tests.
0.81 2004.07.26 - Minor documentation tweak. No functional change.
0.80 2004.07.25 - Added 'RU', 'RU_RU', 'RU_RU.KOI-8' locale.
Added support for Lingua::Stem::Ru to
Makefile.PL and autoloader.
Added documentation stressing use of caching
and batches for performance. Added support
for '_' as a seperator in the locale strings.
Added example benchmark script. Expanded copyright
credits.
0.70 2004.04.26 - Added FR locale and documentation fixes
to Lingua::Stem::Gl
0.61 2003.09.28 - Documentation fixes. No functional changes.
0.60 2003.04.05 - Added more locales by wrappering various stemming
implementations. Documented currently supported
list of locales.
0.50 2000.09.14 - Fixed major implementation error. Starting with
version 0.30 I forgot to include rulesets 2,3 and 4
for Porter's algorithm. The resulting stemming results
were very poor. Thanks go to <csyap@netfision.com>
for bringing the problem to my attention.
Unfortunately, the fix inherently generates *different*
stemming results than 0.30 and 0.40 did. If you
need identically broken output - use locale 'en-broken'.
0.40 2000.08.25 - Added stem caching support as an option. This
can provide a large speedup to the operation
of the stemmer. Caching is default turned off
to maximize compatibility with previous versions.
0.30 1999.06.24 - Replaced core of 'En' stemmers with code from
Jim Richardson <jimr@maths.usyd.edu.au>
Aliased 'en-us' and 'en-uk' to 'en'
Fixed 'SYNOPSIS' to correct return value
type for stemmed words (SYNOPIS error spotted
by <Arved_37@chebucto.ns.ca>)
0.20 1999.06.15 - Changed to '.pm' module, moved into Lingua:: namespace,
added OO interface, optionalized the export of routines
into the caller's namespace, added named parameter
initialization, stemming exceptions, autoloaded
locale support and isolated case flattening to
localized stemmers prevent i18n problems later.
Input and output text are assumed to be in UTF8
encoding (no operational impact right now, but
will be important when extending the module to
non-English).
METHODS
new(...);
Returns a new instance of a Lingua::Stem object and, optionally, selection of the
locale to be used for stemming.
Examples:
# By default the locale is en
$us_stemmer = Lingua::Stem->new;
# Turn on the cache
$us_stemmer->stem_caching({ -level => 2 });
# Overriding the default for a specific instance
$uk_stemmer = Lingua::Stem->new({ -locale => 'en-uk' });
# Overriding the default for a specific instance and changing the default
$uk_stemmer = Lingua::Stem->new({ -default_locale => 'en-uk' });
set_locale($locale);
Sets the locale to one of the recognized locales. locale identifiers are converted to
lowercase.
Called as a class method, it changes the default locale for all subseqently generated
object instances.
Called as an instance method, it only changes the locale for that particular instance.
'croaks' if passed an unknown locale.
Examples:
# Change default locale
Lingua::Stem::set_locale('en-uk'); # UK's spellings
# Change instance locale
$self->set_locale('en-us'); # US's spellings
get_locale;
Called as a class method, returns the current default locale.
Example:
$default_locale = Lingua::Stem::get_locale;
Called as an instance method, returns the locale for the instance
$instance_locale = $stemmer->get_locale;
add_exceptions($exceptions_hash_ref);
Exceptions allow overriding the stemming algorithm on a case by case basis. It is done
on an exact match and substitution basis: If a passed word is identical to the
exception it will be replaced by the specified value. No case adjustments are
performed.
Called as a class method, adds exceptions to the default exceptions list used for
subsequently instantations of Lingua::Stem objects.
Example:
# adding default exceptions
Lingua::Stem::add_exceptions({ 'emily' => 'emily',
'driven' => 'driven',
});
Called as an instance method, adds exceptions only to the specific instance.
# adding instance exceptions
$stemmer->add_exceptions({ 'steely' => 'steely' });
The exceptions shortcut the normal stemming - if an exception matches no further
stemming is performed after the substitution.
Adding an exception with the same key value as an already defined exception replaces
the pre-existing exception with the new value.
delete_exceptions(@exceptions_list);
The mirror of add_exceptions, this allows the _removal_ of exceptions from either the
defaults for the class or from the instance.
# Deletion of exceptions from class default exceptions
Lingua::Stem::delete_exceptions('aragorn','frodo','samwise');
# Deletion of exceptions from instance
$stemmer->delete_exceptions('smaug','sauron','gollum');
# Deletion of all class default exceptions
delete_exceptions;
# Deletion of all exceptions from instance
$stemmer->delete_exceptions;
get_exceptions;
As a class method with no parameters it returns all the default exceptions as an
anonymous hash of 'exception' => 'replace with' pairs.
Example:
# Returns all class default exceptions
$exceptions = Lingua::Stem::get_exceptions;
As a class method with parameters, it returns the default exceptions listed in the
parameters as an anonymous hash of 'exception' => 'replace with' pairs. If a
parameter specifies an undefined 'exception', the value is set to undef.
# Returns class default exceptions for 'emily' and 'george'
$exceptions = Lingua::Stem::get_exceptions('emily','george');
As an instance method, with no parameters it returns the currently active exceptions
for the instance.
# Returns all instance exceptions
$exceptions = $stemmer->get_exceptions;
As an instance method with parameters, it returns the instance exceptions listed in
the parameters as an anonymous hash of 'exception' => 'replace with' pairs. If a
parameter specifies an undefined 'exception', the value is set to undef.
# Returns instance exceptions for 'lisa' and 'bart'
$exceptions = $stemmer->get_exceptions('lisa','bart');
stem(@list);
Called as a class method, it applies the default settings and stems the list of passed
words, returning an anonymous array with the stemmed words in the same order as the
passed list of words.
Example:
# Default settings applied
my $anon_array_of_stemmed_words = Lingua::Stem::stem(@words);
Called as an instance method, it applies the instance's settings and stems the list of
passed words, returning an anonymous array with the stemmed words in the same order as
the passed list of words.
# Instance's settings applied
my $stemmed_words = $stemmer->stem(@words);
The stemmer performs best when handed long lists of words rather than one word at a
time. The cache also provides a huge speed up if you are processing lots of text.
stem_in_place(@list);
Stems the passed list of words 'in place'. It returns a reference to the modified
list. This is about 60% faster than the 'stem' method but modifies the original list.
This currently only works for the English locales.
Example:
my @words = ( 'a', 'list', 'of', 'words' );
my $stemmed_list_of_words = stem_in_place(@words);
# '$stemmed_list_of_words' refers to the @words list
# after 'stem_in_place' has executed
DO NOT use this method of stemming if you need to keep the original list of words. Its
performance gain derives entirely from the fact it does not make a copy the original
list but instead overwrites the original list.
If you try something like
my @words_for_stemming = @words;
my $stemmed_list_of_words = stem_in_place(@words_for_stemming);
thinking you will get a speed boost while keeping the original list, you won't: You
wipe out the speed gain completely with your copying of the original list. You should
just use the 'stem' method instead on the original list of words if you need to keep
the original list.
clear_stem_cache;
Clears the stemming cache for the current locale. Can be called as either a class
method or an instance method.
$stemmer->clear_stem_cache;
clear_stem_cache;
stem_caching ({ -level => 0|1|2 });
Sets stemming cache level for the current locale. Can be called as either a class
method or an instance method.
$stemmer->stem_caching({ -level => 1 });
stem_caching({ -level => 1 });
For the sake of maximum compatibility with previous versions, stem caching is set to
'-level => 0' by default.
'-level' definitions
'0' means 'no caching'. This is the default level.
'1' means 'cache per run'. This caches stemming results during each
call to 'stem'.
'2' means 'cache indefinitely'. This caches stemming results until
either the process exits or the 'clear_stem_cache' method is called.
stem caching is global to the locale. If you turn on stem caching for one instance of
a locale stemmer, all instances using the same locale will have it turned on as well.
I STRONGLY suggest turning caching on if you have enough memory and are processing a
lot of data.
VERSION
0.84 2008.07.27
NOTES
It started with the 'Text::Stem' module which has been adapted into a more general
framework and moved into the more language oriented 'Lingua' namespace and re-organized to
support a OOP interface as well as switch core 'En' locale stemmers.
Version 0.40 added a cache for stemmed words. This can provide up to a several fold
performance improvement.
Organization is such that extending this module to any number of languages should be
direct and simple.
Case flattening is a function of the language, so the 'exceptions' methods have to be used
appropriately to the language. For 'En' family stemming, use lower case words, only, for
exceptions.
AUTHORS
Benjamin Franz <snowhare@nihongo.org>
Jim Richardson <imr@maths.usyd.edu.au>
CREDITS
Jim Richardson <imr@maths.usyd.edu.au>
Ulrich Pfeifer <pfeifer@ls6.informatik.uni-dortmund.de>
Aldo Calpini <dada@perl.it>
xern <xern@cpan.org>
Ask Solem Hoel <ask@unixmonks.net>
Dennis Haney <davh@davh.dk>
Sebastien Darribere-Pleyt <sebastien.darribere@lefute.com>
Aleksandr Guidrevitch <pillgrim@mail.ru>
SEE ALSO
Lingua::Stem::En Lingua::Stem::En Lingua::Stem::Da
Lingua::Stem::De Lingua::Stem::Gl Lingua::Stem::No
Lingua::Stem::Pt Lingua::Stem::Sv Lingua::Stem::It
Lingua::Stem::Fr Lingua::Stem::Ru Text::German
Lingua::PT::Stemmer Lingua::GL::Stemmer Lingua::Stem::Snowball::No
Lingua::Stem::Snowball::Se Lingua::Stem::Snowball::Da Lingua::Stem::Snowball::Sv
Lingua::Stemmer::GL Lingua::Stem::Snowball
http://snowball.tartarus.org
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1999-2004
Freerun Technologies, Inc (Freerun), Jim Richardson, University of Sydney
<imr@maths.usyd.edu.au> and Benjamin Franz <snowhare@nihongo.org>. All rights reserved.
Text::German was written and is copyrighted by Ulrich Pfeifer.
Lingua::Stem::Snowball::Da was written and is copyrighted by Dennis Haney and Ask Solem
Hoel.
Lingua::Stem::It was written and is copyrighted by Aldo Calpini.
Lingua::Stem::Snowball::No, Lingua::Stem::Snowball::Se, Lingua::Stem::Snowball::Sv were
written and are copyrighted by Ask Solem Hoel.
Lingua::Stemmer::GL and Lingua::PT::Stemmer were written and are copyrighted by Xern.
Lingua::Stem::Fr was written and is copyrighted by Aldo Calpini and SA~Xbastien
Darribere-Pley.
Lingua::Stem::Ru was written and is copyrighted by Aleksandr Guidrevitch.
This software may be freely copied and distributed under the same terms and conditions as
Perl.
BUGS
None known.
TODO
Add more languages. Extend regression tests. Add support for the Lingua::Stem::Snowball
family of stemmers as an alternative core stemming engine. Extend 'stem_in_place'
functionality to non-English stemmers.