International Conference on Natural Language Processing And Cognitive computing, (ICONACC), 2014 Manipur University. Noun phrase in Manipuri (Meiteiron) as a data structure for Computational processes Bobita Sarangthem, Department of Linguistics Manipur University Imphal, India bobitasarangthem@gmail.com Laishram Lokendro Singh Computer Science and Application Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) New Delhi, India Loken.lai@gmail.com Abstract— The present paper attempts to analyze the noun phrase (NP) in Manipuri (Meiteiron) as a data structure for computational processes. An attempt is made for the visualization of Manipuri noun phrase as building block of Manipuri sentence. The present paper highlights some fundamentals of NP patterns. Noun phrase can be extremely complex. Certain issues of complex layering, where NP contains many different elements are also discussed. It will solve the problem in identification of NP and how to identify the head noun. It is interesting to note that nouns in Manipuri are generally determined by their function in constructions as subjects and objects and by means of prefixes and suffixes which can occur with them. Apart from a noun and adjective or numerals; a NP in Manipuri may consist of a noun followed by derivational and inflectional markers as suffixes. Here, an analysis is made to identify the head noun in a NP and how two neighboring NPs are demarcated in a sentence through the formation of NP patterns. Keywords— noun phrase; suffixes; head noun; inflectional; determiners; modifiers I. Introduction Noun phrases are an essential part of Natural language. They convey much of the content in a sentence. And are therefore, vitally important. The structure of noun phrase (NP) as syntactic constituents serve as argument of verbs. According to John Lyons “Any group of words which is grammatically equivalent to a single word and which does not have its own subject and predicate is a phrase” [3]. In order to understand the structure of Manipuri (Meiteiron) NP it is necessary to have a clear idea of form and the function of Manipuri nouns. “A noun in Meiteiron at the morphological level can be determined by means of prefixes and suffixes. The roots in this language cannot show the form class to which they belong. But, the free roots or free nominal forms can show the form class to which they form. Syntactically, a noun in Manipuri (Meiteiron) can be defined as a class of forms which can occupy the subject and/or object slot in a sentence. Functionally, it is the head of the NP [6]. Manipuri nouns can have various suffixes and can occur with single suffixation or multiple suffixations. For the purpose of defining an NP as data structure an attempt is made to look at the various suffixes occurring at the end of the multiple suffixations and observed it for their roles in the NP. It is necessary to observe how a particular suffix marks the head noun (HN). Further, it also requires observing how the suffixes demarcate two distinct NPs. By knowing the pattern of Manipuri NP, it will make it possible to devise an NP template of the language. The NP template may be used to predict or compare for various Manipuri NPs. The constraints occurring in the formation of noun phrase structure is also discussed to some extent. II. Identification of head noun The head noun (HN) is the central part of the NP. It also determines how the NP combines with and affects the rest of the sentence. Some heads form NPs all by themselves, such as pronouns and proper nouns. The following examples will illustrate the identification of HN. 1. məhak-su ca-gə-ni he-CONJ eat-ASP-COP ‘He will also eat’. np[məhak-su] In the NP, np[məhak-su], the HN is məhak ‘he’. 2. loktak-ki isiŋ mot-li. Loktak-GEN water dirty-ASP ‘Water of Loktak is dirty’. np[loktak-ki isiŋ]