HSPELL, a spelling checking system for Hangul (KOREAN), is designed and implemented. The spelling checking algorithm is based on the notion of recovering word's stem by suffix and its stem recovery information.
To implement the system, Korean word formation rules and relationships between stems and suffixes are surveyed. The system consists of master dictionary, suffix information table, and connectivity matrix. Master dictionary maintains the word in its root form and contains its parts of speech. Suffix information table contains suffixes, their categories, and stem recovery information. Connectivity matrix is used to check whether the suffix and the recovered stem of a word can be connected, i.e. whether the word is correct or not.
Spelling checking processes for a word are as follows. First, the system looks up suffix information table to find a suffix which matches tail of the word. Then, the stem of the word is recovered by stem recovery information of the suffix. Finally, the system looks up the master dictionary to check whether the stem is in the master dictionary.
The system shows about 94% accuracy of finding whether a word is correct or not. the system requires only fixed amount of run time memory even if the size of Master dictionary would be larger. Experimental results show that the system may be run on personal computers without any significant loss of system performance. The system can handle texts written in Korean and English.
