This module contains various routines for conjugating Portuguese verbs.
use Lingua::PT::Conjugate; This module pollutes your namespace with the function C<conjug>, that takes just the same arguments as the program C<conjug> (which is just a wrapper). For examples, see the C<conjug> manpage.
$Portuguese::Conjugate::vl
The database in verb.pt is loaded as a single big string, $Portuguese::Conjugate::vl, uncommented and made into a single line.
Informally its syntax is :
Definition of the conjugation of a verb
<verb_name> ":" <tense>? <conjugated_form> <conjugated_form>...
The <tense> is optional : By default, the "parser" expects to find them in the order pres,perf,imp,fut,mdp,cpres,cimp,cfut,cond,ivo,pp, grd.
The conjugated forms must correspond to 1st person, second, third, first plural, (optionally, second plural) and third plural; except for the imperative tense (shortname : "ivo") which starts at 2nd; and past participle ("pp") and gerundivo ("grd") that have a single form only. The conjugated forms may be regexes that match a correct form (and only a correct form) when more than one form is ok (this is the case of the "verbos abundivos"). The second person plural is omitted, because it is little used. It should be added, eventually.
Shorthand notation may be use :
An "etc" means that the rest of that tense is regular. A "." means that the current person is regular. A "x" means that this verb is defective, and that the current person is missing. A "acc" means that circumflex and acute accents are toggled for the current tense.
Saying what verbs follows the model of a given verb
<model_name> = <verb_name> <verb_name> ...
Mean that all the verbs after the "=" have the verb on the lhs as model.
Saying what verbs is defective
defectivos1= <verb_name> ... defectivos2= <verb_name> ... defectivos3= <verb_name> ...
entries specifies defective verbs for which the function conjug has a hard-wired behavior.
%verb
$verb->{$verb_name}->{$tense_name}->[$person] == "whole word".
This is used for irregular verbs. All the $verb->{$verb_name}->{$tense_name}->[$person] and $verb->{$verb_name}->{$tense_name} need not be defined.
If a verb follows a model (i.e. is conjugated like a verb which is present in %verb's keys, and more completely defined), it has a "model" key : $verb->{$verb_name}->{"model"} == "model name". If a verb is "defectivo" (has missing forms), but otherwise regular, it will have an entry $verb->{"defectivo"}->{$verb_name} == number. where the number (1,2, or 3) defines how it behaves.
%reg
$reg->{$verb_ending}->{$tense_name}->[$person] == "ending".
The verb ending may be [aeio]r.
%endg
codify($string)
&locate($verbname)
conjug
Pick up options and arguments. FOREACH verb $v, Find the $root and ending ($edg). Check if $v will require a special treatment, e.g. if it ends in /g[ei]r$/, /c[ei]r$/, etc... and if it is the case, define a "modifier" function (called &$modif), that will be called to "final-polish" the output. IF $v is IRREGULAR, e.g. if %verb{$v} is defined. IF $v follows a model, find that model, and "see what it looks like" (e.g. does the model's root ($rm) end with consonnants, etc). END FOREACH tense $t and person $p ($b is in 1-4,6), IF this form (e.g. $verb->{$v}->{$t}->[$p-1]) is explicitely defined, Great! That's it. ELSE IF the model is explicitly defined, for this form, "See how the model relates to the form, and how the verb $v relates to the model, and from that find what should be $v's corresponding form" (quite heuristic). ELSE Find the appropriate form for regular-irregular verbs (another series of heuristics). END Check for "defective" verbs. END ELSE (verb is REGULAR) It's trivial. END END That's it! The actual code is much, much hairier.
The file C<reference> reference contains conjugation tables for plenty of verbs. Each time I modify C<Verb.pm>, I run the program C<ckconj> ("ckconj all") that checks that the output is still correct for all these verbs. This program outputs two lines, one starting with "OK", containing the verbs that checked ok, and a line "NOT IN REFERENCE FILE" containing the verbs that "Verb.pm" knows about, but that are not in the "reference" file. Any other output reports found errors. Since F<reference> is produced by L<conjug>, it may be inadvertely contaminated. When I discover that, I hack F<Verb.pm> until it conjugates correctly the faulty verb (by checking myself), *and all the other ones too* (with "ckconj all")(like that, I check that my fix has not broken anything). And then I run the program F<assert> (syntax is "assert faulty_verb"), which modifies the reference table.
Thanks to all people on usenet and here at ISR with whom I have discussed about this module, who have provided advice on conjugation, programming, on naming and on all relevant points.
To install Lingua::PT::Conjugate, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Lingua::PT::Conjugate
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Lingua::PT::Conjugate
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.