ImportantAs stated in Texts & Words overview, you "parse" wordforms (words) that are in texts in the Texts & Words area.
Parsing is not limited to one method or starting point. You can
manually analyze (manually "parse") or manually gloss words
use (approve) analyses suggested by FLEx, based on previous manual analyses of identically spelled words
use the default computational parser to produce analyses, or
try the Phonological Rule-based computational parser to produce analyses.
Different background colors indicate if an analysis was suggested by FLEx or produced by a computational parser.
To use either computational parser, you need to develop constraints so the parser does not produce incorrect analyses and runs efficiently. Constraints include various items of grammatical information that are stored in both Lexicon Edit and Grammar.
Parsing words (XAmple) lists the information used by the default parser.
Parsing words (Hermit Crab) lists the information used by this parser.
It is expected that the Hermit Crab parser will use all the information used by the default parser, and additionally, phonological rules, phonemes and their phonological features, and so on.
It is also expected that the default parser will be sufficient for all of the computational parsing needs of most users. Some users may need the Hermit Crab phonological rule-based parser for some of the words in their texts.
ImportantHere is another way to understand the difference between manually analyzing words and using a computational parser:
Manual analyses: You make all the morpheme breaks yourself and the Language Explorer program suggests analyses you have made before when the very same word recurs.
Computational parser: The parser suggests possible analyses for words that are brand new, if the lexicon has entries for each morpheme.
Example: Suppose plays and walked were analyzed (parsed) and that all four morphemes exist as lexical entries.
Without a parser running, Language Explorer will propose suggestions for future occurrences of plays and walked (light blue background color).
With a parser running, when you subsequently encounter played and walks, the parser will produce analysis suggestions (orange background color) for these new words.
When both kinds of suggestions are available for a word, the program will suggest a user analysis (manual) in preference to a parser-produced analysis.
When more than one user analyses are available for a word, the program will suggest the one that is most frequently used.
Your colors may appear differently due to different screens or screen settings.
You can test the parser and see parser reports.
For a more complete discussion, on the Help menu, point to Resources and then click Introduction to Parsing.
Morphology and Parsing Tasks overview lists some examples that were reproduced in these Helps.