singularize: Converts Words to their Singular Form

In SemNetCleaner: An Automated Cleaning Tool for Semantic and Linguistic Data

Converts Words to their Singular Form

Description

A function to change words to their singular form. The rules for converting words to their singular forms are based on the inverse of the grammar rules. This function handles most special cases and some irregular cases (see examples) but caution is necessary. If no singular form is identified, then the original word is returned.

Usage

singularize(word, dictionary = TRUE)

Arguments

word	Character. A word
dictionary	Boolean. Should dictionary be used to verify word exists? Default to TRUE

Value

Returns the word in singular form, unless a singular form could not be found (then the original word is returned)

Author(s)

Alexander Christensen <[e-mail]>

Examples

# Handles any prototypical cases
# "dog"
singularize("dogs")

# "fox"
singularize("foxes")

# "wolf"
singularize("wolves")

# "octopus"
singularize("octopi")

# "taxon"
singularize("taxa")

# And most special cases:
# "wife"
singularize("wives")

# "fez"
singularize("fezzes")

# "roof"
singularize("roofs")

# "photo"
singularize("photos")

# And some irregular cases:
# "child"
singularize("children")

# "tooth"
singularize("teeth")

# "mouse"
singularize("mice")

SemNetCleaner documentation built on June 8, 2025, 12:46 p.m.