A Multilanguage, Modular Framework for Metrical Analysis: It Patterns and Theorical Issues

Chiron is a system for the analysis of virtually any language, poetical tradition, metre and text; its modular architecture provides a 2-step analysis process, where data collection is separated from interpretation. The first step happens by chaining any number of analysis layers, each performing a specialized task. In Greek and Latin metrics, a syntax layer is required between the phonological and metrical one for detecting appositives and clitics. Analysis data are saved into a repository for data interpretation; in turn, the observations are stored into a metrics corpus, which can be queried with any complex expression. This provides a sort of live metrics laboratory, especially useful for studying interaction among the complex phenomena underlying metrics.