Volume 13, Issue 6 (June 2026), Pages: 252-263

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 Original Research Paper

Integrating artificial intelligence with a morphology-based digital corpus framework for Toba Batak language preservation

 Author(s): 

Esron Ambarita *, Elita Modesta Br. Sembiring, Faido Marudut Pardamean Simanjuntak

 Affiliation(s):

Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Methodist Indonesia, Medan, Indonesia

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1740-8286

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

 
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.06.024

 Abstract

This study proposes a conceptual and computational framework, supported by a pilot implementation, for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with a morphology-based digital corpus to support Toba Batak language preservation. As a low-resource agglutinative language with complex morphological structures, Toba Batak faces significant challenges in digital processing due to its productive affixation system and morphophonemic variations. This study adopts a qualitative conceptual approach based on linguistic analysis and computational modeling, complemented by a small-scale pilot experiment using a rule-based morphological analyzer. The findings indicate that the complex affixation patterns and morphophonemic characteristics of Toba Batak create significant computational challenges, highlighting the need for structured morphological representation within AI-based language systems. The proposed framework applies linguistic knowledge through a hybrid approach that combines finite-state transducers with neural architectures for applications such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), machine translation (MT), text-to-speech (TTS), and conversational agents. This study demonstrates the potential of morphology-based digital corpora to support the development of more linguistically informed AI technologies for low-resource languages. The proposed approach provides a scalable and adaptable foundation for future AI-assisted preservation and revitalization efforts for Toba Batak and other morphologically complex endangered languages.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

Toba Batak language, Artificial intelligence, Digital corpus, Morphological analysis, Language preservation

 Article history

Received 3 February 2026, Received in revised form 18 June 2026, Accepted 29 June 2026

 Funding

This research was funded by the Direktorat Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat, Direktorat Jenderal Riset dan Pengembangan, Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi, Sains, dan Teknologi Republik Indonesia, under Master Contract No. 122/C3/DT.05.00/PL/2025 and Derivative Contract No. 5/SPK/LLI/AL.04.03/PL/2025. 

 Acknowledgment

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Direktorat Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat, Direktorat Jenderal Riset dan Pengembangan, Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi, Sains, dan Teknologi Republik Indonesia, as well as the Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (LPPM) Universitas Methodist Indonesia, for their valuable support in this research project. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

This study involved human participants. Informed consent was obtained from all informants prior to data collection. The confidentiality and anonymity of participants were strictly maintained. 

 Citation:

Ambarita E, Sembiring EMB, Simanjuntak FMP (2026). Integrating artificial intelligence with a morphology-based digital corpus framework for Toba Batak language preservation. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(6): 252-263

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