1. Apparatus for annotating digitally encoded natural language text words, such apparatus comprising a dictionary database including a plurality of encoded word base forms, wherein a base form is stored together with a first set of data encoding the possible uses or features of words corresponding to the base form, and with a second set of data encoding the synthesis of inflections of the base form, look-up means for identifying a base form of a text word, such look-up means including (i) means for detecting a characteristic inflectional ending occurring in the text word to produce a candidate base form, and (ii) means for determining whether the candidate base form is a word base form in the dictionary data base, and in that event assigning data stored with the base form to the text word, and means for assigning a dummy base form and a set of data codes to a word for which the look-up means retrieves no base form from the dictionary database.