8. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the rule structure to the textual input comprises: applying a first portion of the rule structure to a first portion of the textual input; and applying a second portion of the rule structure to a second portion of the textual input, wherein one of the rule structure portions includes a segment number and the other rule structure portion includes a string of characters.
1. A method of verifying a compound word, comprising: receiving an input signal indicative of a textual input; accessing a rule including multiple segment identifiers and an indication of a relationship between the multiple segment identifiers; generating a rule structure that is based at least in part on the rule, the rule structure including multiple nodes that represent the multiple segment identifiers and are connected by links that represent the relationship between the multiple segment identifiers; accessing a lexical entry including an indication of the multiple segment identifiers; utilizing a computer processor that is a component of a computer to apply the rule structure to the textual input to determine whether the textual input is a valid compound word that includes segments included in the lexical entry and indirectly identified by the multiple segment identifiers, wherein applying the rule structure comprises traversing a traversal path in the rule structure and identifying segments corresponding to the nodes along the traversal path, the segments being identified based on the segment identifiers represented by each node; and providing an output signal indicative of whether the textual input is a compound word.