LINGUISTIC SEARCH SYSTEM

A method of searching for information in a text database, comprising: receiving (s1) at least one user input, the user input(s) defining a natural language expression, converting (s2, s3) the natural language expression to a tagged form (50, 51) including part-of-speech tags, applying (s4) to the tagged form (51) one or more grammar rules of the language of the natural language expression (49), to derive a regular expression (52), and analyzing (s5) the text database to determine whether there is a match between said regular expression (52) and a portion of said text database. An apparatus for carrying out this techniques is also disclosed. Users may find portions of a text which match multiword expressions given by the user. Matches include possible variations that are relevant with the initial criteria from a linguistic point of view including simple inflections like plural/singular, masculine/feminine or conjugated verbs and even more complex variations like the insertion of additional adjectives, adverbs, etc. in between the words specified by the user.