Semantic Kernel for N'Ko Language Processing: A Schema-Locked Approach to Low-Resource Vocabulary Construction

We present a schema-locked, replayable semantic kernel for constructing and validating vocabulary in low-resource languages, with specific application to N'Ko, the indigenous script of the Manding language family. Our system introduces a 7-operator semantic algebra with formal legality grammar, a morphological compiler producing content-addressable forms with stable signatures, and an evidence-driven lifecycle model for vocabulary promotion. The evaluation methodology employs stress-profile-based adversarial testing with deterministic replay, enabling reproducible characterization of system behavior under controlled perturbation. All experimental artifacts—including the evaluation protocol, stress profiles, benchmark schema, and reproduction scripts—are released with the system. The system provides foundational infrastructure for low-resource language technology while explicitly not claiming linguistic authority or community standardization replacement.