my $words = {
  'foo' => {
    named_property_x => 'nn',
    named_property_y => 'nns',
  },
  'bar' => {
    named_property_x => 'nvbg',
    named_property_y => 'np',
  },
};

my $lookup = 'foo';
print $words->{$lookup}->{'named_property_x'}; # Would print 'nn'
foreach my $named_property (%{$words->{$lookup}}) {
  # This would print all the named properties for a specific word, in no particular order
  print $named_property . ':' . $words->{$lookup}->{$named_property} . "\n";
}
# To add a new word and/or tag:
$words->{'baz'}->{'named_property_z'} = 'nps';
# Do delete a tag
delete $words->{'baz'}->{'named_property_z'};
# To check for a specific tag:
if ( $words->{'baz'}->{'named_property_z'} eq 'nps' ) { ... }

##</code><code>##

my $words = {
  'foo' => {
    nn => 1,
    nns => 1,
  },
  'bar' => {
    nvbg => 1,
    np => 1,
  },
};

my $lookup = 'foo';
my $tag = 'nn';
print $words->{$lookup}->{$tag}; # Would print '1'
foreach my $tag (keys %{$words->{$lookup}}) {
  # This would print all the tags for a specified word, in no particular order
  print $tag . "\n";
}
# To add a new word and/or tag:
$words->{'baz'}->{'nps'} = 1;
# To delete a tag:
delete $words->{'baz'}->{'nps'};
# To check for a specific tag:
if ( $words->{'baz'}->{'nps'} ) { ... }

##</code><code>##

my $words = {
  'foo' => [ 'nn', 'nns' ],
  'bar' => [ 'nvbg', 'np' ],
};

my $lookup = 'foo';
print $words->{$lookup}->[0]; # Would print 'nn', the first tag
foreach my $tag (@{$words->{$lookup}}) {
  # This would print the tags for a specified word, in the order in which they were defined
  print $tag . "\n";
}
# To add a new word and/or tag:
push @{$words->{'baz'}}, 'nps';
# To delete a tag:
@{$words->{'baz'}} = grep { $_ ne 'nps' } @{$words->{'baz'}};
# To check for a specific tag:
if ( grep { $_ eq 'nps' } @{$words->{'baz'}} ) { ... }