Light Diacritic Restoration to Disambiguate Homographs in Modern Arabic Texts

Diacritic restoration (also known as diacritization or vowelization) is the process of inserting the correct diacritical markings into a text. Modern Arabic is typically written without diacritics, e.g., newspapers. This lack of diacritical markings often causes ambiguity, and though natives are adept at resolving, there are times they may fail. Diacritic restoration is a classical problem in computer science. Still, as most of the works tackle the full (heavy) diacritization of text, we, however, are interested in diacritizing the text using a fewer number of diacritics. Studies have shown that a fully diacritized text is visually displeasing and slows down the reading. This article proposes a system to diacritize homographs using the least number of diacritics, thus the name “light.” There is a large class of words that fall under the homograph category, and we will be dealing with the class of words that share the spelling but not the meaning. With fewer diacritics, we do not expect any effect on reading speed, while eye strain is reduced. The system contains morphological analyzer and context similarities. The morphological analyzer is used to generate all word candidates for diacritics. Then, through a statistical approach and context similarities, we resolve the homographs. Experimentally, the system shows very promising results, and our best accuracy is 85.6%.

A Review of Kahlil Gibran’s Major Creative Works (Ulasan Hasil Karya Kreatif Utama Kahlil Gibran)

Kahlil Gibran is one of the most important writers of modern Arabic literature and one of the most successful poets of English in the twentieth century. He is undoubtedly a pioneer among Arab poets and novelists writing in English and the most important figure in the Émigré literary movement. His world-wide popularity is due in large part to his universal spiritual message of love and compassion. This study, focusing on both his Arabic and English works, seeks to explore the various contextual aspects that affect all of Gibran’s works since his birth in Mount Lebanon. It also presents a critical overview of all his works for readers and critics that seek a deeper appreciation and a more comprehensive understanding of this literary genius. The study highlights the spiritual element which serves as the link that unifies his Arabic and English works and propels them to enduring literary and popular success across cultures. Keywords: Kahlil Gibran, Āmigré Literature, Diaspora Writers, Spirituality, Perennialism. Abstrak Kahlil Gibran merupakan salah seorang penulis yang tersohor dalam kesusasteraan Arab moden dan salah seorang penyair Inggeris yang berjaya pada abad kedua puluh. Kredibiliti beliau tidak diragukan kerana beliau merupakan perintis dalam kalangan penyair dan novelis Arab yang menulis dalam bahasa Inggeris dan tokoh terpenting dalam gerakan sastera Émigré. Sebahagian besar popularitinya di seluruh dunia adalah disebabkan oleh mesej rohani universal cinta dan belas kasihannya. Kajian ini difokuskan kepada kedua-dua karya Arab dan Inggerisnya untuk meneroka pelbagai aspek kontekstual yang mempengaruhi semua karya Gibran sejak kelahirannya di Gunung Lubnan. Kajian ini juga memberikan gambaran keseluruhan yang kritis mengenai semua karya beliau kepada pembaca dan pengkritik yang mencari penghayatan yang lebih mendalam dan pemahaman yang lebih komprehensif tentang kehebatan sastera ini. Kajian ini juga mengenengahkan unsur kerohanian yang berfungsi sebagai penghubung yang menyatukan hasil karya Arab dan Inggerisnya dan mendorong mereka kepada kejayaan sastera dan popular yang berkekalan di seluruh budaya. Kata Kunci: Kahlil Gibran, Sastera Āmigré, Penulis Diaspora, Kerohanian, Perenialisme.

SEMANTIC DEVELOPMENT IN ARABIC LANGUAGE (AN ANALYTICAL STUDY ON DIWAN ABI TAMMAM) / التطور الدلالي فى اللغة العربية (دراسة تحليلية عن ديوان أبي تمام)

This study aims to determine the development of Arabic semantics in Diwan Abi Tammam book. Abu Tammam is a modern Arabic poet. He has poetry books which have been printed several times and all of his poetry is collected in a book that is known as Diwan Abi Tammam. This research is limited to the types of semantic development. The method used was content analysis. This study begins with an analysis of semantic development in Arabic and then its application in the Diwan Abi Tammam book. The results of this study indicate that the types of semantic development in Diwan Abi Tammam are grammatical and phonemic semantics. The grammatical semantic elements include the meaning of a sentence based on the elements of imagination, aesthetics, stylistic and rhetoric. Whereas, the semantic phonemic elements include the meaning of characteristics of several composed sounds and these sounds have a meaning role in a word such as the differences in the use of halqi, ra’, and sin, and their influence on the meaning of the target object.

THE EFFECT OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL REALISM (AL-MAŻHAB AL-WĀQI’Ī) TOWARD MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE / PENGARUH ALIRAN REALISME (AL-MAŻHAB AL-WĀQI’Ī) BARAT TERHADAP SASTRA ARAB MODERN

This study aims to find out the intricacies of philosophical realism (al-Mażhab al-Wāqi’ī) and its influence on modern Arabic literature. It is undeniable that literary genre that grew up in the west have had a great influence on the development of literature in the world, including Arabic. This research was a literature review that used a qualitative descriptive method by examining and reviewing several related literature. The result showed that realism emerged as a response to the romanticism philosophy which tends to the subjectivity of writers and the depiction of objects that are full of imagination. Furthermore, the western realism has also influenced modern Arabic literature, both poetry and prose. Realism made Arabic poets aware that love poems were no longer relevant to the reality of the people who were in the midst of crisis due to colonialism. Writers began to invigorate the principles of statehood, nationality, and humanity. However, the adoption of western realism, in some aspects, is contrary to Islamic values. This philosophy directs literature towards materialism, atheism, fulfillment of physical needs, and so on.

The Guides Verbs in the Arabic Language: Are Its Terms Originals or Borrowed?

Grammarists differed about the definition of the verb in the Arabic language, but they were in great agreement in dividing it from different sides. From these sides, we find the division of verbs according to the function of directing, which is the subject of this study. The view of the ancient grammarians to the function was affected by the grammatical direction followed (factor theory, semantics). It was noted in some of what they termed a clear dimension of the function of guidance, and with reference to the global grammar that created entrances between languages, even if the characteristics of languages differed among them, borrowing as a mechanism of linguistic development of the Arabic language has allowed, based on this way, to borrow many terms from Other languages were -sometimes- more compatible than that we find in the Arabic language used, for this reason, the researcher tried to study the guides verbs in the Arabic language; After enumerating them and clarifying their terms in the Arabic language, then comparing them with what is used in the French and English languages; It was found that some of the guides Arabic verbs were labeled with a term that is a sign of this function, and some of them were affected by the factor theory in grammar, so their terms did not express the function of directing, and after compare them with modern Arabic studies ,and also, in English and French, we were able to find an appropriate term to achieve the concept of directing. Therefore, the researcher suggested updating or changing these terms by creating appropriate terms that take advantage of the English and French languages, as well as modern Arabic conventions..

The Word “Woman” in Pre-Modern Arabic Lexicons

In all languages, lexicons constitute a valuable source of information on femininities and women. This assertion is enhanced in the case of pre-modern Arabic lexicography, due to the diversity of its contents. However, the picture of women in lexicons has always received more attention in the field of lexicography in Western languages than in Arabic. This paper aims to fill a minor part of this noteworthy gap, by shedding light on all semantical, lexical, and orthographic elements which concern the word “woman” (imraʾa/al-marʾa) in pre-modern Arabic lexicons, more specifically, under the root m-r-ʾ.

Language Teaching for Specific Purposes: A Case Study of the Degree of Accuracy in Describing the Character of Mental Disabilities in Modern Arabic Drama (Egyptian Film Toot-Toot as an Example)

The study aims at investigating the degree of accuracy in describing the character of mental disabilities in modern Arabic drama. The study takes the Egyptian Film Toot-Toot as an example. Toot -Toot is a film about a mentally handicapped heroine, “Kareema”, who was sexually abused by a wealthy man, and she was also socially harassed by the people of her community. The study tries to prove that there is an accurate stereotypical representation of the mentally up-normal characters in Arabic n drama and cinema. To achieve the objectives of the study, the descriptive analytical approach was adopted. The sincerity and consistency of the study tool were confirmed the study summarized the film into eight scenes, then they were analyzed and discussed in light of the degree of accuracy of the general characteristics of mental disabilities which include the following: cognitive, physical, linguistic, the social and psychological characteristics. Also, the role of social institutions towards the mentally disabled is discussed. The results revealed that the purpose is to make the audience to be sympathized rather than empathized by the dramatic representation of the disabled character for the sake of increasing the cash revenue of the film. To sum up, the mentally- handicapped characters were misrepresented; they were so far from the scientific and medical diagnosis.