Standard Arabic Language Research Articles

Проблеми перекладу військово-технічної термінології сучасної арабської літературної мови

Проблеми перекладу військово-технічної термінології сучасної арабської літературної мови

Liaison in Jordanian Arabic and Standard Arabic: Syntax-Prosody Interface

Liaison in Arabic applies to words that end with the feminine marker /t/ even in masculine nouns and adjectives when they happen to have the feminine ending. In this paper, we study liaison in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and Standard Arabic (SA) from the standpoint of syntax-prosody interface. We study the mapping of syntactic phrases onto phonological ones when this process takes place. We argue that liaison in JA is syntactically governed; it occurs only in construct state nominals (CSNs). We compare our finding in JA to those of Standard Arabic (SA). We also present evidence that JA marks right edges of phonological phrase in this phrase-level phonological process. We account for the differences between CSNs, where liaison applies, and other noun phrases where it does not. Finally, we discuss liaison with enchainement which occurs when the second word of the construct state begins with the definite article Ɂal.

A Proposed Model for Standard Arabic Sign Language Recognition Based on Multiplicative Neural Network

A Proposed Model for Standard Arabic Sign Language Recognition Based on Multiplicative Neural Network

Automatic Isolated-Word Arabic Sign Language Recognition System Based on Time Delay Neural Networks

There have been a little number of attempts to develop an Arabic sign recognition system that can be used as a communication means between hearing-impaired and other people. This study introduces the first automatic isolated-word Arabic Sign Language (ArSL) recognition system based on Time Delay Neural Networks (TDNN). The proposed vision-based recognition system that the user wears two simple but different colors gloves when performing the signs in the data sets within this study. The two colored regions are recognized and highlighted within each frame in the video to help in recognizing the signs. This research uses the multivariate Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based on the characteristics of the well known Hue Saturation Lightness Model (HIS) in determining the colors within the video frames. In this research the mean and covariance of the three colored region within the frames are determined and used to help us in segmenting each frame (picture) into two colored regions and outlier region. Finally we propose, create and use the following four features as an input to the TDNN; the centroid position for each hand using the center of the upper area for each frame as references, the change in horizontal velocity of both hands across the frames, the change in vertical velocity of both hands across the frames and the area change for each hand across the frames. A large set of samples has been used to recognize 40 isolated words coded by 10 different signers from the Standard Arabic sign language signs. Our proposed system obtains a word recognition rate of 70.0% in testing set.

Silent Speech Recognition with Arabic and English Words for Vocally Disabled Persons

This paper presents the results of our research in silent speech recognition (SSR) using Surface Electromyography (sEMG); which is the technology of recording the electric activation potentials of the human articulatory muscles by surface electrodes in order to recognize speech. Though SSR is still in the experimental stage, a number of potential applications seem evident. Persons who have undergone a laryngectomy, or older people for whom speaking requires a substantial effort, would be able to mouth (vocalize) words rather than actually pronouncing them. Our system has been trained with 30 utterances from each of the three subjects we had on a testing vocabulary of 4 phrases, and then tested for 15 new utterances that were not part of the training list. The system achieved an average of 91.11% word accuracy when using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier while the base language is English, and an average of 89.44% word accuracy using the Standard Arabic language.

Accusative Case-Assignment in Double Object Constructions in Standard Arabic: A Minimalist Approach

The study investigates the issue of Double object constructions (DOCs) in Standard Arabic (SA). The investigation is conducted within the framework of Chomsky’s Minimalist Program (MP) (1995, 2000, 2004), and Radford's proposals of accusative – case assignment (2004, 2009) in DOCs. The study aims to provide an account for two objectives. The first objective is to show how DOCs in SA are derived within MP. The second objective is to justify how accusative case is assigned to the first and second objects of these constructions. To achieve the first objective, the study shows that the structure of DOCs in SA can be derived by the adoption of the VP shell, one of the principles of MP, as introduced by Chomsky (1995, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008). The analysis of VP in SA reflects the fact that in DOCs the main verb has the first object as its specifer and the second object as its complement. The adoption of Radford's proposals (2004, 2009) provides a solution for the second objective of the study, the accusative – case assignment in DOCs in SA. According to Radford' proposals, the first object is assigned the accusative case by the accusative light-v whereas, the second object checks its accusative case against that of the main V. The study suggests further research on the application of MP principles on other linguistic features of SA.

A Phase-Based Account of Wh-Questions in Standard Arabic

The main concern of this paper is to investigate the syntax of Wh-questions in Standard Arabic (SA). This investigation will be conducted within the latest framework envisaged by Chomsky (1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, and 2006). Chomsky’s latest version has been termed a phase-based theory of syntax. As far as I know SA Wh-questions have not been analyzed within this framework. I think it is worth the trouble knowing if recent developments in the syntactic theory are applicable to a non-Indo-European language such as SA. As is well known there is scarcity of studies on SA in this modern line of research. If SA along with other languages can be handled within the phase-based theory of syntax, this will provide a cross-linguistic evidence for the universality of this theory; if not, further research needs to be conducted before reaching any definitive conclusions.

Classification of the Arabic Emphatic Consonants using Time Delay Neural Network

This study concerns the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) in automatic classification of the emphatic consonants of the Standard Arabic Language (SAL). It reinforces the few works directed towards the speech recognition in Standard Arabic. We have applied the Time Delay Neural Network (TDNN) approach which permits a classification of the phonemes by taking into account the dynamic aspect of speech and consequently to overcome problems of coarticulation phenomenon. We have conducted a supervised training method based on Bayesian Regularization (BR) backpropagation coupled with the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) optimization algorithm, to adjust the synaptic weights in order to minimize the error between the computed output and the desired output for all samples. Based on the results, the proposed Neural Network provides a higher percentage of recognition accuracy of the emphatic phonemes (92.25%). The choice of our study is quite important. Indeed, efficient phoneme classifiers lead to efficient word classifiers and the ability to recognize phonemes accurately provides the basis for an accurate recognition of words and continuous speech in the future. General Terms Speech Processing, Neural Networks.

Запозичення як один із продуктивних шляхів поповнення лексичного складу військової термінології сучасної арабської літературної мови

Запозичення як один із продуктивних шляхів поповнення лексичного складу військової термінології сучасної арабської літературної мови

The impact of the ideology of modernity on language attitudes in Morocco

This paper investigates how the ideology of modernity affects Moroccan youths' attitudes towards local and foreign languages. Covert attitudes data from a Matched Guise Test show the alignment of French, as compared with Moroccan Arabic (MA) and Standard Arabic (SA), with the status-bearing traits of modernity and open-mindedness. Additionally, overt data from a language attitudes questionnaire show that the higher their social class, the more likely respondents are to hold favourable attitudes towards French and the increasing use of English and move away from the local codes of MA, SA, and Berber. The impact of the ideology of modernity on Moroccan youth shows that the valorisation of Western languages, a product of the French colonial era, maintains a linguistically and socially asymmetrical position between speakers of local codes and those of foreign languages. Members of the Moroccan elite play the role of ‘ideology brokers’ (Jaffe 1999), whose linguistic practices, language attitudes, and ascription to the ideology of modernity serve to reinforce a system of privileges, class structure, and lines of power on the basis of linguistic segregation.

Verb Agreement Features in Standard Arabic (SA): A Minimalist Approach

The present study investigates the features of the verb agreement in Standard Arabic (SA).The investigation is conducted within the framework of the principles of Chomsky's Minimalism. The main objective of the study is to survey the applicability of the Minimalist principles on the derivation of SV order and VO order in SA. The study shows that the principles of Minimalism cannot account for the feature of agreement asymmetry either in SV order or VS order. The study concludes that principles of Minimalism needs to be modified to justify the asymmetry in agreement features of the verb in both SV and VS orders in SA.

A Descriptive Analytical Study to Case System of Standard Arabic from Traditional Grammarians Perspective

The study aims to briefly describe and analyze aspects of case marking in Standard Arabic (SA) traditionally, with highlighting some of the worthy and defective features of Case Structure in SA, and the approach the traditional grammarians adopted. Further it analyzes features based on Modern Linguistic Theory Principles.

Cascade–forward Neural Networks for Arabic Phonemes Based on k–Fold Cross Validation

The study of Malaysian Arabic phoneme is rarely found which make the references to the work is difficult. Specific guideline on Malaysian subject is not found even though a lot of acoustic and phonetics research has been done on other languages such as English, French and Chinese. In this paper, we monitored and analyzed the performance of cascade-forward (CF) networks on our phoneme recognition system of Standard Arabic (SA). This study focused on Malaysian children as test subjects. It is focused on four chosen phonemes from SA, which composed of nasal, lateral and trill behaviors, i.e. tabulated at four different articulation places. Cascade neural networks are chosen as it provide less time for samples processing. The method, k–fold cross validation to evaluate each network architecture in k times to improve the reliability of the choice of the optimal architecture. Based on this method, namely 10–fold cross validation, the most suitable cascade–layer network architecture in first hidden layer and second hidden layer is 40 and 10 nodes respectively with MSE 0.0402. The training and testing recognition rates achieved were 94% and 93% respectively.

The social motivation of code-switching in mosque sermons in Egypt

Studies on language and religion in the Arab world have generally focused on dialectal variation between different religious communities within specific countries (cf. Abu-Haidar 1991; Holes 1984). This study, on the other hand, tries to show how Muslim religious figures exploit the diglossic situation in Egypt in their sermons in order to convey social messages more effectively to their target audience. I focus on patterns of language use within the Muslim religious community by examining cases of code-switching between SA (standard Arabic) and ECA (Egyptian colloquial Arabic) in mosque sermons. The study references indexicality (Woolard 2004) and markedness theory (Myers-Scotton 1998, 2005) in its theoretical framing, and analyses the discourse function of and social motivations for exploiting the diglossic situation in these sermons. It aims to show how Islamic preachers can manipulate the linguistic situation to convey a religious message.

Verbal and Nominal Case Suffixes in Standard Arabic: A Unified Account

The Traditional Arab Grammarians (TAGs) (Sībawayhi 8th century) assigned somewhat similar terminology for the inflectional states of Standard Arabic (SA) verbs and nouns. Verbs could be either marfūʕ ‘Indicative’, manṣūb ‘Subjunctive’, majzūm ‘Jussive’, or mabnī ‘uninflected for mood’, making reference to so-called ‘mood’ endings. Likewise, nouns could be either marfūʕ ‘Nominative’, manṣūb ‘Accusative’, majrūr ‘Genitive’, or mabnī ‘uninflected for case’, making reference to case endings. Thus, TAGs named Ind-marked verbs and Nom-marked nouns marfūʕ, and Sub-marked verbs and Acc-marked nouns manṣūb, in reference to the morphological similarity between the relevant nominal and verbal suffixes. Nonetheless, this similarity is observed between 10 out of the 14 sets of verbal and nominal suffixes in the Ind-Nom paradigm, and between only 4 out of the 14 sets of verbal and nominal suffixes in the Sub-Acc paradigm. In other words, the presumed morphological similarity in terms of suffixes is not perfect. Therefore, this paper aims to show that, at some stage in word formation, the two sets of verbal suffixes, indicative and subjunctive, are identical to the two sets of nominal suffixes, Nom and Acc, respectively, for the verbs and nouns that encode the same number and gender features. After that stage, verbal forms undergo certain word formation operations (feature movement and feature deletion) that affect their structure, resulting in the known surface forms. This account is based on a novel analysis of the SA imperfective paradigm. Both accounts will be presented in purely descriptive terms, without making reference to any available morphological framework.

Standard Arabic Left-dislocation without Movement: Evidence for the Presence of a Hanging Topic Left-dislocation Construction

This paper investigates left-dislocation constructions in Standard Arabic (SA), most notably those that have been considered so far as SA CLLD constructions (cf. Aoun & Benmamoun 1998). On the basis of an arsenal of movement diagnostic and cross-linguistic comparison with cross-linguistic findings, I demonstrate that the categorization that Aoun & Benmamoun (1998) advance with respect to SA left-dislocation is inadequate. Accordingly, I raise the issue of whether SA CLLD, are in fact hanging topic left dislocation (HTLD). I therefore compare SA CLLD with their HTLD counterparts. It turns out that SA and English pattern together with respect to HTLD; According to my findings, I provide a new classification of left-dislocation constructions which takes into account SA facts.

Simple Sentence Structure of Standard Arabic Language and Standard English Language: A Contrastive Study

Purpose: To contrast and compare the simple sentence structure in the form of statement of both Standard Arabic SA and English SE Languages on the basis of Lado’s Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis CAH. Method: 500 sentences in Standard Arabic and 500 sentences in Standard English were collected randomly from published academic sources in both languages where all of them are simple and in some cases a compound or complex sentence is broken to have simple sentences. Lado’s approach and steps for contrasting two linguistic systems were identically followed: selection of source language SL (Arabic) and target language TL (English), description, comparison and prediction of potential problems classified according to the degree of importance. Results: Results indicated that SA is a free-word-order system in the case of structuring a simple sentence in the form of statement compared to the SE which proved a fixed-word-order language. Additionally and predictively, learners of both Arabic and English as foreign language (AFL), (EFL) and as Second language (ASL), (ESL) have difficulties when attempting to write a sentence. For learners of English it is more difficult as they do not have verbal, nominal and equational sentences in their written language, so they move from one type to three or [four] types of sentences in the form of statement. For Arab learners, they have serious problems in subject-verb agreement but which was not the researcher’s concern. Other problems according to this research-paper could be in translation in both cases but it is more in the case of Arab learners especially in the case of the verb (Be). Conclusions: SA allows four types of simple sentence in the form of statement with some restrictions and rules for each case (nominal, verbal, equational, and non-verbal), whereas English allows only one type which is nominal.

Application of Government and Binding Theory on Agreement in Standard Arabic

Standard Arabic (SA) has two basic patterns that are SVO and VSO. On light of Government and Binding Theory (GB), these word orders are illustrated in relation to the AGR Criterion that accounts for the restrictions on agreement associated with the two word orders in SA. Examples from Standard Arabic (SA) and Moroccan Arabic (MA) with reference to the Expletive Hypothesis show some of the problems related to rich or full agreement in SVO structures. Also, the issue of poor agreement or partial agreement in VSO structures is extensively discussed in SA and MA respectively. The researcher concludes with the evidence that AGR Criterion is responsible to regulate the features between AGRs and the NP-subjects in accordance with their positions in the sentence, whether in SVO or VSO structures.

Politicizing identity: Code choice and stance-taking during the Egyptian revolution

This study aims to offer a fresh look at the relationship between identity, stance-taking and code choice. The study provides three examples of different forms of Egyptian public discourse related directly to identity that took place during the 2011 revolution of Egypt, a time when state TV media stations cast doubt on the identity of the protestors by utilizing linguistic resources. This article argues that during the process of stance-taking speakers employ linguistic resources, discourse resources and structural resources. These linguistic resources include the associations and indexes of different languages and varieties, in this case Standard Arabic (SA), Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) and English. This stance-taking process depends on code-switching as a mechanism that lays claims to different indexes and thus appeals to different ideologies and different facets of identity. Second, this study also shows how speakers use public discourse in order to construe language as a classification category and an identity builder.

The sociolinguistic functions of codeswitching between Standard Arabic and Dialectal Arabic

AbstractThis study examines the social functions of codeswitching (CS) between Standard Arabic (SA) and Dialectal Arabic (DA). The data came from thirty-five audio and video recordings in the domains of religious lectures, political debates, and soccer commentaries. The findings suggest that speakers create a functional division between the two varieties by designating issues of importance, complexity, and seriousness to SA, the High code, and aligning less important, less serious, and accessible topics with DA, the Low code. The CS patterns therefore reproduce the unequal socialvaluesand distribution of SA and DA in the Arabic sociolinguistic landscape and simultaneously call for a reconceptualization of the notion of diglossia as presented in Ferguson's (1959) work. Other functions of CS as a marker of speakers' attitudes and as an index of pan-Arab or Muslim identities are discussed. (Arabic, bidialectal codeswitching, High/Low dichotomy, functional diglossia, identity, language attitudes)*