7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION MKR2018 @ ITB Dublin 4, 5 an... more 7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION MKR2018 @ ITB Dublin 4, 5 and 6 July, 201
Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become<br> emerging topics of research in recent... more Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become<br> emerging topics of research in recent years but most of the work<br> is focused on data in the English language. A comprehensive<br> research and analysis are essential which considers multiple<br> languages, machine translation techniques, and different classifiers.<br> This paper presents, a comparative analysis of different approaches<br> for multilingual sentiment analysis. These approaches are divided<br> into two parts: one using classification of text without language<br> translation and second using the translation of testing data to a<br> target language, such as English, before classification. The presented<br> research and results are useful for understanding whether machine<br> translation should be used for multilingual sentiment analysis or<br> building language specific sentiment classification systems is a better<br> approach. The effect...
Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Butt 1995, Butt 2003, Alsina et al. 20... more Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Butt 1995, Butt 2003, Alsina et al. 2001). Cross linguistically, there appears to be a common class of verbs involved in these constructions and generally there is agreement that light verbs contribute to the formation of complex predicates. Light verbs, too, have a non-light or ‘heavy ’ verb counterpart. In this paper we discuss the patterns of occurrence of light verb constructions (LVC) as found in modern Irish. We claim that the light verb (LV) encodes the event process initiation (or cause) and the matrix verb indicates the bounded component or result. In light verb constructions, the matrix verb appears in syntax as a verbal-noun form. The function of light verbs in these constructions is to modulate the event and sub-event semantics and the different light verbs do this in different ways. We distinguish between auxiliary verbs constructions (AVC) and those constructions involving light verbs (Anderson 2006, Aikhenvald...
This study examines the ordering of the actor (A), theme (T) and recipient (R) arguments in three... more This study examines the ordering of the actor (A), theme (T) and recipient (R) arguments in three-argument clauses, the prepositional ditransitive constructions of Irish. The ordering of the A, T and R arguments in three-argument clauses is an area where linguistic complexity is manifest in the Irish grammar. Across languages, the factors which influence word order adjustments, from a basic word order of A-T-R, are known to include iconicity, information structure and topicalisation, the distinction between given and new information, the effects of the various referential hierarchies, and syntactic weight. We show that some, but not all, of these apply to the Irish data. Under certain conditions, the word order of these Irish three-argument clauses changes in a different alignment. Specifically, if the T is an accusative pronoun then the word order alignment changes and consequently the T occurs after the R in clause final position, yielding an A R-T word order. We argue that post-p...
This paper presents work-in-progress investigating the development of a rule-based lexical framew... more This paper presents work-in-progress investigating the development of a rule-based lexical framework for Arabic language processing using the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) linguistic model. A system, called UniArab is introduced in this research to support the framework. The paper outlines the conceptual structure of UniArab System, which utilizes the framework and translates the Arabic language into another natural language. Also, this paper explores how the characteristics of the Arabic language will effect the development of a Machine Translation (MT) tool from Arabic to English. Several distinguishing features of Arabic pertin ent to MT will be explored in detail with reference to some potential difficulties that they might pre sent.
This paper hypothesizes that the impersonal passive construction of Irish has an indefinite actor... more This paper hypothesizes that the impersonal passive construction of Irish has an indefinite actor at the level of the semantics and that the impersonal passive verb expresses this as a third person indefinite pronoun in the syntax via a synthetic post-verbal suffix rendered on the matrix verb. When considered in this way, the behavior of the impersonal passive verb in the syntax is shown to be the same with respect to definite subject pronouns when they are expressed in a nonanalytic manner, that is, in the synthetic form of the verb. There is some diachronic evidence in support of this. We examine these constructions and argue that a characterisation in the RRG framework must allow for a verbal predicate sensitive to definiteness as a head feature on nominals, and operate in a manner similar to agreement features. We posit definiteness as one of a number of binary head features and claim that these features are recognized by the verbal predicate at linking time such that the argume...
Using Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) to support blended learning is very common in education... more Using Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) to support blended learning is very common in educational institutes. Delivering learning material in a flexible and semi-structured manner to the learner transforms such systems into powerful eLearning tools. However, the presentation and visualisation of individual or multiple learning objects is mostly dictated by the system and cannot be altered easily. This paper reports on a project between Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) that aims to improve the simultaneous visualisation of multiple multimedia objects for deaf learners of ISL. The project was implemented using the Open Source VLE Moodle. Moodle’s nature of being Open Source and having the ability to code plug-ins qualified it to be the most suited vehicle to address the visualisation problem. Traditionally VLEs allow the viewing of one learning object at a time, which meant that deaf learners could either view a pre-recorded, signed i...
This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman a... more This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman and Nolan 2008). It is a proof-of-concept system supporting the fundamental aspects of Arabic, such as the parts of speech, agreement and tenses. UniArab is based on the linking algorithm of RRG (syntax to semantics and vice versa). UniArab takes MSA Arabic as input in the native orthography, parses the sentence(s) into a logical meta-representation based on the fully expanded RRG logical structures and, using this, generates perfectly grammatical English output with full agreement and morphological resolution. UniArab utilizes an XML-based implementation of elements of the Role and Reference Grammar theory in software. In order to analyse Arabic by computer we first extract the lexical properties of the Arabic words (Al-Sughaiyer and Al-Kharashi 2004). From the parse, it then creates a computer-based representation for the logical structure of the Arabic sentence(s). We use the RRG theor...
Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is a functional theory of grammar. The main features of Role and... more Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is a functional theory of grammar. The main features of Role and Reference Grammar are the use of lexical decomposition, based upon predicate semantics, an analysis of clause structure and the use of a set of thematic roles organized into a hierarchy in which the highestranking roles are Actor (for the most active participant) and Undergoer. The theory allows a sentence in a specific language to be described in terms of its logical structure and grammatical procedures. The lexicon in RRG takes the position that lexical entries for verbs should contain unique information only, with as much information as possible derived from general lexical rules. We use the RRG theory to motivate the architecture of the lexicon. The lexicon is designed to reflect the word categories in the Arabic language with as much information as possible derived from general lexical rules. The lexicon stores the Arabic words in categories; each category is stored in an XML form...
This paper examines the nature of the assertive speech act of Irish. We examine the syntactical c... more This paper examines the nature of the assertive speech act of Irish. We examine the syntactical constructional form of the assertive to identify its constructional signature. We consider the speech act as a construction whose meaning as an utterance depends on the framing situation and context, along with the common ground of the interlocutors. We identify how the assertive speech act is formalised to make it computer tractable for a software agent to compute its meaning, taking into account the contribution of situation, context and a dynamic common ground. Belief, desire and intention play a role in <em>what is meant</em> as against <em>what is said</em>. The nature of knowledge, and how it informs common ground, is explored along with the relationship between knowledge and language. Computing the meaning of a speech act in the situation requires us to consider the level of the interaction of all these dimensions. We argue that the contribution of lexicon a...
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2014
This paper characterises complex predicates and light verb constructions in Modern Irish. Light v... more This paper characterises complex predicates and light verb constructions in Modern Irish. Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Alsina, Bresnan & Sells, 2001; Butt, 1995, 2003). Cross linguistically, there appears to be a common class of verbs involved in these constructions and generally there is agreement that light verbs contribute to the formation of complex predicates. Light verbs seem have a non-light or ‘heavy’ verb counterpart. In this paper we discuss the light verb constructions (LVC) as found in modern Irish and how they form complex predicates. We claim that the light verb (LV) encodes the event process initiation (or cause) and the matrix verb indicates the bounded component or result. In light verb constructions, the matrix verb appears in Modern Irish syntax as a verbal-noun form. The function of light verbs in these constructions is to modulate the event and sub-event semantics. We distinguish between auxiliary verbs constructions (AVC) and those...
This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman a... more This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman and Nolan 2008). It is a proof-of-concept system supporting the fundamental aspects of Arabic, such as the parts of speech, agreement and tenses. UniArab is based on the linking algorithm of RRG (syntax to semantics and vice versa). UniArab takes MSA Arabic as input in the native orthography, parses the sentence(s) into a logical meta-representation based on the fully expanded RRG logical structures and, using this, generates perfectly grammatical English output with full agreement and morphological resolution. UniArab utilizes an XML-based implementation of elements of the Role and Reference Grammar theory in software. In order to analyse Arabic by computer we first extract the lexical properties of the Arabic words (Al-Sughaiyer and Al-Kharashi 2004). From the parse, it then creates a computer-based representation for the logical structure of the Arabic sentence(s). We use the RRG theor...
ITB Journal Issue Number 18, December 2009 Page 72 Creating access to education with progression ... more ITB Journal Issue Number 18, December 2009 Page 72 Creating access to education with progression pathways via blended learning of Deaf Studies at third level in Ireland: Open innovation with digital assets Brian Nolan 1, Lorraine Leeson 2 1 Institute of Technology, ...
... ITB Journal May 2002 Page 94 We have discussed two morphological prefixes. The prefix dún+V m... more ... ITB Journal May 2002 Page 94 We have discussed two morphological prefixes. The prefix dún+V morphologically marks the verb as strongly agentive, with all the attributes that that implies. ... DeLancey, Scott.(1984). Notes on agentivity and causation. SIL, 8: 181-213. ...
This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of the argument realisation of the concepts ... more This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of the argument realisation of the concepts of causative purpose, permit, let/allow and transfer in a broad cross-linguistic typologically diverse mix of languages with GIVE, GET, TAKE, PUT, and LET verbs. This volume stands as the first systematic exploration of these verbs and concepts as they occur in complex events and clauses. This book brings together scholars and researchers from a variety of functionally inspired theoretical backgrounds that have worked on these verbs within one language or from a cross-linguistic perspective. The objective is to understand the linguistic behaviour of the verbs and their inter-relationships within a contemporary cognitive-functional linguistic perspective. The languages represented include Irish, German, Slavic (West Slavic: Polish, Czech, Slovak and Sorbian and Western South Slavic: Slovenian and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian), Germanic, Romance, Gan Chinese Yichun dialect, Māori, Bohairic Cop...
This paper explores how the characteristics of the Arabic language will affect the development of... more This paper explores how the characteristics of the Arabic language will affect the development of a Machine Translation (MT) tool from Arabic to English. Several distinguishing features of Arabic pertinent to MT will be explored in detail with reference to some potential difficulties that they might present. The paper will conclude with a proposed model incorporating the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) technique to achieve this end. 1 Introduction Arabic is a Semitic language originating in the area presently known as the Arabian Peninsula. It has been spoken in its current form since the 2nd millennium BCE. As a language, Arabic has few irregularities and it is rich in morphological structure. Arabic is also rare in that it is a derivational language rather than concatenative. Words like 'went , go'-يذهب ؛ ذهب can easily be seen as being part of a hierarchy of inheritance from a specific root (in this case )ذهب In English and in many other languages this is not always the case. The Arabic language is written from right to left. It has 28 letters, many language specific grammar rules and it is a free word order language. Each Arabic letter represents a specific sound so the spelling of words can easily be done phonetically. There is no use of silent letters as in English. Similarly, there is no need to combine letters in Arabic to achieve a certain sound that might be familiar to an English speaker. For example, the 'th' sound in English as in the word 'Thinking' is reduced in Arabic to the character ث. In addition to the standard challenges involved in developing an efficient translation tool from Arabic to English, the free word-order nature of Arabic creates an obstacle unique to the language. The number of possible clause combinations in basic phrasal structures far exceeds that of most languages. There is no copula verb 'to be' in Arabic, resulting in a unique usage of the subject 'I'. The absence of the indefinite article, while not unique to Arabic still poses many difficulties within the context of the language structure. These and other issues are discussed in later sections. The remainder of this paper is organized in the following manner: Section 2 introduces some common features of Machine Translation and discuses generic problems regardless of language. Section 3 presents the characteristics of the Arabic language. Section 4 will discuss some distinguishing features of Arabic and finally Section 5 will summarize the findings discussed and briefly outline a proposed MT solution. 2 Machine Translation Machine translation of natural languages, commonly known as MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another. While semi-automated tools have been applauded in the recent past as the most realistic path to follow, it is no longer the case. The current consensus is that fully automated, efficient translation tools should remain the primary goal. The nature of users of such systems and the type of text involved leave little room for continued dependence on human aids. The motivation for an Arabic-English translation tool is obvious when one considers that Arabic is the lingua franca of the Middle-Eastern world. Presently, 21 countries with a combined population of
7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION MKR2018 @ ITB Dublin 4, 5 an... more 7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEANING AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION MKR2018 @ ITB Dublin 4, 5 and 6 July, 201
Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become<br> emerging topics of research in recent... more Sentiment analysis and opinion mining have become<br> emerging topics of research in recent years but most of the work<br> is focused on data in the English language. A comprehensive<br> research and analysis are essential which considers multiple<br> languages, machine translation techniques, and different classifiers.<br> This paper presents, a comparative analysis of different approaches<br> for multilingual sentiment analysis. These approaches are divided<br> into two parts: one using classification of text without language<br> translation and second using the translation of testing data to a<br> target language, such as English, before classification. The presented<br> research and results are useful for understanding whether machine<br> translation should be used for multilingual sentiment analysis or<br> building language specific sentiment classification systems is a better<br> approach. The effect...
Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Butt 1995, Butt 2003, Alsina et al. 20... more Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Butt 1995, Butt 2003, Alsina et al. 2001). Cross linguistically, there appears to be a common class of verbs involved in these constructions and generally there is agreement that light verbs contribute to the formation of complex predicates. Light verbs, too, have a non-light or ‘heavy ’ verb counterpart. In this paper we discuss the patterns of occurrence of light verb constructions (LVC) as found in modern Irish. We claim that the light verb (LV) encodes the event process initiation (or cause) and the matrix verb indicates the bounded component or result. In light verb constructions, the matrix verb appears in syntax as a verbal-noun form. The function of light verbs in these constructions is to modulate the event and sub-event semantics and the different light verbs do this in different ways. We distinguish between auxiliary verbs constructions (AVC) and those constructions involving light verbs (Anderson 2006, Aikhenvald...
This study examines the ordering of the actor (A), theme (T) and recipient (R) arguments in three... more This study examines the ordering of the actor (A), theme (T) and recipient (R) arguments in three-argument clauses, the prepositional ditransitive constructions of Irish. The ordering of the A, T and R arguments in three-argument clauses is an area where linguistic complexity is manifest in the Irish grammar. Across languages, the factors which influence word order adjustments, from a basic word order of A-T-R, are known to include iconicity, information structure and topicalisation, the distinction between given and new information, the effects of the various referential hierarchies, and syntactic weight. We show that some, but not all, of these apply to the Irish data. Under certain conditions, the word order of these Irish three-argument clauses changes in a different alignment. Specifically, if the T is an accusative pronoun then the word order alignment changes and consequently the T occurs after the R in clause final position, yielding an A R-T word order. We argue that post-p...
This paper presents work-in-progress investigating the development of a rule-based lexical framew... more This paper presents work-in-progress investigating the development of a rule-based lexical framework for Arabic language processing using the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) linguistic model. A system, called UniArab is introduced in this research to support the framework. The paper outlines the conceptual structure of UniArab System, which utilizes the framework and translates the Arabic language into another natural language. Also, this paper explores how the characteristics of the Arabic language will effect the development of a Machine Translation (MT) tool from Arabic to English. Several distinguishing features of Arabic pertin ent to MT will be explored in detail with reference to some potential difficulties that they might pre sent.
This paper hypothesizes that the impersonal passive construction of Irish has an indefinite actor... more This paper hypothesizes that the impersonal passive construction of Irish has an indefinite actor at the level of the semantics and that the impersonal passive verb expresses this as a third person indefinite pronoun in the syntax via a synthetic post-verbal suffix rendered on the matrix verb. When considered in this way, the behavior of the impersonal passive verb in the syntax is shown to be the same with respect to definite subject pronouns when they are expressed in a nonanalytic manner, that is, in the synthetic form of the verb. There is some diachronic evidence in support of this. We examine these constructions and argue that a characterisation in the RRG framework must allow for a verbal predicate sensitive to definiteness as a head feature on nominals, and operate in a manner similar to agreement features. We posit definiteness as one of a number of binary head features and claim that these features are recognized by the verbal predicate at linking time such that the argume...
Using Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) to support blended learning is very common in education... more Using Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) to support blended learning is very common in educational institutes. Delivering learning material in a flexible and semi-structured manner to the learner transforms such systems into powerful eLearning tools. However, the presentation and visualisation of individual or multiple learning objects is mostly dictated by the system and cannot be altered easily. This paper reports on a project between Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) that aims to improve the simultaneous visualisation of multiple multimedia objects for deaf learners of ISL. The project was implemented using the Open Source VLE Moodle. Moodle’s nature of being Open Source and having the ability to code plug-ins qualified it to be the most suited vehicle to address the visualisation problem. Traditionally VLEs allow the viewing of one learning object at a time, which meant that deaf learners could either view a pre-recorded, signed i...
This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman a... more This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman and Nolan 2008). It is a proof-of-concept system supporting the fundamental aspects of Arabic, such as the parts of speech, agreement and tenses. UniArab is based on the linking algorithm of RRG (syntax to semantics and vice versa). UniArab takes MSA Arabic as input in the native orthography, parses the sentence(s) into a logical meta-representation based on the fully expanded RRG logical structures and, using this, generates perfectly grammatical English output with full agreement and morphological resolution. UniArab utilizes an XML-based implementation of elements of the Role and Reference Grammar theory in software. In order to analyse Arabic by computer we first extract the lexical properties of the Arabic words (Al-Sughaiyer and Al-Kharashi 2004). From the parse, it then creates a computer-based representation for the logical structure of the Arabic sentence(s). We use the RRG theor...
Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is a functional theory of grammar. The main features of Role and... more Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is a functional theory of grammar. The main features of Role and Reference Grammar are the use of lexical decomposition, based upon predicate semantics, an analysis of clause structure and the use of a set of thematic roles organized into a hierarchy in which the highestranking roles are Actor (for the most active participant) and Undergoer. The theory allows a sentence in a specific language to be described in terms of its logical structure and grammatical procedures. The lexicon in RRG takes the position that lexical entries for verbs should contain unique information only, with as much information as possible derived from general lexical rules. We use the RRG theory to motivate the architecture of the lexicon. The lexicon is designed to reflect the word categories in the Arabic language with as much information as possible derived from general lexical rules. The lexicon stores the Arabic words in categories; each category is stored in an XML form...
This paper examines the nature of the assertive speech act of Irish. We examine the syntactical c... more This paper examines the nature of the assertive speech act of Irish. We examine the syntactical constructional form of the assertive to identify its constructional signature. We consider the speech act as a construction whose meaning as an utterance depends on the framing situation and context, along with the common ground of the interlocutors. We identify how the assertive speech act is formalised to make it computer tractable for a software agent to compute its meaning, taking into account the contribution of situation, context and a dynamic common ground. Belief, desire and intention play a role in <em>what is meant</em> as against <em>what is said</em>. The nature of knowledge, and how it informs common ground, is explored along with the relationship between knowledge and language. Computing the meaning of a speech act in the situation requires us to consider the level of the interaction of all these dimensions. We argue that the contribution of lexicon a...
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2014
This paper characterises complex predicates and light verb constructions in Modern Irish. Light v... more This paper characterises complex predicates and light verb constructions in Modern Irish. Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Alsina, Bresnan & Sells, 2001; Butt, 1995, 2003). Cross linguistically, there appears to be a common class of verbs involved in these constructions and generally there is agreement that light verbs contribute to the formation of complex predicates. Light verbs seem have a non-light or ‘heavy’ verb counterpart. In this paper we discuss the light verb constructions (LVC) as found in modern Irish and how they form complex predicates. We claim that the light verb (LV) encodes the event process initiation (or cause) and the matrix verb indicates the bounded component or result. In light verb constructions, the matrix verb appears in Modern Irish syntax as a verbal-noun form. The function of light verbs in these constructions is to modulate the event and sub-event semantics. We distinguish between auxiliary verbs constructions (AVC) and those...
This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman a... more This paper presents a machine translation system (Hutchins 2003) called UniArab (Salem, Hensman and Nolan 2008). It is a proof-of-concept system supporting the fundamental aspects of Arabic, such as the parts of speech, agreement and tenses. UniArab is based on the linking algorithm of RRG (syntax to semantics and vice versa). UniArab takes MSA Arabic as input in the native orthography, parses the sentence(s) into a logical meta-representation based on the fully expanded RRG logical structures and, using this, generates perfectly grammatical English output with full agreement and morphological resolution. UniArab utilizes an XML-based implementation of elements of the Role and Reference Grammar theory in software. In order to analyse Arabic by computer we first extract the lexical properties of the Arabic words (Al-Sughaiyer and Al-Kharashi 2004). From the parse, it then creates a computer-based representation for the logical structure of the Arabic sentence(s). We use the RRG theor...
ITB Journal Issue Number 18, December 2009 Page 72 Creating access to education with progression ... more ITB Journal Issue Number 18, December 2009 Page 72 Creating access to education with progression pathways via blended learning of Deaf Studies at third level in Ireland: Open innovation with digital assets Brian Nolan 1, Lorraine Leeson 2 1 Institute of Technology, ...
... ITB Journal May 2002 Page 94 We have discussed two morphological prefixes. The prefix dún+V m... more ... ITB Journal May 2002 Page 94 We have discussed two morphological prefixes. The prefix dún+V morphologically marks the verb as strongly agentive, with all the attributes that that implies. ... DeLancey, Scott.(1984). Notes on agentivity and causation. SIL, 8: 181-213. ...
This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of the argument realisation of the concepts ... more This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of the argument realisation of the concepts of causative purpose, permit, let/allow and transfer in a broad cross-linguistic typologically diverse mix of languages with GIVE, GET, TAKE, PUT, and LET verbs. This volume stands as the first systematic exploration of these verbs and concepts as they occur in complex events and clauses. This book brings together scholars and researchers from a variety of functionally inspired theoretical backgrounds that have worked on these verbs within one language or from a cross-linguistic perspective. The objective is to understand the linguistic behaviour of the verbs and their inter-relationships within a contemporary cognitive-functional linguistic perspective. The languages represented include Irish, German, Slavic (West Slavic: Polish, Czech, Slovak and Sorbian and Western South Slavic: Slovenian and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian), Germanic, Romance, Gan Chinese Yichun dialect, Māori, Bohairic Cop...
This paper explores how the characteristics of the Arabic language will affect the development of... more This paper explores how the characteristics of the Arabic language will affect the development of a Machine Translation (MT) tool from Arabic to English. Several distinguishing features of Arabic pertinent to MT will be explored in detail with reference to some potential difficulties that they might present. The paper will conclude with a proposed model incorporating the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) technique to achieve this end. 1 Introduction Arabic is a Semitic language originating in the area presently known as the Arabian Peninsula. It has been spoken in its current form since the 2nd millennium BCE. As a language, Arabic has few irregularities and it is rich in morphological structure. Arabic is also rare in that it is a derivational language rather than concatenative. Words like 'went , go'-يذهب ؛ ذهب can easily be seen as being part of a hierarchy of inheritance from a specific root (in this case )ذهب In English and in many other languages this is not always the case. The Arabic language is written from right to left. It has 28 letters, many language specific grammar rules and it is a free word order language. Each Arabic letter represents a specific sound so the spelling of words can easily be done phonetically. There is no use of silent letters as in English. Similarly, there is no need to combine letters in Arabic to achieve a certain sound that might be familiar to an English speaker. For example, the 'th' sound in English as in the word 'Thinking' is reduced in Arabic to the character ث. In addition to the standard challenges involved in developing an efficient translation tool from Arabic to English, the free word-order nature of Arabic creates an obstacle unique to the language. The number of possible clause combinations in basic phrasal structures far exceeds that of most languages. There is no copula verb 'to be' in Arabic, resulting in a unique usage of the subject 'I'. The absence of the indefinite article, while not unique to Arabic still poses many difficulties within the context of the language structure. These and other issues are discussed in later sections. The remainder of this paper is organized in the following manner: Section 2 introduces some common features of Machine Translation and discuses generic problems regardless of language. Section 3 presents the characteristics of the Arabic language. Section 4 will discuss some distinguishing features of Arabic and finally Section 5 will summarize the findings discussed and briefly outline a proposed MT solution. 2 Machine Translation Machine translation of natural languages, commonly known as MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another. While semi-automated tools have been applauded in the recent past as the most realistic path to follow, it is no longer the case. The current consensus is that fully automated, efficient translation tools should remain the primary goal. The nature of users of such systems and the type of text involved leave little room for continued dependence on human aids. The motivation for an Arabic-English translation tool is obvious when one considers that Arabic is the lingua franca of the Middle-Eastern world. Presently, 21 countries with a combined population of
Language, Culture, and Knowledge in Context: A Functional-Cognitive Approach, 2022
This volume investigates the nature of language, culture, knowledge, and context, and their inter... more This volume investigates the nature of language, culture, knowledge, and context, and their interrelationships. Each of these is defined-in terms of their relationship to language in particular, and to identify their respective properties. What exactly is meant by the term knowledge and what are the different kinds of knowledge? How might this be shared in a dialogue between two interlocutors, within a shared common ground, in the realisation of successful speech acts? Cultural and other knowledge is also found within the linguistic landscape and the artefacts within our environment. The book explores the ways that language is central to expressions of knowledge and culture. The purpose of the book is therefore to draw a comprehensive and representative picture of the dimensions of meaning, emerging from the interrelationship between these domains of language, culture, knowledge, and context.
Linguistic Perspectives on the Construction of Meaning and Knowledge, 2019
This book is an exploration of the dimensions of meaning in language from several important persp... more This book is an exploration of the dimensions of meaning in language from several important perspectives that are of major interest to scholars today, bringing together studies from the realms of linguistic pragmatics, semantics, ontological knowledge engineering, and computational linguistics. Situated within modern functional-cognitive constructional-ontological and computational paradigms, the analyses here are supported by authentic language data, including corpus data, from a rich set of languages. Context and situation play an important but complex role in meaning elaboration. The role of context and situation is elusive and has proved difficult to elucidate with respect to meaning and knowledge representation. This volume provides evidence of the nature of the, often rapid, emergence of meaning in the digital world of the internet, social media, and Internet memes. The use of computational avatars and the rise of human language technologies, including big data and digital corpora, have made the construction of meaning and human language understanding essential to the work of linguists, cognitive scientists and computer scientists who are increasingly working together in collaborative teams to share insights.
This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of argument realisation in complex predicate... more This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of argument realisation in complex predicates and complex events at the syntax-semantic interface across a wide variety of the world's languages, ranging over languages such as German, Irish, Sicilian and Italian, Lithuanian, Estonian and other Finno-Ugric languages, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra from Australia's Western Desert region, Japanese, Tepehua (Totonacan, Mexico), Cheyenne, Mexican Spanish, Boharic Coptic, and Persian. This volume examines the syntactic variation of complex events, complex predicates and multi-verb constructions within a single clause where the clause is view as representing a single event, studying their semantics and syntax within functional, cognitive and constructional frameworks, to arrive at a better understanding of their cross linguistic behaviour and how they resonate in syntax. These constructions manifest considerable variability in cross-linguistic comparisons of complex predicate formation. In European languages, for example, typically one of the verbs in a verb-verb construction highlights a phase of an underspecified event while the matrix verb specifies the actual event. In contrast, serial verbs require each verb to provide a sub-event dimension within a complex event that is viewed holistically as unitary in syntax. This book contributes to an understanding of complex events, complex predicates and multi-verb constructions across languages, their syntactic constructional patterns and argument realisation.
This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of argument realisation in complex predicate... more This book offers a comprehensive investigative study of argument realisation in complex predicates and complex events at the syntax-semantic interface across a wide variety of the world's languages, ranging over languages such as German, Irish, Sicilian and Italian, Lithuanian, Estonian and other Finno-Ugric languages, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra from Australia's Western Desert region, Japanese, Tepehua (Totonacan, Mexico), Cheyenne, Mexican Spanish, Boharic Coptic, and Persian. This volume examines the syntactic variation of complex events, complex predicates and multi-verb constructions within a single clause where the clause is view as representing a single event, studying their semantics and syntax within functional, cognitive and constructional frameworks, to arrive at a better understanding of their cross linguistic behaviour and how they resonate in syntax. These constructions manifest considerable variability in cross-linguistic comparisons of complex predicate formation. In European languages, for example, typically one of the verbs in a verb-verb construction highlights a phase of an underspecified event while the matrix verb specifies the actual event. In contrast, serial verbs require each verb to provide a sub-event dimension within a complex event that is viewed holistically as unitary in syntax. This book contributes to an understanding of complex events, complex predicates and multi-verb constructions across languages, their syntactic constructional patterns and argument realisation.
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