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List: aspell-user
Subject: Re: [aspell-user] Aspell Arabic support
From: "Moe Elzubeir" <Elzubeir () cobaf ! coba ! unt ! edu>
Date: 2002-01-23 7:24:25
Message-ID: sc4e80a8.060 () gwia ! unt ! edu
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>>> Kevin Atkinson 01/23/02 04:46AM wrote
>>Sorry for not responding. When people tend to ask hard questions I tend
>>to mark the post as important with the hope I will get back to it.
>>Unfortunately I don't always. BTW, I prefer these type of things get
>>posted to the mailing list as it will create a public recorded of our
>>conversation.
Ah, so it is a hard question ;) At least I wouldn't feel bad for not understanding
things then ;)
> Using 8-bit characters internally as far Arabic is concerned is not a
> problem, although you would gain a lot more accuracy by considering
> double-width characters.
>>How is that?
Hrmm.. I take that back, I wasn't thinking ;) The ISO8859-6 charset is completely
sufficient for internal storage, but not enough to display.
>>Are you talking in terms of affix compression?
Well, I am not sure how much affix compression helps with Arabic. So let me give
an example and you can tell me (since I am a little confused about that as well).
Let's take a verb root: ktb ¯> pronounced 'kataba'
k = root letter 1
t = root letter 2
b = root letter 3
In Arabic, to represent a 3-letter verb (most common, quad-lettered root verbs are
rare), we symbolize them with 'FEH','AIN','LAM' (pronounced fa3al) [where the 3 is
the ain, excuse my not-so-professional transliteration].
Derived from 'ktb' are many words, like:
mktb (prnounced 'maktab') ¯> represented as 'mf3l'
so far so good.. only adding a prefix.
ktabT (pronounced 'kitaba' ¯ where T is a 'TEH MARBOOTA') ¯> represented as 'f3ala'
(pronounced as 'fi3ala')
That adds an 'ALEF' (a) to the middle of the root verb as well as a 'TEH MARBOOTA' (suffix).
And the list goes on and on ;) Only for one verb. Most of the Arabic language is derived from
root verbs as this, and that is what makes it such a beautiful language (yet, so complex
when computerized) ;) Words like, office, book, writer, library, etc. are all derived from 'ktb'.
My question is, how does the affix compression come to play here?
>>OK. You got my attention ;)
Great, because I will need a lot of help ;) But I am very motivated and will spend hours upon
hours to get this working ;)
>>The current released version of Aspell/Pspell is now dead as far as
>>development is concerned all of the new development is talking please on
>>the "New Aspell" which can be found at http://aspell.net/. Browse the
>>announcement archive for more information as I have not set up a real web
>>page yet and what is currently there is not up to date.
I see. It would be nice to kill the other pages or simply re-direct to aspell.net.. then
again, I found the right place, others can search <evil grin>
Thanks
Mohammed Elzubeir
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<DIV>>>> Kevin Atkinson 01/23/02 04:46AM wrote<BR></DIV>
<DIV>>>Sorry for not responding. When people tend to ask hard
questions I tend<BR>>>to mark the post as important with the hope I will
get back to it.<BR>>>Unfortunately I don't always. BTW, I prefer
these type of things get<BR>>>posted to the mailing list as it will create
a public recorded of our<BR>>>conversation.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Ah, so it is a hard question ;) At least I wouldn't feel bad for not
understanding</DIV>
<DIV>things then ;)</DIV>
<DIV><BR>> Using 8-bit characters internally as far Arabic is concerned is
not a<BR>> problem, although you would gain a lot more accuracy by
considering<BR>> double-width characters.<BR><BR>>>How is that?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hrmm.. I take that back, I wasn't thinking ;) The ISO8859-6 charset is
completely</DIV>
<DIV>sufficient for internal storage, but not enough to
display.<BR><BR><BR>>>Are you talking in terms of affix
compression?<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Well, I am not sure how much affix compression helps with Arabic. So let me
give</DIV>
<DIV>an example and you can tell me (since I am a little confused about that as
well).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Let's take a verb root: ktb —> pronounced 'kataba'</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>k = root letter 1</DIV>
<DIV>t = root letter 2</DIV>
<DIV>b = root letter 3</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In Arabic, to represent a 3-letter verb (most common, quad-lettered root
verbs are</DIV>
<DIV>rare), we symbolize them with 'FEH','AIN','LAM' (pronounced fa3al) [where
the 3 is</DIV>
<DIV>the ain, excuse my not-so-professional transliteration].</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Derived from 'ktb' are many words, like:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>mktb (prnounced 'maktab') —> represented as 'mf3l'</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>so far so good.. only adding a prefix.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>ktabT (pronounced 'kitaba' — where T is a 'TEH MARBOOTA') —> represented
as 'f3ala'</DIV>
<DIV> (pronounced as 'fi3ala')</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That adds an 'ALEF' (a) to the middle of the root verb as well as a 'TEH
MARBOOTA' (suffix).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And the list goes on and on ;) Only for one verb. Most of the Arabic
language is derived from</DIV>
<DIV>root verbs as this, and that is what makes it such a beautiful language
(yet, so complex</DIV>
<DIV>when computerized) ;) Words like, office, book, writer, library, etc. are
all derived from 'ktb'.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My question is, how does the affix compression come to play here?</DIV>
<DIV><BR>>>OK. You got my attention ;)<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Great, because I will need a lot of help ;) But I am very motivated and
will spend hours upon</DIV>
<DIV>hours to get this working ;)</DIV>
<DIV><BR>>>The current released version of Aspell/Pspell is now dead as
far as<BR>>>development is concerned all of the new development is talking
please on<BR>>>the "New Aspell" which can be found at <A
href="http://aspell.net/. ">http://aspell.net/. </A> Browse
the<BR>>>announcement archive for more information as I have not set up a
real web<BR>>>page yet and what is currently there is not up to
date.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>I see. It would be nice to kill the other pages or simply re-direct to
aspell.net.. then</DIV>
<DIV>again, I found the right place, others can search <evil grin></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks<BR>Mohammed Elzubeir</DIV></BODY></HTML>
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