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A generic framework for Arabic to English machine ... - Acsu Buffalo

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2.3. PART OF SPEECH INVENTORY OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE<br />

A transitive verb is incomplete without a direct object. For example;<br />

Incomplete: hāld yh. ml , Khalid holds.<br />

˘<br />

Complete: <br />

<br />

hāld yh. ml tlāth ktb<br />

˘ ¯ ¯<br />

w h. āswbh ālˇsh ˘ s.y w zhwr , Khalid holds three books, his lap<strong>to</strong>p and flowers.<br />

(3) Ditransitive<br />

A ditransitive verb takes two objects. This can be through an indirect object con-<br />

struction, ֒s. ām ֓a֒t.ā ktāb l֒mr , Essam gave a book <strong>to</strong> Omar<br />

Or double object construction, ֒s. ām ֓a֒t.ā ֒mr ktāb , Essam<br />

gave Omar a book.<br />

2.3.5 Demonstratives<br />

The demonstrative pronouns in <strong>Arabic</strong> include reference <strong>for</strong> the near hd ¯ ā “this”, the<br />

far d ¯ lk “that” and <strong>for</strong> the inbetween d ¯ āk, which has no equivelent in <strong>English</strong>.<br />

2.3.6 Others<br />

This class includes all other types of words not included in the previous categories. It<br />

includes, <strong>for</strong> example, the prepositions, such as mn “from”, ֒lā “on”, fy “in”,<br />

֓ilā “till”. It also includes conjunctions, such as w “and”; determiners such as <br />

āl “the”; relative pronouns, such as āld¯ y “who (masculine)” and ālty “who<br />

(feminine)” and particles, such as ln “Will not” (Khan 2007).<br />

Table 2.22: Particle ‘Lan’<br />

<strong>Arabic</strong> <strong>Arabic</strong> Meaning <strong>English</strong> Translation<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

lan yad ¯ haba will not ‘he’ go he will not go<br />

The particle ln is used <strong>to</strong> negate future events. It is used within the imperfect tense<br />

(Versteegh 2001). An example is shown in Table 2.22.<br />

21

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