The Universal Networking Language (UNL) Between Achievements and Challenges
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Alexandria—
The First International Workshop on Natural Language Processing: Using Universal Networking Language (UNL), organized by the BA and the United Nations, was held at the BA, from 4-7 May 2007.
The workshop resulted in several recommendations on natural language processing, most important of which is concluding agreements among different centers, including Ibrahim Shehata's Center at the BA. Another recommendation calls for coordination among centers and for the necessity of exchanging tools among them and for the preservation of copyrights.
The project was supported by the United Nations through the UNDL (Universal Networking Digital Language) Foundation. The United Nations initiated the idea of bridging the cultural gap between nations through breaking the linguistic barriers and making knowledge accessible to all peoples of the world in their native languages.
On the project, Dr. Magdy Nagi, Head of Information Technology and Communications Sector, stated that the UNL is an artificial language for computers that attempts to replicate the functions of natural languages in human communication. The UN adopted "the Universal Networking Language" project, and established an independent organization to develop and supervise this project, including the six UN languages, in addition to another ten widespread languages, and will eventually include all the languages of the world. The project would be a revolution in communication and modern technology realizing the dream of breaking linguistic barriers in the way of cultural and knowledge exchange among people.
Regarding the properties of this new language, Dr. Nagi added that the UNL is a comprehensive language representing the international linguistic content, a language for computers, free from any linguistic ambiguity. He stated that the BA launched a partnership with the UNDL in July 2004, stipulating that the BA hosts the Ibrahim Shihata Arabic UNL Center (ISAUC), and that the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) funds the center.
Dr. Nagi said that the ISAUC stores 50 million analyzed and structured terms, acquired from papers, books, and others, and compiled by 20 specialists in Arabic language and in UNL. In addition, the center designs programs to translate from/into Arabic.
He pointed out that the project is facing numerous obstacles, similar to those faced in translation, these include: new words entering the language terminology, new linguistic structures constituting difficulty in the process of translation. Another obstacle is the issue of "dual" (word forms used for only 2 items) in Arabic, which is not present in many other languages. Grammar check is another obstacle, as in some cases a translator should reformulate the sentence, without changing what the author wrote. Dr. Nagi believes that one of the most difficult obstacles and challenges is the linguistic structure, and how to make a sentence comprehendible, especially if the original material itself contains grammar mistakes.
Dr. Magdy Nagi announced that ISAUC is conducting a pilot project to translate 3 documents of the Encyclopedia of Life-Support Systems (EOLSS), each document contains 40 pages. The project will be followed by an analysis of all the problems and challenges, which faced the translators.