Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES / Bibliography: leaves 412-419. / by Joseph Aoun. / Ph.D.

Three eye-tracking experiments were conducted to explore the effects of phonological, semantic and root activation in spoken word recognition (SWR) in Saudi Arabian Arabic. Arabic roots involve both phonological and semantic information, therefore, a series of three studies were conducted to isolate the effect of the root independently from phonological and semantic effects. Each experiment consisted of a series of trials. On each trial, participants were presented with a display with four images: a target, a competitor, and two unrelated images. Participants were asked to click on the target image. Participants' proportional fixations to the four areas of interest and their reaction times (RT) were automatically recorded and analyzed. The assumption is that eye movements to the different types of images and RTs reflect degrees of lexical activation. Experiment 1 served as a foundation study to explore the nature of phonological, semantic and root activation. Experiment 2A and 2B aimed to explore the effect of the Arabic root as a function of semantic transparency and phonological onset similarity. Growth Curve Analyses (Mirman, 2014, GCA;) were used to analyze differences in target and competitor fixations across conditions. Results of these experiments highlight the importance of phonological, semantic and root effects in SWR in Arabic. Fixations to competitors were graded and corresponded to the different amounts of phonological, semantic and morphological overlap between targets and competitors. The results of this work highlight the importance of the Arabic consonantal root as an independent processing unit in lexical access in SWR in Arabic that is separable from phonological and semantic units of processing. Finally, the results of this work provided support to models of SWR that feature both whole-word processing as well as morphological decomposition (e.g. Baayen, Dijkstra, & Schreuder, 1997; Giraudo & Grainger, 2000; Schreuder & Baayen, 1997). They also provide support to the morpheme-based theory of Arabic morphology (McCarthy, 1979, 1981).

We show that a carefully crafted probabilistic morphological analyzer significantly outperforms a reasonable, naive baseline for Syriac. Syriac is an under-resourced Semitic language for which there are no available language tools such as morphological analyzers. Such tools are widely used to contribute to the process of annotating morphologically complex languages. We introduce and connect novel data-driven models for segmentation, dictionary linkage, and morphological tagging in a joint pipeline to create a probabilistic morphological analyzer requiring only labeled data. We explore the performance of this model with varying amounts of training data and find that with about 34,500 tokens, it can outperform the baseline trained on over 99,000 tokens and achieve an accuracy of just over 80%. When trained on all available training data, this joint model achieves 86.47% accuracy — a 29.7% reduction in error rate over the baseline.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: We know very little about women who studied and excelled in the field of Semitic languages in the seventeenth century - it is an unknown territory, terra incognita. In this thesis I will map Anna Maria van Schurman's (1607-1678) studies in Semitic languages. Of the fourteen languages she knew, seven were Semitic or Near-Eastern languages: Hebrew (Rabbinic Hebrew included), Aramaic, Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Persian or Ethiopian. The thesis commences with a brief discussion of her life (including some new material), followed by an overview of the knowledge about Semitic languages that prevailed in the seventeenth century, which at the time underwent a surge of growth. Thereafter the discussion will focus on Van Schurman's mentor, Voetius, and his knowledge and views of Semitic languages. It will be based on the Sermoen (lecture) delivered at the opening of the University of Utrecht in 1636. His library, which Van Schurman used, also appears to be an invaluable source, full of reference books for the study of 'orientaelsche' languages. In order to determine the standard of Van Schurman's work, it was useful to read first what her contemporaries wrote about her, as well as what she wrote in her various works, including her autobiographies, about Semitic languages. Adfontes did I research what has been preserved in these seven languages: letters in Hebrew, a poem, many references - in particular in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic - in her works such as the Dissertatio, the Opuscula Hebraea Graeca Latina et Gallica, unpublished letters and the texts she wrote in alba amicorum and on polyglottal artworks in Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Samaritan and Ethiopian. Her letters in Hebrew (and some letters to her) have only now been translated for the first time. From these it seems that she had, in contrast to her work in Latin, Greek, Dutch and French, such a religious regard for Hebrew that she wrote these letters as a collage of Biblical texts. It was, however, also an intellectual game. Van Schurman designed a grammar for Ethiopian, an outstanding achievement in the erudite Netherlands. Although it is thought to be lost, it is nevertheless possible to ascertain, by means of reports and poems by her contemporaries, what constituted this grammar. Lastly, Van Schurman's oeuvre is compared to that of the men and women of the educated community in Europe (Res Publica Litterarum ) who were also involved in the study of 'orientaelsche' languages. She was a source of inspiration for several women, such as Marie du Moulin, who also studied Hebrew and corresponded with Van Schurman in Hebrew. Anna Maria Van Schurman can rightfully be called the only female christian hebraist who could hold her own in the company of her male counterparts, despite the fact that, as a woman, she did not have the same opportunities as they had. She even exceeds them in her knowledge of Ethiopian. With regard to other women, she undoubtedly stood head and shoulders above them, and deserves to be known as the "Babel of her time". / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ons weet byna niks van wat vroue in die sewentiende eeu op die gebied van die Oud- Oosterse tale gepresteer het nie, dis 'n onbekende terrein, 'n terra incognita. In hierdie tesis word Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678) se studies in Oud-Oosterse tale gekarteer. Van die veertien tale wat sy geken het, was sewe Oud-Oosterse tale: Hebreeus (Rabbyns-Hebreeus ingesluit), Aramees, Siries, Samaritaans, Arabies, Persies en Ethiopies. Ek bespreek eers kortliks haar lewe (met heelwat nuwe materiaal), gee dan 'n oorsig van die 17de-eeuse kennis van hierdie tale wat toe 'n groot bloeitydperk beleef het. Dan bespreek ek haar leermeester Voetius se kennis van Oud-Oosterse tale. Dit word gedoen aan die hand van die Sermoen wat hy by die opening van die Utrechtse Universiteit in 1636 gehou het. Sy biblioteek wat sy ook ter insae gehad het, blyk 'n skatkamer van naslaanwerke vir die studie van 'orientaelsche' tale te wees. Om die standaard van Van Schurman te bepaal, het ek eers gekyk na wat tydgenote oor haar geskrywe het en wat sy self in haar werk, onder andere in haar outobiografie, oor Oud-Oosterse tale geskryf het. Ad fontes het ek ondersoek wat daar van haar in die sewe tale oorgelewer is: briewe in Hebreeus, 'n gedig, die verwysings in veral Hebreeus, Aramees, Siries en Arabies in haar werke soos die Dissertatio, die Opuscula Hebraea Graeca Latina et Gallica, ongepubliseerde briewe, en die tekste wat sy in alba amicorum en op polyglotte kunswerkies geskrywe het in Hebreeus, Rabbyns- Hebreeus, Siries, Aramees, Arabies, Samaritaans en Ethiopies. Haar briewe in Hebreeus (en sommige aan haar) is nou vir die eerste keer vertaal. Uit die briewe blyk dat sy, in teenstelling tot haar werk in Latyn, Grieks, Nederlands en Frans, so 'n heilige ontsag vir Hebreeus gehad het dat sy die briewe geskrywe het as 'n collage van Bybeltekste. Maar dit was ook 'n intellektuele speletjie. Van Schurman ontwerp 'n grammatika vir Ethiopies, 'n topprestasie in geleerde Nederland. Hoewel dit nou verlore is, kan mens tog aan die hand van verslae en gedigte van tydgenote 'n beeld kry van wat haar grammatika behels het. Ten slotte vergelyk ek haar met die manne en vroue in die Europese akademiese gemeenskap, die Republiek van Lettere, wat ook in die veld van 'orientaelsche' tale besig was. Vir 'n aantal vroue soos Marie du Moulin was Van Schurman 'n bron van inspirasie. Sy het ook Hebreeus bestudeer en met Van Schurman gekorrespondeer in Hebreeus. Van Schurman kan met reg die enigste vroulike Christelike Hebraïs genoemd word wat met manlike geleerdes op gelyke voet kon verkeer, al het sy deur haar posisie as vrou nie dieselfde geleenthede gehad nie. Tog steek sy met haar kennis van Ethiopies hulle na die kroon. Wat betref die vroue: sy het kop en skouers bo haar vroulike tydgenote uitgestaan en word met reg die Babel van haar tyd genoem. / NEDERLANDSE OPSOMMING: We weten vrijwel niets wat vrouwen in de zeventiende eeuw op het gebied van oudoosterse talen presteerden, het is een onbekend land, een terra incognita. In deze thesis breng ik de studies in oud-oosterse of semitische talen van Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678) in kaart. Van de veertien talen die ze kende, waren er zeven oud-oosters of 'orientaelsch": Hebreeuws (Rabbijns-Hebreeuws ingesloten), Aramees, Syrisch, Samaritaans, Arabisch, Perzisch en Ethiopisch. Ik bespreek eerst kort haar leven (op grond van veel nieuw materiaal), geef dan een overzicht van de kennis van oud-oosterse talen in de zeventiende eeuw die toen een grote bloei doormaakte. Dan bespreek ik de kennis van en de visie op oud-oosterse talen van haar leermeester Voetius aan de hand van het Sermoen dat hij hield bij de opening van de Utrechtse Universiteit in 1636. Zijn bibliotheek die zij ook gebruikte bleek een schatkamer aan standaardwerken voor de studie van 'orientaelsche ' talen. Om het niveau van Van Schurman te bepalen, inventariseerde ik eerst wat tijdgenoten over haar schreven en wat ze zelf in haar werk, onder andere in haar autobiografie, over oud-oosterse talen schreef Ad fontes onderzocht ik naar wat er van haar in die zeven talen is overgeleverd: Hebreeuwse brieven en een gedicht, de vele verwijzingen in vooral het Hebreeuws, Aramees, Syrisch, Arabisch in haar werken als de Dissertatio, de Opuscula Hebraea Graeca Latina et Gallica, en ongepubliceerde brieven plus de teksten die ze in alba amicorum en op haar polyglotte kunstwerkjes schreef in het Hebreeuws, Rabbijns-Hebreeuws, Syrisch, Aramees, Arabisch, Samaritaans en Ethiopisch. Haar brieven in het Hebreeuws van (en sommige aan haar) zijn nu voor het eerst vertaald. Uit die brieven blijkt dat ze, in tegenstelling tot haar werk in het Latijn, Grieks, Nederlands en Frans, zo'n heilige opvatting heeft van het Hebreeuws dat ze die brieven schrijft als een collage van bijbelteksten. Maar het was ook een intellectueel spel. Ze ontwierp een grammatica voor het Ethiopisch, een topprestatie in geleerd Nederland. Ook al is deze nu onvindbaar, toch was het mogelijk om aan de hand van verslagen en gedichten van tijdgenoten een beeld te krijgen van wat haar grammatica behelsde. Tenslotte vergeleek ik haar met de mannen en vrouwen in de Europese geleerdengemeenschap, de Republiek der Letteren die ook in het veld van de orientaelsche' talen bezig waren. Voor een aantal vrouwen zoals Marie du Moulin was Van Schurman een inspiratiebron. Zij ging ook Hebreeuws studeren en correspondeerde met Van Schurman in het Hebreeuws. Van Schurman kan met recht de enige christelijke hebraïste in Europa genoemd worden die met de mannelijke geleerden op gelijke voet verkeerde, al had ze door haar positie als vrouw niet dezelfde mogelijkheden. Toch stak ze hen door haar kennis van het Ethiopisch naar de kroon. Wat betreft de vrouwen: ze stak er met kop en schouders boven uit, ze werd terecht het Babel van haar tijd genoemd.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 419-426).

Among the vast assembly of Biblical mythology, the tower of Babel stands as an exclusive representation of the limits of human endeavor. As a paradigmatic extremity, it circumscribes the field of civic artifice. Babel is the absolute limit, and in that regard, its presence is enduring and timeless. The legacy of exegetic readings are textual shades, emanating from the point source of the paradigm. Athanasius Kircher's Turris Babel is an appropriate and intentional unfolding of this condition. / Firstly, that in the awakening of the Baroque scholar to history, origin materializes as the sole legitimate chronological reference. / Secondly, that the paradigmatic extremities collapse into the empirical standard of the theoretical discourse. / This thesis is a speculative study of architecture, drawn through Turris Babel, in the shadow of the paradigmatic limits of Babel. Written in three parts, each dealing with the implications of artifice in confrontation with the post-Babel adversaries of dispersion, tyranny, and decay.

This paper treats the relationship between form and meaning in conditional constructions in Damascus Arabic (DA). More specifically, it treats two, main formal categories of DA conditional constructions: the conditional marker and the verb morphology and, further, how these are related to various degrees of conditional hypotheticality. Apart from the introductory section (Introduction, Aim, Method and Classification of DA), the paper consists of three larger sections: Section 2 gives a basic, theoretical background of crosslinguistic conditional constructions as well as what previous scholars have said about the crosslinguistic relationship between conditional form and meaning. It is found that many of these scholars tend to describe form, but neglect deeper discussions of meaning. This section also provides a general background of the verbal system in DA and the primary TAM (Tense-Aspect-Mood) categories of DA verb forms. The main analysis of this thesis is found in section 3. In this section, I first suggest a method of analysis called ‘the hypotheticality continuum’ which is then employed in the following sub-sections, following Comrie (1986). Thereafter, attention is first paid to DA protasis markers and how the choice of marker is related to hypotheticality. Thirdly, I deal with verb morphology and how the choice of verb form together with a given protasis marker contributes to creating even more fine-grained distinctions of hypotheticality in DA conditional constructions. Lastly, a presentation of results and final discussion in section 4 conclude the paper.

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La question des emprunts lexicaux dans le Coran est l’une des premières questions linguistiques posées au commencement de la pensée linguistique arabe. Pourtant, cette question n’a pas connu le même développement qu’ont connu les autres questions linguistiques. C’est qu’elle était toujours un objet de désaccord entre les savants et les chercheurs ; certains ont nié la présence d’emprunts lexicaux dans le Coran, d’autres l’ont admise. Dans les études anciennes et contemporaines, nous avons pu distinguer deux approches: la première est d’ordre linguistique. Elle considère le Coran comme un texte langagier. En effet, les linguistes ont étudié les emprunts coraniques dans leurs caractères phonologiques, morphologiques, syntaxiques et sémantiques. Alors que la seconde est plutôt idéologique. Elle prend une position non objective, en niant complètement la présence d’emprunts lexicaux dans le Coran, ou en glorifiant une langue mère par des motivations nationalistes, religieuses, sociales et culturelles. Après avoir étudié le développement, l’interférence et l’interaction entre ces approches, nous avons proposé notre position sociolinguistique pour élaborer des critères d’identification de nature linguistique, référentielle et culturelle. Ces critères nous ont aidé à dégager deux corpus : le premier contient les emprunts coraniques et leurs langues sources, le deuxième comprend les unités lexicales que nous considérons comme des unités arabes. Ce travail nous a permis de mettre en lumière les motivations idéologiques qui peuvent influencer l’étude linguistique. De même il est un outil pour prendre conscience de la nécessité d’une révision critique des approches qui ont traité les emprunts lexicaux en général et les emprunts coraniques en particulier. / The issue of “lexical borrowings in The Quran” is one of the first issues that had emerged since the beginning of the Arabic linguistic thought. Unfortunately, this issue was fruitless compared to other linguistic researches, because it has always been a subject of a great polemic among ancient and modern Arabic and non Arabic scholars. Some denied the fact that The Quran contains lexical borrowings, others admitted it. Many scholars were pushed by ideological motivations such as religious, nationalist, social, cultural motivations, especially those who denied the phenomenon.In this work, we tried first to evoke main linguistic and extra- linguistic problems concerning lexical borrowing in general, and the study of this phenomenon in the Quran especially. Then, we studied the two main approaches: (1) ideological approach which denies the existence of lexical borrowings in the Quran, or which admits it and tries meanwhile to glorify some languages and dishonour some others, (linguistic approach and its phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic analyses. After studying different approaches and their development, interference and interaction, we have elaborated a socio-linguistic perspective associated with some linguistic, referential and cultural criteria which allowed us to distinguish between two types of quranic words: words that we consider as real lexical borrowings, and genuine Arabic words. This study does not only shed the light on some ideological motivations which have affected linguistic research, but it also provides a crucial critical review of borrowing studies.