Alternatives to Agglutinative Affixation in Arabic Term

Formation

Mohammad Aboomar
Research Assistant, Trinity College Dublin
29 November 2019
Morphological variation
From word formation to term formation

Concatenative vs. non-concatenative word formation

– In concatenative processes, new words are formed by stringing
morphemes together (using prefixes, suffixes, etc.)
• Examples: biosphere, aerosol, electron
– In non-concatenative processes, morphemes are modified or
replaced.
• Example: man  men
– What happens when terminology formed by concatenation is
transferred to a non-concatenative language?
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Scope
A descriptive approach

Which terms are being discussed?

– English terms formed by joining at least 2 morphemes using a
concatenative process
• Single words, excluding compound nouns
– Arabic terms coined and/or used by subject matter experts
• Terms appearing in original Arabic discourse
• Discourse written by native Arabic speakers

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Recommendations on term formation
From ISO 704:2009(E)

“...language-specific principles of term formation should only be

described in national and regional standards dealing with a particular
language rather than in International Standards.”
‒ Transparency
‒ Consistency
‒ Appropriateness
‒ Linguistic economy
‒ Derivability and compoundability
‒ Linguistic correctness
‒ Preference for native language

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Word formation in Arabic
Semitic root-and-pattern morphology (non-concatenative)

– “Arabic starts out from a root, a consonantal carcass, a kind of

skeleton which takes different bodies by the introduction of vowels.”
(Fleisch, quoted in Eisele 2002)

– Some derivations of the root KTB (to write)

• KaTaBa (to write), KiTaB (book), KuTayiB (booklet), maKTuB (written),
KaaTiB (writer), muKaTaBa (correspondence), maKTaB (desk/office), maKTaBa (library)

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Word formation in Arabic

Semitic root-and-pattern morphology (non-concatenative)

– New words are created by morphing a root according to a
morphological pattern
– Roots are the building blocks of monolingual Arabic dictionaries
– Roots are never consecutive in any pattern
– Roots consist of two to 5 phonemes, typically 3 consonants

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Term formation strategies in Arabic
Negotiating term formation for imported concepts

– Arabic terms denoting imported concepts can be classified into 3

categories:
• Derivation
• Loan translation (calquing)
• Lexical borrowing

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Term formation strategies in Arabic
Negotiating term formation for imported concepts

Derivation
– A term is derived from a root according to a certain morphological
pattern.
– <interface>  ‫( واجهة‬wajiha)
• WJH [to face] + utilitarian noun pattern [tool] = WaJiHa

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Term formation strategies in Arabic
Negotiating term formation for imported concepts

Loan translation (calquing)

– The semantic components of the original term are reproduced
literally in the target language.
– <psychology> ‫( علم ا لنفس‬ilm al-nafs)
• Lit. science [of] the psyche

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Term formation strategies in Arabic
Negotiating term formation for imported concepts

Lexical borrowing
– The term is borrowed phonetically from the source language to the
target language.
– <polymer>  ‫(ب وليمر‬bolimer)
• P phonetically changed to B

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Statistical Analysis: 52 WIPO Pearl concepts
Total number of terms: 89

Classification (head terms and synonyms)

Derivation
11%
Lexical borrow-
ing
29%

IMAGE

Loan translation
60%

Derivation Loan translation Lexical borrowing

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Statistical Analysis: 52 WIPO Pearl concepts
Total number of terms: 52

Classification (head terms)

Derivation
Lexical borrow-13%
ing
23%

IMAGE

Loan translation
63%

Derivation Loan translation Lexical borrowing

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Data collection
Visual inspection of WIPO Pearl’s concept maps

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 Demonstration
Examples of specific phobias

1 specific phobia ‫ رهاب محدد‬1

1.1 Acrophobia ‫ رهاب المرتفعات‬1.1
1.2 brontophobia ‫رهاب األماكن المرتفعة‬
1.3 catoptrophobia ‫ رهاب الرعد‬1.2
1.4 claustrophobia ‫ رهاب المرايا‬1.3
1.5 gamophobia ‫ رهاب االحتجاز‬1.4
1.6 nyctophobia ‫رهاب األماكن المغلقة‬
1.7 ophidiophobia ‫كلوستروفوبيا‬
1.8 archnophobia ‫ رهاب الزواج‬1.5
‫ رهاب الظالم‬1.6
‫ رهاب األفاعي‬1.7
Loan translation: 8 of 8 ‫ رهاب العناكب‬1.8
Lexical borrowing: 1 of 8

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Demonstration
Examples of subatomic particles

1 subatomic particle ‫ جسيم دون ذري‬1

1.1 nucleon ‫ نيوكليون‬1.1
1.1.1 proton ‫نوية‬
1.1.2 neutron ‫ بروتون‬1.1.1
1.2 electron ‫ نيوترون‬1.1.2
‫ إلكترون‬1.2
‫كهرب‬
‫كهيرب‬

Lexical borrowing: 4 of 4
Derivation: 2 of 4

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Conclusions

– Loan translation stands out as the preferred strategy, despite

language academies recommending derivation
– Morphological mapping is necessary for negotiating term formation
of imported concepts
– Awareness of existing term formation strategies and practices is
useful while coining new terms
– Familiarity with the concept system helps in producing more
acceptable terms for new concepts

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References
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Thank You