[CFP] The 1st Workshop on NLP for Languages Using Arabic Script

Events

Abu Dhabi, UAE

19-20 January 2025

Submission URL: https://softconf.com/coling2025/AbjadNLP25/

Co-located with COLING 2025 Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE (19-20 January 2025)

AbjadNLP is dedicated to advancing innovation and gaining deeper insights into Natural Language Processing (NLP) for languages that use the Arabic script. Our primary focus is on Abjad and Ajami languages that utilise the Arabic script or its variations. Traditionally associated with Semitic languages, Abjad scripts represent consonants in every syllable. In contrast, Ajami scripts denote the alphabetic use of the Arabic script in various African contexts, representing non-Arabic languages. We are interested in research on languages that fall under the Abjad or Ajami categories that use the Arabic script or any variations of it.
We invite contributions, discussions, and explorations that delve deep into the unique linguistic structures, resources, challenges, and untapped potential presented by Abjad and Ajami languages within the realm of NLP and language resources. Our goal is to create synergies among researchers by addressing the diverse phenomena and challenges inherent in these rich linguistic traditions.

The workshop is proud to highlight our connections with the Masakhane NLP community and collaborations with institutions worldwide, such as COMSATS on Urdu, and the long-standing UCREL NLP Group at Lancaster University, whose work encompasses over 20 languages worldwide, including Abjad and Ajami languages.

We invite submissions on topics that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Enabling core technologies: morphological analysis, disambiguation, tokenisation, POS tagging, named entity detection, chunking, parsing, semantic role labelling, sentiment analysis, language modelling, etc.
• Applications: machine translation, speech recognition, speech synthesis, optical character recognition, pedagogy, assistive technologies, social media, etc.
• Resources: dictionaries, annotated data, corpus, etc.

In addition, we extend a warm invitation to researchers and stakeholders across the spectrum to contribute papers focusing on, but not limited to, the following dimensions:

  • Orthography descriptions (Constable 2002; Hosken 2003)
  • Advancements in Font Technology, Glyph Rendering, and OCR
  • Text Input Methodologies
  • Development and Utilisation of Exploitable Dictionaries
  • Enhancements in Spell-Checking Support
  • Advancements in Speech-to-Text Solutions
  • Progressive Natural Language Processing Techniques
  • BLARK – Basic Language Resource Kit descriptions for languages using Abjad or Ajami
  • Insights and Experiences Utilising Data Supplied by the Unicode Hosted Common Locale Data Repository in Abjad or Ajami.
  • Morphological and syntactical challenges in Abjad or Ajami Orthographies.
  • Development of open access corpora in Abjad or Ajami.
  • Text processing and transliteration challenges and solutions for languages using Abjad or Ajami.
  • Cultural and sociolinguistic considerations in NLP applications for Abjad or Ajami.
  • Languages resources and NLP tools for Abjad or Ajami.

Submissions may be of two types:

  1. Long papers – up to eight (8) pages maximum, presenting substantial, original, completed, and unpublished work.
  2. Short papers – up to four (4) pages, describing a small focused contribution, negative results, system demonstrations, etc.

Submission URL: https://softconf.com/coling2025/AbjadNLP25/

Submission Guidelines: https://coling2025.org/calls/submission_guidlines/

Provisional Key Dates:

  • 1st Call for Papers Announcement: 16 July 2024
  • 2nd Call for Papers Announcement: 16 August 2024
  • Paper Submission Deadline: 15 November 2024
  • Notification of Paper Acceptance: 6 December 2024
  • Camera-ready Paper Deadline: 13 December 2024
  • Workshop Date: either on 19 or 20 January 2024

For more details, please visit: https://wp.lancs.ac.uk/abjad/