About this Research Topic

Background

Arabic Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a rapidly developing area that tackles the specific linguistic and computational issues associated with the Arabic language, including its rich morphology, diverse dialects, and diglossia. Boasting more than 550 million speakers and a variety of dialects, Arabic poses intricate challenges in morphology, syntax, and script variations, requiring tailored methodologies. Recent progress in deep learning and large language models (LLMs) has led to significant improvements in Arabic NLP, facilitating enhanced text processing, sentiment analysis, machine translation, and speech recognition. With the increasing demand for technologies in Arabic, it is essential to investigate innovative strategies that improve the functionalities and uses of Arabic NLP across different sectors.

Although there have been notable strides in Arabic NLP, challenges still exist, such as insufficient datasets, a scarcity of resources for dialect handling, and the necessity for enhanced LLMs tailored for Arabic. Unlike many other languages, Arabic presents significant variability in both written and spoken forms, making it complex to develop NLP models that cater to all its varieties. These hurdles impede the advancement of practical applications, especially for low-resource dialects and niche fields. To tackle these issues, it is essential to engage in collaborative initiatives aimed at creating varied, annotated datasets, innovating models that can effectively manage dialectal differences, and improving current algorithms for increased precision in Arabic comprehension. Promoting cross-disciplinary partnerships can propel efforts to surmount these challenges and broaden the reach of Arabic NLP technologies.

This Research Topic focuses on various aspects of Arabic natural language processing (NLP), such as morphological analysis, syntactic parsing, dialectal diversity, sentiment analysis, machine translation, text classification, question answering, text generation, text summarization, and detection of offensive language and fake news. Submissions can include both original research and review articles highlighting innovative methodologies, practical applications, and empirical results in Arabic NLP. Contributions that explore cross-linguistic comparisons, ethical issues in NLP applications, and the implementation of Arabic NLP in practical systems are particularly welcomed. The goal of this Research Topic is to foster a collaborative environment for sharing insights and enhancing understanding within the realm of Arabic NLP.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Arabic linguistic challenges, NLP for low-resource languages, Arabic language technologies, language models, natural language understanding

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