---
title: "A Formalized Reference Grammar for UNL-Based Machine"
description: "The author presents this as a basis for more robust interlingua MT and as a benchmark that other UNL languages could align… 19 references."
authors: ["Sameh Alansary"]
year: 2012
venue: "Proceedings of COLING 2012: Posters"
source: "https://aclanthology.org/C12-2004/"
licence: "CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/alansary-2012-formalized-reference-grammar-unl-based/"
---
[Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/alansary-2012-formalized-reference-grammar-unl-based/)

[home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2012](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2012/page/3/) / A Formalized Reference Grammar for UNL-Based Machine Translation between English and Arabic

# A Formalized Reference Grammar for UNL-Based Machine Translation between English and Arabic

**Authors:** [Sameh Alansary](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/sameh-alansary/) · **Year:** 2012 · **Venue:** [Proceedings of COLING 2012: Posters](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/coling/) ([COLING 2012](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/coling/2012/)) · **Publisher:** [International Committee on Computational Linguistics (ICCL)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/international-committee-on-computational-linguistics-iccl/) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/C12-2004/) · [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/C12-2004.pdf) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2129601264)

**Citations:** 0 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14)

## Summary
The paper tests whether the UNL interlingua can support English–Arabic translation in both directions, from English to Arabic and from Arabic to English. It also proposes a shared, formalized "reference grammar" that grammars for different languages could be built and compared against. The author took 500 sentences from English grammar books, chosen to cover common phenomena: unknown words, numerals, determiners, prepositions, conjunctions, noun phrases, time expressions, verb forms, pronouns and sentence types. These were hand-annotated into UNL and translated into Arabic. The resulting parallel resource, Corpus500, is published on UNLweb.

Rule-based grammars were written for both directions:
- **UNLization (analysis):** modules for tokenization, numerals, attributes, X-bar syntax and syntax-semantics. Arabic adds a transliteration module.
- **NLization (generation):** the reverse path.

Analysis runs in the IAN engine and generation in EUGENE. Precision and recall are high in all four directions, around 0.96–0.99. The author presents this as a basis for more robust interlingua MT and as a benchmark that other UNL languages could align with.

## Key points
- **Results (precision / recall / F-measure):**
  - English→UNL: 0.979 / 0.96 / 0.969
  - Arabic→UNL: 0.98 / 0.96 / 0.974
  - UNL→English: 0.97 / 0.96 / 0.964
  - UNL→Arabic: 0.989 / 0.96 / 0.974
- **Evaluation references:** analysis output was checked against manually built semantic networks, and generation output against manual translations.
- **Engines:** IAN is semi-automatic, with a specialist doing word-sense disambiguation and optional rules narrowing the candidates. EUGENE generates fully automatically.
- **Dictionaries:** both engines use two kinds. Enumerative dictionaries list every inflected form, while generative dictionaries store lexemes with a morphological paradigm number.
- **Future work:** the plan is to expand to 1000 structures with at least 5 sentences each, giving about 5000 sentences.

## Interesting ideas
- A test set organised by grammatical structure, taken from grammar books, lets grammars for different languages be measured on the same phenomena rather than on arbitrary text.
- Tokenization uses longest-match against a dictionary and marks unmatched strings as TEMP; a rule then keeps a whole unknown span, such as a URL, as one node instead of splitting it into dictionary fragments.
- Spelled-out numbers are converted to digits by a small dictionary plus composition rules: tens are stored incomplete ("twenty" as 2) and completed by a zero or a following unit, while ordinals and "N times" become attributes on the number.
- Function words are replaced by abstract features: quantifiers become attributes such as @paucal or @all on the next word, and pronouns become empty concepts carrying person, number and gender.
- Generation runs in stages from list to tree, tree to tree, and back to list, with attributes realised as affixes (@def, @pl). The designers also choose to produce an overt pronoun so the output stays explicit.

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (learn): We could keep a phenomenon-indexed regression suite (numerals, quantifiers, pronouns, time expressions) and report scores per structure, so a repair rule's gains and losses are visible by construction.
- **I2** (tokens): The tokenizer could flag out-of-lexicon spans explicitly and keep them whole up to a space or the sentence end, so the parser sees one opaque unit instead of garbage pieces.
- **I3** (tokens): Normalising number words into a digit value with ordinal or multiplicative flags before parsing would give maths word problems clean, traceable quantities.
- **I4** (world): Entities in the text world could store quantity and person/number/gender as explicit features instead of keeping the function word, which makes coreference and counting checks simpler and explainable.
- **I5** (back): Generating from the meaning graph through an explicit tree stage, with a documented policy on dropping or inserting pronouns, would keep text→graph→text round trips inspectable.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

📚 Shelves (4): [🖥️ Computer Science](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/) · 18,614 works · [🤖 Artificial Intelligence](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/) · 17,965 works · [🎭 Arts and Humanities](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · 17,450 works · [🗣️ Language and Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · 17,296 works

🧭 Topics (3): [🔁 Machine translation](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/machine-translation/) · 1,105 works · [English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/) · 2,379 works · [Semitic languages](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/semitic-languages/) · 3,066 works

## Cite

Cite as: Sameh Alansary. 2012. A Formalized Reference Grammar for UNL-Based Machine Translation between English and Arabic. Proceedings of COLING 2012: Posters.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{alansary2012formalized,
  title = {{A Formalized Reference Grammar for UNL-Based Machine Translation between English and Arabic}},
  author = {Sameh Alansary},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of COLING 2012: Posters},
  year = {2012},
  url = {https://aclanthology.org/C12-2004/}
}
```

- [← previous Using Arabic Transliteration to Improve Word Alignment from French- Arabic Parallel Corpora](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/saadane-2012-arabic-transliteration-improve-word-alignment/)
- [next → A Gǝʿǝz Inscription from Ashkelon](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mulugetta-2012-gz-inscription-ashkelon/)
- [↑ back to papers of 2012](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2012/page/3/)

## References

19 references, 1 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Alansary, S. )2010(. A Practical Application of the UNL+ 3 Program on the Arabic Language . In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Language Engineering, Cairo, Egypt. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alansary%2C+S%2E+%292010%28%2E+A+Practical+Application+of+the+UNL%2B+3+Program+on+the+Arabic+Language+%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+10th+International+Conference+on+Language+Engineering%2C+Cairo%2C+Egypt%2E)
2. Alansary, S. )2011(. Interlingua-based Machine Translation Systems: UNL versus Other Interlinguas. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Language Engineering, Cairo, Egypt. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alansary%2C+S%2E+%292011%28%2E+Interlingua%2Dbased+Machine+Translation+Systems%3A+UNL+versus+Other+Interlinguas%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+11th+International+Conference+on+Language+Engineering%2C+Cairo%2C+Egypt%2E)
3. Alansary, S., Nagi, M., Adly, N. (2011). Understanding Natural Language through the UNL Grammar Work-bench , Conference on Human Language Technology for Development (HLTD 2011), Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alansary%2C+S%2E%2C+Nagi%2C+M%2E%2C+Adly%2C+N%2E+%282011%29%2E+Understanding+Natural+Language+through+the+UNL+Grammar+Work%2Dbench+%2C+Conference+on+Human+Language+Technology+for+Development+%28HLTD+2011%29%2C+Bibliotheca+Alexandrin)
4. Alansary, S., Nagi, M., Adly, N. (2010). UNL+ 3: The Gateway to a Fully Operational UNL System , 10th International Conference on Language Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alansary%2C+S%2E%2C+Nagi%2C+M%2E%2C+Adly%2C+N%2E+%282010%29%2E+UNL%2B+3%3A+The+Gateway+to+a+Fully+Operational+UNL+System+%2C+10th+International+Conference+on+Language+Engineering%2C+Ain+Shams+University%2C+Cairo%2C+Egypt%2E)
5. AlAnsary, S. (2011), Interlingua-based Machine Translation Systems: UNL versus Other Interlinguas. 11th International Conference on Language Engineering , Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=AlAnsary%2C+S%2E+%282011%29%2C+Interlingua%2Dbased+Machine+Translation+Systems%3A+UNL+versus+Other+Interlinguas%2E+11th+International+Conference+on+Language+Engineering+%2C+Ain+Shams+University%2C+Cairo%2C+Egypt%2E)
6. Alansary, S. (2012). A UNL-based approach for building an Arabic computational lexicon , the 8th international conference on informatics and system (infos2012), Cairo, Egypt. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Alansary%2C+S%2E+%282012%29%2E+A+UNL%2Dbased+approach+for+building+an+Arabic+computational+lexicon+%2C+the+8th+international+conference+on+informatics+and+system+%28infos2012%29%2C+Cairo%2C+Egypt%2E)
7. Boitet C. (2002). A rationale for using UNL as an interlingua and more in various domains . Proc. LREC-02 First International Workshop on UNL, other Interlinguas, and their Applications, Las Palmas, 26-31/5/2002, ELRA/ELDA, J. Cardeñosa ed., pp. 23—26. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Boitet+C%2E+%282002%29%2E+A+rationale+for+using+UNL+as+an+interlingua+and+more+in+various+domains+%2E+Proc%2E+LREC%2D02+First+International+Workshop+on+UNL%2C+other+Interlinguas%2C+and+their+Applications%2C+Las+Palmas%2C+2)
8. Dorr, Bonnie J. (1987). UNITRAN: An Interlingua Approach to Machine Translation . Proceedings of the 6th Conference of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, Seattle, Washington. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Dorr%2C+Bonnie+J%2E+%281987%29%2E+UNITRAN%3A+An+Interlingua+Approach+to+Machine+Translation+%2E+Proceedings+of+the+6th+Conference+of+the+American+Association+of+Artificial+Intelligence%2C+Seattle%2C+Washington%2E)
9. Dorr, Bonnie J. (1990). “ A cross-linguistic approach to translation ”. Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Machine Translation of Natural Language, Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Texas. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Dorr%2C+Bonnie+J%2E+%281990%29%2E+%E2%80%9C+A+cross%2Dlinguistic+approach+to+translation+%E2%80%9D%2E+Proceedings+of+3rd+International+Conference+on+Theoretical+and+Methodological+Issues+in+Machine+Translation+of+Natural+Language%2C)
10. Dorr, Bonnie J., Hovy, E., Levin, L. (2004). Machine Translation: Interlingual Methods, Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. 2nd ed., Brown, Keith (ed.). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Dorr%2C+Bonnie+J%2E%2C+Hovy%2C+E%2E%2C+Levin%2C+L%2E+%282004%29%2E+Machine+Translation%3A+Interlingual+Methods%2C+Encyclopedia+of+Language+and+Linguistics%2E+2nd+ed%2E%2C+Brown%2C+Keith+%28ed%2E%29%2E)
11. Nyberg E.H., Mitamura T. (1992). The KANT System: Fast, Accurate, High-Quality Translation in Practical Domains, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Computation Linguistics, (COLING 1992), Nantes, France. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Nyberg+E%2EH%2E%2C+Mitamura+T%2E+%281992%29%2E+The+KANT+System%3A+Fast%2C+Accurate%2C+High%2DQuality+Translation+in+Practical+Domains%2C+in+Proceedings+of+the+International+Conference+on+Computation+Linguistics%2C+%28COLING+1992)
12. Nyberg E. H., Mitamura T., Carbonell J. (1997). The KANT Machine Translation System: From R&D to Initial Deployment, in Proceedings of LISA (The Library and Information Services in Astronomy) Workshop on Integrating Advanced Translation Technology, Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Washington D.C. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Nyberg+E%2E+H%2E%2C+Mitamura+T%2E%2C+Carbonell+J%2E+%281997%29%2E+The+KANT+Machine+Translation+System%3A+From+R%26D+to+Initial+Deployment%2C+in+Proceedings+of+LISA+%28The+Library+and+Information+Services+in+Astronomy%29+Workshop)
13. Martins, R., Avetisyan, V. (2009). Generative and Enumerative Lexicons in the UNL Framework, the seventh international conference on computer science and information technologies (CSIT 2009), 28 September – 2 October, 2009, Yerevan, Armenia. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Martins%2C+R%2E%2C+Avetisyan%2C+V%2E+%282009%29%2E+Generative+and+Enumerative+Lexicons+in+the+UNL+Framework%2C+the+seventh+international+conference+on+computer+science+and+information+technologies+%28CSIT+2009%29%2C+28+Septe)
14. Martins, R. (2012). Le Petit Prince in UNL, the 8th international conference on language resources and evaluation (LREC'12), 23-25 May 2012, Istanbul, Turkey. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Martins%2C+R%2E+%282012%29%2E+Le+Petit+Prince+in+UNL%2C+the+8th+international+conference+on+language+resources+and+evaluation+%28LREC%2712%29%2C+23%2D25+May+2012%2C+Istanbul%2C+Turkey%2E)
15. Uchida .H , Zhu .M. (2005). UNL2005 for Providing Knowledge Infrastructure , in Proceedings of the Semantic Computing Workshop (SeC2005), Chiba, Japan, 2005 [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Uchida+%2EH+%2C+Zhu+%2EM%2E+%282005%29%2E+UNL2005+for+Providing+Knowledge+Infrastructure+%2C+in+Proceedings+of+the+Semantic+Computing+Workshop+%28SeC2005%29%2C+Chiba%2C+Japan%2C+2005)
16. Uchida H., Zhu M., (1993). [Interlingua for Multilingual Machine Translation](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/uchida-1993-interlingua-multilingual-machine-translation/) , in Proceedings of the Machine Translation Summit IV, Kobe, Japan.
17. Uchida H. and M. Zhu (2005). UNL2005 for Providing Knowledge Infrastructure , in Proceedings of the Semantic Computing Workshop (SeC2005), Chiba, Japan. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Uchida+H%2E+and+M%2E+Zhu+%282005%29%2E+UNL2005+for+Providing+Knowledge+Infrastructure+%2C+in+Proceedings+of+the+Semantic+Computing+Workshop+%28SeC2005%29%2C+Chiba%2C+Japan%2E)
18. Uchida H. (1996). UNL: Universal Networking Language – An Electronic Language for Communication, Understanding, and Collaboration , UNU/IAS/UNL Center, Tokyo, Japan. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Uchida+H%2E+%281996%29%2E+UNL%3A+Universal+Networking+Language+%E2%80%93+An+Electronic+Language+for+Communication%2C+Understanding%2C+and+Collaboration+%2C+UNU%2FIAS%2FUNL+Center%2C+Tokyo%2C+Japan%2E)
19. Witkam T. (2006). History and Heritage of the DLT (Distributed Language Translation) project, Utrecht, The Netherlands: private publication. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Witkam+T%2E+%282006%29%2E+History+and+Heritage+of+the+DLT+%28Distributed+Language+Translation%29+project%2C+Utrecht%2C+The+Netherlands%3A+private+publication%2E)

*Updated 29 October 2026*