A compromise Arabic-Kazakh coded character processing method based on the OpenType font format

Jun Dong, Tonghai Jiang, Li Cheng, Azmat Anwar, Yong Yang

Abstract: Information systems for Arabic-Kazakh processing must handle the editing and display problems caused by four special vowels: and The current solution uses combinations of four alternative vowels ( and ) with the character to represent these four special vowels. However, this approach relies on deliberate spelling errors and can cause computer programs to be unable to semantically distinguish the alternative vowels from the original vowels. Moreover, this causes problems in Arabic-Kazakh text-processing applications such as text sorting, script conversion and speech synthesis. We propose a compromise method in which the four special vowels are represented by combinations of themselves with the character and the related editing and display problems are handled using an OpenType font. The relevant glyph layout features in the OpenType font format are compatible with the proposed compromise method. Results from the sorting and classification of 10,000 randomly selected common Arabic-Kazakh words demonstrate that the new method successfully avoids problems caused by letter replacement, including text sorting errors in 2843 of the tested words and ambiguities with the characters and in 3960 of the words.