14 June 2008

BEIRUT: During the past few years email, chat rooms, and text messaging have forced Arabic speakers to rely on transliterations due to these technologies' use of Roman script.

As Arabic keyboards remain bewildering and unpopular among average users, transliteration has become a common method of written communication, particularly on the net.

This reliance on transliteration has spawned various Web sites which convert Latin-script Arabic transliterations into Arabic script. Now Arab-speaking internet users have a new tool at their disposal to do just that - but better.

Nagi Salloum, co-founder of the popular Cineklik Web site which aggregates movie listings all over Lebanon onto one site, has teamed up with a new partner to make the internet more accessible for arabophones.

Their creation - Yoolki - is a Web site which is proving to be the fastest tool on the net for converting transliterations into Arabic script.

Though there are many Roman to Arabic transliteration sites on the net, Yoolki is the only one which transliterates in real-time without the often irritating pause after typing. It is also the only site which allows users to work offline in case the internet connection is lost.

Yoolki uses a dual screen which allows users to constantly see their Roman script typing side-by-side with the Arabic script. The user is able to go back and make corrections to the original words without having to delete the Arabic script.

Yoolki is also the first transliteration tool which allows users to incorporate haraket or "vowelization" into the final typed product.

Transliterations are not, however, universal and often different users have different ways in which they use Roman script to spell Arabic.

Yoolki addresses this problem by often allowing several common spellings of certain words while also providing a character map that helps users navigate their transliteration experience.

A Google-powered search engine has been incorporated into the site which Salloum hopes will help expand the currently meager number of Arabic Web pages on the net by making them more convenient to reach.

According to Salloum, the primary users of Yoolki are businesses, which continually seek faster and easier ways to write in Arabic.

Salloum says he has already had interest from major corporations which love the idea.

Although transliteration is more common within chat rooms and text messaging, personal users still find Yoolki helpful particularly for emailing or school and work assignments.

Despite the efficacy of transliteration tools like Yoolki, some worry that such methods of writing Arabic are speeding up the language's decline in the internet age.

"We are not discouraging people from using Arabic," says Salloum, "in fact, Yoolki is encouraging the use of Arabic by making it more accessible."

Many users have displayed their satisfaction for the tool, even calling it "revolutionary."

Salloum and his partner declined to comment on future expansion for the site, except that they wish to continue making the writing of Arabic "easier, faster and more enjoyable for the user."

Copyright The Daily Star 2008.