The logic-based machine-understandable framework of the Semantic Web often
challenges naive users when they try to query ontology-based knowledge bases.
Existing research efforts have approached this problem by introducing Natural
Language (NL) interfaces to ontologies. These NL interfaces have the ability to
construct SPARQL queries based on NL user queries. However, most efforts were
restricted to queries expressed in English, and they often benefited from the
advancement of English NLP tools. However, little research has been done to
support querying the Arabic content on the Semantic Web by using NL queries.
This paper presents a domain-independent approach to translate Arabic NL
queries to SPARQL by leveraging linguistic analysis. Based on a special
consideration on Noun Phrases (NPs), our approach uses a language parser to
extract NPs and the relations from Arabic parse trees and match them to the
underlying ontology. It then utilizes knowledge in the ontology to group NPs
into triple-based representations. A SPARQL query is finally generated by
extracting targets and modifiers, and interpreting them into SPARQL. The
interpretation of advanced semantic features including negation, conjunctive
and disjunctive modifiers is also supported. The approach was evaluated by
using two datasets consisting of OWL test data and queries, and the obtained
results have confirmed its feasibility to translate Arabic NL queries to
SPARQL.Comment: Journal Pape
