Abstract
There is a growing interest in imaging understudied orthographies to unravel their neuronal correlates and their implications for existing computational and neuroanatomical models. Here, we review current brain map** literature about Arabic words. We first offer a succinct description of some unique linguistic features of Arabic that challenge current cognitive models of reading. We then appraise the existing functional neuroimaging studies that investigated written Arabic word processing. Our review revealed that (1) Arabic is still understudied, (2) the most investigated features concerned the effects of vowelling and diglossia in Arabic reading, (3) findings were not always discussed in the light of existing reading models such as the dual route cascaded, the triangle, and the connectionist dual process models, and (4) current evidence is unreliable when it comes to the exact neuronal pathways that sustain Arabic word processing. Overall, despite the fact that Arabic has some unique linguistic features that challenge and ultimately enrich current reading models, the existing functional neuroimaging literature falls short of offering a reliable evidence about brain networks of Arabic reading. We conclude by highlighting the need for more systematic studies of the linguistic features of Arabic to build theoretical and neuroanatomical models that are concurrently specific and general.
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Data availability
Data sharing not applicable as no datasets were generated or analysed in this work.
Notes
For the transcription of Arabic words, we use the Buckwalter transliteration system accessible here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwalter_transliteration.
Few content words can be monosyllabic in pausal positions when their final syllable ~ un, which stands for the indefinite article is omitted. For example, the disyllabic “kalbun” dog can become monosyllabic by omitting its final syllable. Beyond this, only function words like “lA” no, “min” from can be underlyingly monosyllabic.
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This work was funded by Khalifa University (grant number RC2-2018-022 for MLS) and UAEU (grant number G00004379 for SB).
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Seghier, M.L., Boudelaa, S. Constraining current neuroanatomical models of reading: the view from Arabic. Brain Struct Funct (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-024-02827-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-024-02827-y