A Deterministic Algorithm for Arabic Character Recognition Based on Letter Properties

Abstract

Handheld devices are flooding the market, and their use is becoming essential among people. Hence, the need for fast and accurate character recognition methods that ease the data entry process for users arises. There are many methods developed for hand - writing character recognition especially for Latin-based languages. On the other hand, character recognition methods for Arabic language are lacking and rare. The Arabic language has many traits that differentiate it from other languages: first, the writing process is from right to left; second, the letter changes shape according to the position in the work; and third, the writing is cursive. Such traits compel to produce a special character recognition method that helps in producing applications for Arabic language. This research proposes a deterministic algorithm that recognizes Arabic alphabet let -ters. The algorithm is based on four categorizations of Arabic alphabet letters. Then, the research suggested a deterministic algorithm composed of 34 rules that can predict the character based on the use of all of categorizations as attributes assembled in a matrix for this purpose.