Arabic (WP17) Transliteration Rules

Transliteration Rules - Arabic (WP17)

Mike Ellis ISO (JTC1 SC17/WG3 TF3)

New Technologies Working Group (NTWG) TAG/MRTD 20 20 th Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Machine Readable Travel Documents V3.4 09/2011 Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Main points:

1. Identification: name in ARABIC script is only reliable basis

2. Countries that use the Arabic script should have the benefits of the MRZ Transliteration Rules - Arabic

The Arabic name must appear in Latin characters in VIZ

8.3 Languages and characters . When the mandatory elements of Zones I, II and III are in a national language that does not use the Latin alphabet, a transliteration shall also be provided. Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Status quo: name in VIZ copied to MRZ Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Many phonetic transcriptions of same Arabic name Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Many phonetic transcriptions Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Many phonetic transcriptions

and possibly over 9,000 more...

MRZ same as VIZ Much variation in (Latin) name Transliteration Rules - Arabic

IDENTIFICATION: the Arabic name is unique

د اﺡ

So the solution is to base the MRZ on the Arabic Name. Transliteration Rules - Arabic

But the MRZ can only contain OCR-B A-Z and <

د اﺡ

9.4.1 Names in the MRZ are represented differently from those in the VIZ. National characters must be transliterated using only the allowed OCR character set [A..Z]. Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Solution: Transliteration of Arabic name into Latin

Transliteration table based on closest match + ‘escape’ Arabic letter Name MRZ Transliteration Rules - Arabic Unicode 0621 hamza XE 0622 alef with madda above XAA 0623 alef with hamza above XAE 0624 waw with hamza above XW 0625 alef with hamza below I 0626 yeh with hamza above XI Technical 0627 alef A Report – 0628 beh B 0629 teh marbuta XTA/XAH [ Appendix 1 1] 062A teh T 062B theh XTH 062C jeem J 062D hah XH 062E khah XKH 062F dal D 0630 thal XDH 0631 reh R

[1] XTA is used generally except if teh marbuta occurs at the end of the name component, in which case XAH is used. Arabic letter Name MRZ Transliteration Rules - Arabic Unicode zain Z ز 0632 seen S س 0633 sheen XSH ش 0634 sad XSS ص 0635 dad XDZ ض 0636 tah XTT ط 0637 zah XZZ ظ Technical 0638 E ain ع Report – 0639 ghain G غ 063A feh F ف Appendix 1 0641 qaf Q ق 0642 kaf K ك 0643 lam L ل 0644 meem M م 0645 noon N ن 0646 heh H ه 0647 waw W و 0648 Arabic letter Name MRZ Transliteration Rules - Arabic Unicode alef maksura XAY ى 0649 yeh Y ي 064A [shadda [DOUBLE] [1 ّ◌ 0651 alef wasla XXA ٱ 0671 Tteh XXT ٹ 0679 067E Peh P teh with ring XRT ټ Technical 067C hah with hamza above XKE ځ Report – 0681 hah with 3 dots above XXH څ 0685 Tcheh XC چ Appendix 1 0686 Ddal XXD ڈ 0688 dal with ring XDR ډ 0689 Rreh XXR ڑ 0691 reh with ring XRR ړ 0693 reh with dot below and dot XRX ږ 0696 above Jeh XJ ژ 0698 seen with dot below and dot XXS ښ 069A above .becomes E BBAS; &'(ّ becomes F XDZXDZXAH ّ%$#س Shadda denotes doubling: Latin character or sequence is repeated eg [1] Transliteration Rules - Arabic Arabic letter Name MRZ Unicode keheh XKK ک 06A9 kaf with ring XXK ګ 06AB Ng XNG ڭ 06AD gaf XGG گ 06AF noon ghunna XNN ں 06BA noon with ring XXN ڼ 06BC heh doachashmee XDO ھ Technical 06BE heh with yeh above XYH ۀ Report – 06C0 06C1 heh goal XXG Appendix 1 06C2 heh goal with hamza above XGE

06C3 teh marbuta goal XTG farsi yeh XYA ى 06CC yeh with tail XXY ۍ 06CD Yeh Y ې 06D0 Yeh barree XYB ﮮ 06D2 06D3 yeh barree with hamza XBE above Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Some Arabic characters have near matches

Meem مد اﺡ

M Transliteration Rules - Arabic

‘H’ is already assigned to “Heh”, so use ‘X’ as escape

Hah حد اﺡ

Heh -> ‘H’, Hah -> ‘XH’ Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Meem مد اﺡ

M Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Waw ود اﺡ

W Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Dal دد اﺡ

D Transliteration Rules - Arabic

“Ain” has no exact Latin equivalent, so assign ‘E’

Ain د عاﺡ

E Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Beh د باﺡ

B Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Dal د داﺡ

D Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Alef د ااﺡ

A Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Lam د لاﺡ

L Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Reh د راﺡ

R Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Hah د حاﺡ

XH Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Yeh د ياﺡ

Y Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Meem د ماﺡ

M Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Reiterate: MRZ is different form of name to VIZ

9.4.1 Names in the MRZ are represented differently from those in the VIZ. National characters must be transliterated using only the allowed OCR character set [A..Z]. Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Reiterate: MRZ is different form of name to VIZ

9.1.3 The data in the MRZ are formatted in such a way as to be readable by machines with standard capability worldwide. It must be stressed that the MRZ is reserved for data intended for international use in conformance with international Standards for MRPs. The MRZ is a different representation of the data than is found in the VIZ. Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Transliteration - advantage

Name in MRZ is unique (= Arabic name) Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Arabic name direct from MRZ

د اﺡ Transliteration Rules - Arabic

Chip holds name in DG11 (Unicode), can be compared

د اﺡ

Unicode: د,0645,062D,0645,0648,062F,0639,0628اﺡ 062F,0627,0644,0631,062D,064A,0645 Transliteration Rules - Arabic

IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Transliteration Rules - Arabic

IMPLEMENTATION – Legacy Database and Border Control

MEHMOOD ABD AL RAHEEM

MAHMOOD ABDUL RAHIM

MAHMUT ABD AR-RAHEEM

MAHMUD ABDALRAHEEM

MAHMOUD ABD-AL-RAHIIM MAHMUT ABDUL RAHIIM د اﺡ Other variations can be derived. Original Arabic form Transliteration Rules - Arabic

IMPLEMENTATION – Name in VIZ

1. Use Civil Register (transcription)

or 2. Status quo transcription

or 3. Use MRZ transliteration Transliteration Rules - Arabic

IMPLEMENTATION - PNR

Only concerned when PNR is used for API, not with PNR for airline use.

IATA/CAWG “API Statement of Principles”

presented to

FACILITATION (FAL) DIVISION — TWELFTH SESSION Cairo, Egypt, 2004-3-22/4-2

stated that:

“Required API data should be limited to the data contained in the machine-readable zone of travel documents or obtainable from existing government databases, such as those containing visa issuance information.” Transliteration Rules - Arabic

IMPLEMENTATION – AIRLINE CHECKING

1. PNR = MRZ

2. PNR = both VIZ and MRZ Transliteration Rules - Arabic

CONCLUSION

1. Essential – solve identity management issue, required for Interpol, aviation security, etc

2. Using the original name in Arabic is only way

3. Will be transitional implementation problems, not impossible, but worthwhile goal Transliteration Rules - Arabic

TAG is asked to:

1. Note work being undertaken (see also the Technical Report)

2. Provisionally approve, contingent upon comments at the Qatar Regional Seminar in November

3. Approve eventual inclusion as Recommended Practice in Appendix 9 to Section IV Transliteration Rules - Arabic (WP17)

Mike Ellis ISO (JTC1 SC17/WG3 TF3)

New Technologies Working Group (NTWG) TAG/MRTD 20 20 th Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Machine Readable Travel Documents V3.4 09/2011