Abstract
This study identified sources of semiosis in ngalogat symbols at Miftahul Huda Boarding School in Tasikmalaya, including how they shaped students’ knowledge of Arabic grammar as they read classical Islamic texts. Using Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotics, this qualitative descriptive study analyzed six main symbols: ari, éta, éta tetep, saha, naon, and ka/kana. Data were collected through interviews with teachers and alumni, classroom observations, and questionnaires given to 30 Ma'had 'Aly students. Results showed three sources of semiosis: local conventions, form modification, and Pegon script simplification. The semiosis process took place hierarchically through grammatical identification (52%), individual interpretation (31%), logat system (14%), and structural function (3%). In addition, students demonstrated stable syntactic mapping, consistently associating representamen with grammatical functions, while displaying contextual differentiation. These findings indicated that ngalogat symbols functioned as a word-by-word translation tool and a cognitive framework that shaped students’ grammatical understanding of Arabic.