Re: Apple][ J-PLUS

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

Morimoto <gorom@sag.bekkoame.or.jp> wrote:
>Nathan Mates wrote:
>>   I believe it's either multi-key combos to get the complex
>>characters, or they use their alphabetized character set (kiragana or
>>katakana) for other stuff.  Then again, some just give up and go to
>>English-- I've played a lot of import Saturn/PSX/Genesis/[S]NES games
>>that are 80-99% English to begin with, which helps a lot.
>
>First of all its hiragana instead of kiragana.  Also for typing, we use
>special keyboard layouts with the basic 50 japanese hiragana/katakana or
>use alphabet to "pronounce" the Japanese word.  These are then taken
>care of programs to turn it into the more complex kanji characters from
>their internal dictionaries.  So much for _facts_...

I know someone who uses a computer to type Chinese characters.  The
process sounds similar: they type multi-key sequences based on the
hierarchy of the character, which is then bounced off an internal
dictionary, referenced to the appropriate character bitmap or scalable
outline, and out comes the character.

It seems the Chinese don't have a syllable based alphabet that is
widely used like the Japanese do.  However, each Chinese character
can be deduced by hierarchy.  That's how they look up words in their
dictionaries (one hierarchy, for example, is the number and position
of brush or pen strokes).

It is rather unlikely that people type with a keyboard of several
thousand characters. :)

-Scott G.