Subject: Mac Chinese Input etc.

From: John Delacour <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 16:26:59 +0000

One or two netters have asked about the new Apple Chinese Language=
 Kit for
English System 7.1.

Since I have the complete simplified Chinese system 7.1S, I can't=
 comment
on the CLK but I guess is has very similar features, so here is a=
 bit of
information regarding 7.1S

                         * * * THE DICTIONARY * * *
Guo2ji1han4zi4

The Hanzi dictionary runs from character #1601 to character #8754=
 in the GB
(Guo Biao) code.  The whole character list is available in a scrolling
window, which can be pulled up either by mouse from the menu or by
option-shift-B.  Characters #1601 (<a> neutral tone) to #5589 (zuo4=
 as in
yi2zuo4shan1) are alphabetically ordered according to the pinyin=
 alphabet.=20
These are supposed to be the most frequently used characters.  The
remaining characters are in radical order. Characters may be entered
directly from the list (double-click on the desired character and=
 type
<CR>), though of course this method would only be used generally=
 for rarer
characters.

Biao3dian3yu2fu4hao4

An additional set of characters #0101 - #0394 are also available
representing a variety of non-Chinese signs and symbols.  These are=
 useful
of you want to make your text look like something that came off a=
 1920
Shanghai printing press :-)

The Character List Window provides four classifications for the selected
character; for example, selecting the character for "man" will give:-

                qu1wei4ma4.......4043
                pin1yin1ma4......ren4
                wu5bi3xing2ma4...WWWW
                wu3bi3hua4ma4......34

                         * * * INPUT METHODS * * *

Toggling between Roman and Chinese input methods is accomplshed by=
 means of
the command key and the spacebar.  Selection of the various Chinese=
 input
methods is accomplished either by "mouselection" from a menu or by
option+shift keyboard shortcuts.

PIN YIN

The pinyin spelling is largely standard, but for some crazy reason=
 that I
can't understand, Apple have introduced <v> into the alphabet to=
 represent
the u: as in qv (go) lvguan (hotel).  Moreover they are not consistent
because if you want quan (whole) you have to type quan and not qvan.=
  There
is no sense at all in this complication so far as I can see.

_______________

Using the pinyin input method, you type, for example <k>

A window appears listing ALL (!!) the characters with <k> as their=
 initial
-- 97 characters.  I can see no point in this at all, since there=
 is no
hanzi pronounced "k". I next type -u and am presented with 50 hanzi
beginning with ku-. <kua> gives me 36 hanzi, <kuan> gives me 19,=A0and
finally <kuang> brings up 16 characters.

There is no facility to append the tone (eg. kuang3) to the input=
 in order
to narrow down the search since the numbers are used in order to=
 select
from the displayed hanzi.  The display is something like this:

         _______________________________________________________________
         ||    1HZ[kuang4]  2HZ[kuang4]  3HZ[kuang2]  4HZ[kuang1]=
     ||
         ||     HZ[kuang1]   %%[kuang4]   HZ[kuang4]   HZ[kuang1]=
     ||
         ||     HZ[kuang1]   HZ[kuang2]   HZ[kuang4]   HZ[kuang4]=
     ||
         ||     HZ[kuang3]   HZ[kuang1]   HZ[kuang4]   HZ[kuang4]=
     ||
         _______________________________________________________________

  __________________________________________________________________________
  ||| kuang                                                     =
            |
  __________________________________________________________________________

where the lower window is the input window and the upper the selection
window.  The upper window can be navigated either by typing a number=
 from 1
to 4 or by using the arrow keys.  Typing a down arrow in the above=
 will
move the numbering down to the next row, so that if I want to write=
 %% I
type kuang -- down arrow -- 2 -- <CR>.

If, instead, I use the mouse to click on %%, %% will appear as a=
 hanzi in
the input and typing <CR> or <ENTER> will enter the hanzi into my=
 text.
With "lianxiang" selected if I click on a hanzi it will be entered=
 as such
in the input window and a new selection window will immediately be
presented suggesting the next hanzi.  Here are some examples:-

(^ =3D tone number)

Type kuang...Click kuang^4..Apple suggests qie^3...type <CR>to enter=
 the cizu

OK so far??

Type ma...Click ma^3 (horse).... Apple suggests Makesizhuyi!!!!!!!!

Here is a lianxiang chain, chosen at random:-

tan2 hua4 wu4yuan2 gong1 ju4 ti3 zhi4 zuo4 wen2 mang2 mu4 biao1 jie4=
 zhi2
ban1 zhang3 (->chang2) qi2 wang4 jian4 mian4 mu4.....and round we=
 go again.

With the "xue2xi2" option turned on, the selection window displays=
 the pin
yin pronunciation of the hanzi and you get 4 hanzi per row.  Without
"xuexi" you get 10 hanzi per row.

So much for the pinyin input method.

_______________

The other input methods are
          1. Selection from the hanzi list (as decribed above)
          2. Wu3bi3xing2
          3. Wu3bi3hua4
          4. Qu1wei4
          5. Luo2ma3

                          * * * WUBIHUA * * *

This is a stroke-based input method.  (Ng Liang Shing is probably=
 reading
this and he's the expert, so I won't say too much in case I get pounced
on!)

A number from 1 to 5 is assigned to each stroke.

         1 =3D a horizontal stroke    _
         2 =3D a vertical stroke      |
         3 =3D a downward sloping stroke from right to left  /
         4 =3D a dot     .
         5 =3D an elbow     < > v ^

A hanzi is identified by typing numbers to represent the strokes=
 in the
order in which they are written, up to a maximum of five.  Thus san1=
 (3)
would be 111.., shi2 (10) is 12...  etc.

This input method relies on the numeric keypad and can be quite fast=
 in the
hands of those familiar with the method.

_______________________

Lack of time forbids me to continue at the moment.

______________________

I have created tables in txt format for the Macintosh of all the=
 GuoBiao
set in both high bit and low bit characters.  I have a little work=
 to do
yet making them tidy and easily readable and I want to provide clear
instructions as to how to read them.  It will not be necessary to=
 have the
Chinese system in order to read these files; just one or two freeware
programs.

If anyone is interested please send mail to

                 [email-masked]

If I get enough mail it will encourage me to complete the thing and=
 I will
upload the file to ifcss.

                   John

_______________________________________

---

From: Ryan Boynton <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 13:09:53 CST

John Delacour recently posted a partial overview of the simplified Chinese
system running under WorldScript on the Mac.  I use the traditional system,
and so am not that familiar with the simplified system, although I have a
copy.  I played with it a little after John's posting.  Two comments come to
mind.  I agree that the use of 'v' for 'u:' is not implemented consistently.
In previous versions of the system 'v' was used only when 'u:' is explicity
written in pinyin in order to distinguish two words, as in nu and nu:, lu and
lu:.  The current implementation does not seem to be as carefully considered
as it ought to have been.
   The second comment is in response to John's mention that:

>There is no facility to append the tone (eg. kuang3) to the input in order
>to narrow down the search since the numbers are used in order to select
>from the displayed hanzi.

Actually, one enters the tone by typing the tone number on the numeric
keypad.  As John mentions, the numbers at the top of the keyboard are used to
choose a character from the selection window.

Regards,

Ryan