JPS6373374A - Phrase conversion device that can match kanji and foreign languages - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] □Industrial Application Field□ The present invention relates to a word/phrase conversion device between Japanese and a predetermined foreign language, and particularly to a word/phrase converter between Japanese and a predetermined foreign language. It concerns improvements in conversion between foreign language words and phrases.

□Prior Art□ Devices for converting Japanese words into predetermined foreign language words corresponding to their meanings, or converting foreign language words into corresponding Japanese words, are already known. Examples include a translation device that translates Japanese into English or English into Japanese, and a learning device using the same.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention - However, for example, if we take a Japanese-to-English translation device as an example, for a Japanese word inputted in kana, it is possible to convert the Japanese word and phrase by listing candidates for the corresponding English word and phrase. It is merely an association of meaning between the two.

Therefore, it was difficult to say that anyone could understand the original Japanese meaning and its relationship with English words without misunderstanding. For example, the Japanese “hana” is translated into English as “fl”.
When "ower" is displayed, those who know English well will immediately know that it means "flower."
Beginners may not know whether it means ``flower'' or ``nose.''

Note that such problems may occur not only between Japanese and English, but also between other foreign languages.

□Means for solving the problem□ The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its features are as shown in Figure 1. ■An input device for inputting information using the input device; ■Kanji word/foreign language phrase correspondence storage means for storing a plurality of predetermined foreign language word data and Kanji word data corresponding to their meanings in association with each other; Conversion control means for reading word data with a meaning corresponding to the word data from the Kanji word/foreign language word correspondence storage means and displaying the Kanji word data and the foreign language word data in a mutually correlated relationship on a display device. The present invention is characterized in that the word/phrase conversion device is constructed by including the above.

□Effect of the invention□ In this way, the meanings expressed by the ideograms (kanji) are used as an information medium, and the meanings of Japanese words and phrases in foreign languages are uniquely correlated, so that the user can The semantic correspondence can be accurately grasped.

This contributes to further improving the accuracy and reliability of translation, learning, etc., for example.

□Embodiments□ Next, several embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a word/phrase conversion device having the function of a word processor (hereinafter referred to as word processor) will be described with reference to the drawings.

The device shown in FIG. 2 has an integral structure including a keyboard 2 and a printer 4, and a part of the keyboard 2 is provided with a liquid crystal display (hereinafter simply referred to as a display) 6 having a predetermined number of digits. The keyboard 2 includes character keys 30 necessary for writing sentences, and conversion keys 32 used for converting kana and kanji. Various keys are provided, including an English conversion key 34 for converting Kanji words and phrases into English.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit of this device includes a central processing unit (CPU) 50. Program memory 52. Work memory 54. Text memory 56, character generator 58. Keyboard driver 62. Printer driver 64. It includes a display controller 66 and a common path line 67 that connects them, and mainly constitutes a control circuit for a word processor. The keyboard 2 is connected to a keyboard driver 62, and data input by operating the various keys on the keyboard 2 is
While being supplied to the work memory 54 and the text memory 56, pattern data representing each character is sent from the character generator 58 to the printer driver 64. based on the manually inputted document data. The display controller 66 is supplied to the printer 4. Activate each display 6.

An electronic dictionary 70 is further connected to the common path line 67, and the CPU 50. Program memory 52. Work memory 54. By utilizing many parts of the word processor control circuit, such as the character generator 58, the word processor control circuit is constructed together with these parts. This electronic dictionary 70 stores a predetermined number of Japanese words and English words corresponding to their meanings in association with each other, and for Japanese words that can be expressed in kanji, the kanji and It stores the corresponding English words in association with each other. Note that if there are multiple English words that correspond to one kanji, these multiple words are stored. When converting words between Japanese and English, the CPU 50 reads word data corresponding to the designated word data from the dictionary data stored in the electronic dictionary 70 and transfers it to the character generator 58.
Based on the character generator 58 converting it into pattern data, display on the display 6 and printing by the printer 4 as necessary are performed.

This phrase conversion and the word processing are carried out by the CPU 50.
This is done by executing the program stored in the program memory 52 with the help of the work memory 54. Regarding the program, FIG. 4 shows a flowchart mainly consisting of a phrase conversion program closely related to the present invention.

First, step Sl (hereinafter simply referred to as 81).

Other steps are also initialized in S2. S3. 34°310
It is carried out after.

When the conversion key 32 is pressed after an arbitrary Japanese word, for example "Hana", has been inputted using a kana key, S4. After S5, S6, which is a kanji conversion step, is executed, and the kanji word candidates (
The first one (hereinafter referred to as a kanji candidate) is displayed on display 6.
will be displayed.

For example, a "flower" is displayed as shown in FIG.

When the conversion key 32 is pressed again, the determination in S5 becomes YES and the process moves to 87. Here, if it is determined that the next kanji candidate exists in the electronic dictionary 70, that kanji candidate is displayed in S8, and in the same way, each time the conversion key 32 is pressed, kanji candidates in the dictionary data are displayed one after another. However, if all the candidates are displayed and the determination in step 87 is NO, the first kanji candidate is displayed in S9. When the English conversion key 34 is pressed after such a kanji candidate is confirmed by a predetermined key operation other than the conversion key 32, the determination in 33, 311 is YES.
Then, the process moves to S12. In this S12, it is determined whether or not an English word candidate (hereinafter referred to as an English candidate) is displayed on the display 6. However, since it is not displayed yet, the process moves to S13, and an English word candidate corresponding to the above-mentioned Kanji candidate is displayed. It is determined whether it is stored in the electronic dictionary 70, in other words, whether it is convertible. If the judgment is YES, step 314 is executed, and for example, as shown in FIG.
"lower" is displayed on the display 6.

In addition, if the English conversion key 34- is pressed, but the Japanese data entered manually before that is not confirmed as a kanji word, or the corresponding English word is not confirmed as a kanji word,
If it is not stored in 0 (for example, in the case of a kanji character representing a proper noun), 315. S16 is executed, and alarm processing such as a buzzer is performed.

Then, when the English conversion key 34 is pressed again with "flower" being displayed on the display 6, 33.
The judgments in Sll and S12 are YES, and the process moves to 317. In this S17, if it is determined that the next English candidate corresponding to "hana" is in the dictionary data of the electronic dictionary 70, S18 is executed, and as shown in FIG. displayed on the display 6. If multiple English candidates are stored in the electronic dictionary 70 for one kanji candidate, the display changes to the next candidate each time the English conversion key 34 is pressed, and after all are displayed, the display returns to the first one by 319. Been going back.

As mentioned above, Japanese words entered in kana are first converted to kanji through kana/kanji conversion, and then the kanji are confirmed and then converted to English, so the words expressed in kana are Compared to simply converting into English, the correspondence between converted English words and their Japanese meanings becomes clearer through the ideographic function of kanji.

In this embodiment, the keyboard 2 and the keyboard driver 62 constitute an input device, the display 6 and the display controller 66 constitute a display device, and the electronic dictionary 70 constitutes a kanji/phrase/foreign language correspondence storage means. There is. Further, an area of the program memory 52 that stores a program for displaying English candidates in association with Kanji words and phrases and the CPU 50 that executes the program constitute a conversion control means.

Next, another embodiment will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, but the same parts and contents as in the previous embodiment will not be redundantly explained. The same applies to some of the later examples.

The program shown in this flowchart is for converting Japanese words input in kana into English and displaying the corresponding kanji at the same time.

After inputting a kana, for example, "Hana", the conversion key 32 is pressed, and the process proceeds to S23. S24. It is assumed that the process moves to S25. In S25, it is determined whether kanji conversion is possible, that is, whether or not a kanji candidate corresponding to the reading of the kana is stored in the dictionary data of the electronic dictionary 70. N
If the determination is O, the alarm process of 329 is executed, but if the determination is YES, the process moves to S26, and it is determined whether or not there is an English candidate corresponding to the Kanji candidate in the dictionary data. Here, if it is determined that there is a corresponding English candidate, in S27, the kanji candidate stored at the beginning of the dictionary data and the corresponding English candidate are displayed on the display 6 as shown in the middle row of FIG. will be displayed along with. Kanji and English words form a pair and are displayed in cents. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 326 that there is no corresponding English candidate, the first kanji candidate in the dictionary data is displayed and "no English candidate" is displayed in step S30.

As is clear from the explanation of S25, anything that cannot be converted to Kanji is not converted to English either, and therefore, when converted to English, it is always displayed with Kanji, so the meaning of the displayed English is immediately recognized. It is possible.

Note that when the conversion key 32 is pressed again, the determination at 324 is YE.
If it becomes S, the process moves to S31. Here, if it is determined that the next kanji candidate is in the dictionary data, and it is determined in S32 that there is a corresponding English candidate, the next kanji candidate and English candidate are shown in the lower part of FIG. 7, for example. S33 is executed to display the following. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no corresponding English candidate, step 334 is executed to display only the next kanji candidate and to display that there is no English candidate.

Further, if the determination in S31 is No, the initial display is maintained or returned to in S36, and the process returns to 321.

Yet another embodiment will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. The program shown in this flowchart differs in that it converts phrases, whereas the previous programs convert words.

In this embodiment, a priority memory 72 is connected to the common path line 67 of the control circuit shown in FIG. When converting a Japanese phrase input in kana into kanji and English, if there are multiple candidates for the kanji corresponding to the kana and the English phrase corresponding to the phrase including the kanji, this priority memory 72 stores each candidate. This determines the display priority. For this purpose, memory areas are set in the priority memory 72 in association with each dictionary data in the electronic dictionary 70, and the latest Kanji and English data for which conversion has been confirmed are placed at the beginning of each memory area for Kanji and English. It is stored in , so that it will be displayed first at the next conversion. Further, the keyboard 2 is provided with an English-only conversion key 76 for calling up the next English candidate only for English conversion after confirming the Kanji conversion.

In the flowchart of FIG. 8, if a Japanese phrase is entered manually using kana, other key processing in S65 may be, for example, as shown in the upper part of FIG.
The keyed phrase is displayed in kana on the display 6. Subsequently, when the conversion key 32 is pressed, 342,3
43. The process moves to S45 via S44, and the kanji candidates corresponding to the kana words to be converted into kanji in the above phrase are
It is determined whether it exists in priority memory 72. Y
If the judgment is ES, S49 is executed to display the first kanji candidate in the corresponding memory area of the priority memory 72, and kana/kanji conversion in the phrase is performed.

If the determination is No, it is determined in 346 whether or not kanji conversion is possible, and when the determination is YES, S47 is executed to display the first kanji candidate of the corresponding dictionary data in the electronic dictionary 70. Kana/kanji conversion is performed. After S47 or 349 is executed, it is determined in S50 whether English conversion is possible, that is, whether an English candidate corresponding to the phrase including the kanji candidate is stored in the electronic dictionary 70 or the priority memory 72, and is stored. If it is determined, S51 is executed to display the English candidate. By executing S51 and S47 or s49, for example, as shown in the middle row of FIG. 9, the phrase converted into kanji and the English candidate corresponding to the phrase are displayed together. However, if it is determined in S50 that there are no corresponding English candidates, "no English candidates" is displayed in S53 in conjunction with the display of phrases including kanji candidates.

When the conversion key 32 is pressed again with kanji candidates etc. being displayed in this way, the judgment in S44 becomes YES and the process moves to 354, where it is determined whether there is the next kanji candidate, and if there is. If it is determined, it is determined whether the kanji candidate exists in the priority memory 72 in S56. If this judgment is YES, S57 reads the next kanji candidate from the priority memory 72 and displays it again.
.

If so, after step 858 for reading and displaying from the electronic dictionary 70 is executed, the process moves to S50 and thereafter, and the next English candidate, etc., is displayed at the same time. Also, S5
If the determination in step 4 is No, the first kanji candidate etc. are displayed in S55.

Note that the display of the English candidates in S51 is such that if the displayed kanji candidate is stored in the priority memory 72 by a predetermined key operation, the English candidates displayed together with it are also stored in the priority memory 72, as described later. Therefore, if the Kanji candidates are read from the priority memory 72, the English candidates are also read from the priority memory 72, and if the Kanji candidates are read from the electronic dictionary 70, the English candidates are also read from the electronic dictionary 70. It is carried out by

On the other hand, display 6 displays phrases containing kanji candidates.
When the English-only conversion key 76 is operated while the English candidates are being displayed, S60. S66's decision is YES
Then, S67 is executed in which the kanji candidate is determined and stored in the priority memory 72.

Furthermore, if 368 is YES, it will move to 369,
The presence or absence of the next English candidate is determined, and if it is determined that there is,
In the following S70, it is determined whether the English candidate is in the priority memory 72 or not.

Here, if it is determined that there is a candidate, the next English candidate is read from the priority memory 72, and if it is determined that there is no candidate, the next English candidate is read and displayed from the electronic dictionary 70, respectively.S71 or S72 is executed. As a result, the display format changes, for example, from the middle to the bottom in FIG. In addition, the judgment of 369 is NO.
If so, S73 is executed to display the first English candidate. In addition, if the English-only conversion key 76 is operated even though no Kanji candidates or English candidates are displayed, S66゜3
If the determination in step 68 is No, the alarm process in step S74 is executed.

On the other hand, if the determination in S60 is No, that is, if the pressed key is neither the conversion key 32 nor the English-only conversion key 76, the process moves to S61, and the displayed Kanji candidates and English candidates are further determined. 362 and 364, respectively, are executed.

In this embodiment, the priority memory 72 together with the electronic dictionary 70 constitutes a kanji word/phrase/foreign language word/phrase correspondence storage means, and the conversion key 32 . The English-only conversion key 76 functions as a conversion command means for commanding the desired conversion with the help of the CPU 50.

Yet another embodiment will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. This embodiment performs conversion from English to Japanese, whereas the previous examples convert from Japanese to English.

First, when an arbitrary English word is keyed, the execution of S92 results in, for example, "wate" as shown in the upper part of FIG.
r” is displayed on the display 6. When the conversion key 32 is pressed, the steps proceed from 382 to S85, and then to S8.
In step 5, it is determined whether a kanji candidate corresponding to the English word is stored in the electronic dictionary 70, that is, whether it can be converted. If it is determined that conversion is possible, read the first kanji candidate from the corresponding dictionary data in the electronic dictionary 70,
For example, step 886 is executed to display the image as shown in the lower part of FIG. Then, if the conversion key 32 is pressed again, 381
- The process moves to S89 via S84, and if the determination in S89 is YES, S90 is executed to display the next kanji candidate from within the dictionary data, and if the determination is NO, S91 is executed to display the first kanji candidate. be done.

Even in the case of such so-called English-to-Japanese translations, by displaying the English words and Kanji words in a corresponding relationship, as in the case of the Japanese-to-English translations mentioned above, it is possible to more accurately grasp the meaning. be.

In the above explanation, FIGS. 4, 6, 8 and 10
Although the flowcharts in the figure have been described as independent programs, by combining these programs, it is possible to arbitrarily execute any of the above embodiments by selecting based on the operator's key operations.

Furthermore, the priority memory 72 in the flowchart of FIG.
Although a memory area thereof can be set in the electronic dictionary 70, the priority memory itself is not essential and can be omitted.

Furthermore, the present invention is applicable not only to conversion between Japanese and English, but also to relationships with other foreign languages.

Although not described in detail, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a word processor/phrase conversion device which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing its control circuit. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing programs stored in the program memory, mainly a phrase conversion program closely related to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the display in the display step. Figure 6. 8 and 10 show separate flowcharts corresponding to FIG. 4, and FIG. 7. FIG. 9 and FIG. 11 are diagrams each showing an example of the display in those display steps. 2: Keyboard 6: Liquid crystal display 30: Character key 32: Conversion key 34: English conversion key 50: Central processing unit (CPU) 52 Niprogram memory 70; Electronic dictionary 72; Priority memory 76: English-only conversion key

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An input device for inputting word data, and a Kanji word/foreign language word correspondence storage means for storing a plurality of predetermined foreign language word data and Kanji word data corresponding to their meanings in association with each other. and, based on the phrase data input by the input device,
and conversion control means for reading word data having a meaning corresponding thereto from the Kanji word/foreign language word correspondence storage means and displaying the Kanji word data and the foreign language word data on the display device in a mutually correlated relationship. Features: A phrase conversion device that can match kanji and foreign words.