CJKV Information Processing, 2nd Edition

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Chapter 5: Input Methods

the eorts of Microso, Apple, and the open source community, much of what was once

considered to be nontrivial is now trivialized.

Chinese Input Method Software

e number of input methods available for Chinese far outnumber those available for

Japanese and Korean—combined! One source claims that well over 500 dierent Chinese

input methods have been developed over the years.

*

For this reason, it is well beyond the

scope of this book to even begin to cover them. Instead, I urge you to explore the Chinese

input methods that are included with the current versions of Windows or Mac OS X, both

of which have matured in terms of their multilingual support. Modern Linux distribu-

tions typically provide a larger number of Chinese input methods, such as those based on

SCIM. e default installations of modern OSes are fully CJKV-capable, and thus include

fully functional Chinese input methods.

NJStar

NJStar? You must be wondering why a Chinese word processor is listed as a Chinese input

method. is is because it provides the user with nearly 20 Chinese input methods, each

of which can be easily invoked through its UI.

†

More information about NJStar’s use as a word processor can be found in Chapter 10.

Japanese Input Method Software

Some popular Japanese input methods, such as ATOK, VJE, and Wnn, have been ported

to multiple platforms, which oen means you can ex ...