CJKV Information Processing, 2nd Edition

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Chapter 11: Dictionaries and Dictionary Software

on Japanese text, set horizontally and vertically. It translates words and phrases between

English and Japanese.

*

Horizontal and vertical scanning is specied by a setting. is pen

dictionary includes three of Sanseido’s Daily Concise dictionaries, which allow English

text to be translated into Japanese, Japanese text to be translated into English, and deni-

tions of Japanese text to be displayed on its LCD screen.

e primary disadvantage of dedicated dictionary hardware is that, due to its hardware

nature, it cannot be easily upgraded, though some of them allow users to install their

own CD-ROM– or DVD-based dictionaries, eectively bypassing this limitation. While

many of these devices have optional dictionaries, usually specialized, there is no way to

add entries to the main dictionary. WYBIWYG.

†

e nonupgradable nature of dedicated

dictionary hardware may be true of those oered in the past, but given the introduction

of mobile devices that can perform computing operations, including many cell phones, I

doubt that it will be true in the future.

Dictionary Software

Character dictionaries that reside in soware are a more recent phenomenon. Some are

conventional, some are specialized, and some are even a combination of both. ese elec-

tronic dictionaries take the form of dictionary soware for your computer, acting as