Language conversion device, language conversion method, and program

Abstract

To improve the convenience of Vietnamese headword searches. [Solution] The language conversion device accepts input of a Vietnamese string as a search target, converts tone symbols contained in the accepted string into corresponding tone numbers, generates a converted string in which the converted tone numbers are added before or after syllables in the string, uses the converted string to search for candidate headwords from a Vietnamese database in which headwords are associated with search keys in which tone numbers corresponding to the tone symbols contained in the headwords are added before or after syllables, and is equipped with a control unit that causes headwords with similar tone numbers to be displayed preferentially on the display as search results.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a language conversion device, a language conversion method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] When searching for Chinese entries using foreign language search technology in conventional electronic dictionaries, etc., there is known a technology that uses pinyin (Chinese phonetic symbols) for input. Specifically, when pinyin is input with the wrong position of a number, which is a tone character, a search for an entry is performed for a character string that excludes the tone character from the input pinyin. Such a technology is described, for example, in Patent Document 1. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-157751 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the above-mentioned technology is only effective for searching Chinese entries, and cannot be applied to searching Vietnamese entries, which contain unique tone marks. In light of the above, an object of one aspect of the present invention is to improve the convenience of searching Vietnamese entries. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A language conversion device according to one aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it includes: an input of a Vietnamese character string as a search target; converting tone symbols included in the received character string into corresponding tone numbers; generating a converted character string in which the converted tone numbers are added before or after syllables of the character string; using the converted character string, searching for candidate entries from a Vietnamese database in which entry words are associated with search keys in which the tone numbers corresponding to the tone symbols included in the entry words are added before or after the syllables; and displaying, on a display unit, entry words with similar tone numbers as search results, with priority given to the entry words. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the above aspect, it is possible to improve the convenience of searching for Vietnamese headwords. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a language conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a language conversion device. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the Vietnamese alphabet. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a Vietnamese word. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a language conversion process executed by the language conversion device of the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Vietnamese database. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sort order of search keys. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of displaying results searched for using a search key. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of spelling variations (spelling variations) in the Vietnamese database of this embodiment. [Figure 10] 1 is a diagram showing an example of absorbing spelling variations (spelling inconsistencies) of tone marks by the language conversion device of this embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The language conversion device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of an electronic dictionary or language search device that searches for and displays Vietnamese headwords from a Vietnamese database.

[0009] The language conversion device 100 is a terminal that is directly operated by a user. The language conversion device 100 may be any type of terminal, such as a mobile terminal, notebook PC, tablet, or smartphone, as long as it can run an application program that searches for and displays Vietnamese headwords.

[0010] As shown in Fig. 1, the language conversion device 100 includes a processor 110, a storage device 120, an input device 130, and an output device 140. The processor 110 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). When the processor 110 executes a program 121 stored in the storage device 120, the computer that is the language conversion device 100 operates as a reception unit 111, a conversion unit 112, and a search unit 113 shown in Fig. 2 to perform various processes. The processor 110 is an example of a control unit.

[0011] The storage device 120 includes, for example, semiconductor memories that operate as main storage devices, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), and storages that operate as auxiliary storage devices, such as SSD (Solid State Drive) and HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The storage device 120 is an example of a storage device. The storage device 120 stores a program 121 executed by the processor 110 and various databases (Vietnamese language database (Vietnamese language DB) 122) used when the program 121 is executed.

[0012] The input device 130 accepts user operations. The input device 130 is a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, or the like. The output device 140 outputs information to the user. The output device 140 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like. When the output device 140 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, the output device displays images of headwords, etc., to the user. The input device 130 and the output device 140 may be formed integrally. The output device 140 is an example of a display unit.

[0013] The language conversion device 100 configured as described above is configured to be able to provide a Vietnamese headword search service in response to a request from the input device 130. This will be explained in more detail below.

[0014] The functional configuration related to the language conversion processing of the language conversion device 100 will be described below with reference to Fig. 2, and the processing displayed by the language conversion device 100 will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the language conversion device 100 includes a reception unit 111, a conversion unit 112, and a search unit 113, and the language conversion processing is realized by the processor 110 executing a program 121.

[0015] The language conversion device 100 of this embodiment has a TELEX-type Vietnamese input function. For example, when a character string to be searched in the Vietnamese database 122 is input and a Vietnamese entry is searched for in the Vietnamese database 122, Vietnamese characters (93 characters in total) are input using the alphabet keys [A] to [Z] (26 characters in total) (basic characters representing the Roman alphabet) of the input device 130 in accordance with the TELEX-type input rules. The basic configuration of the TELEX-type Vietnamese input function is substantially similar to the configuration known in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-154980, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted. While this embodiment has a TELEX-type Vietnamese input function, this is not limited to this, and other Vietnamese input functions may also be provided.

[0016] As shown in Figure 3, the Vietnamese alphabet consists of 33 characters: the 26 letters "a" through "z" that are commonly used in English-speaking countries, and seven characters (unique characters) M1 through M7 that are unique to Vietnamese and include vowel symbols (B1 (bribe), B2 (hat), and B3 (hon)) and the stroke symbol T. Of the 33 characters, 12 are vowels. In Vietnamese, the unique characters M1 through M7 are recognized as a separate alphabet from the 26-character alphabet. Five tone marks C1 through C5 can be assigned to vowels in the Vietnamese alphabet. The five tone marks C1 through C5 correspond to tone numbers 1 through 5, respectively. The tone marks C1 through C5 are called grave, acute, hook, tilde, and dot below, corresponding to the tone numbers 1 through 5, respectively. In this embodiment, unmarked alphabets are considered to have the tone mark C0. The unmarked tone mark C0 corresponds to the tone number 0. Therefore, the Vietnamese alphabet consists of a total of 93 characters, including the tone marks C0 to C5.

[0017] Vietnamese words consist of at least one syllable. Each syllable contains one or more vowels, and either one of the vowels is assigned a tone mark C1 to C5, or none of the vowels are assigned a tone mark C1 to C5. If none of the vowels in a syllable are assigned a tone mark C1 to C5, the syllable can be considered to have a tone mark C0. That is, each syllable contains one tone mark from C0 to C5. Vietnamese words are divided into monosyllabic words, which consist of one syllable, and polysyllabic words, which consist of two or more syllables. Monosyllabic words contain one tone mark. Polysyllabic words consist of multiple syllables, each of which contains one tone mark, and the syllables are connected by special marks. Special marks include spaces, hyphens, and other symbols.

[0018] For example, as shown in Figure 4(1), the Vietnamese word t1, which means "attention" in Japanese, is composed of the syllable t11, a space SP, and a syllable t12 in that order. As shown in Figure 4(1), the vowels of the syllables t11 and t12 that make up the Vietnamese word t1 are each marked with a tone mark C2 (grave), and the syllables t11 and t12 are connected by a special symbol, a space SP.

[0019] For example, as shown in Figure 4(2), the Vietnamese word t2, which means "company" in Japanese, is composed of the syllable t21, a space SP, and the syllable t22 in that order. As shown in Figure 4(2), the vowels of the syllables t21 and t22 that make up the Vietnamese word t2 do not have tone marks C1 to C5. For this reason, each syllable is considered to have a tone mark C0 (unmarked) as its own tone mark, and the syllables t21 and t22 are connected by a special space SP.

[0020] For example, as shown in Figure 4(3), the Vietnamese word t3, which means "Algeria" in Japanese, is composed of syllable t31, a hyphen HY, syllable t32, another hyphen HY, and syllable t33. As shown in Figure 4(3), the vowels of syllables t31, t32, and t33 that make up the Vietnamese word t3 do not have tone marks C1 through C5. Therefore, each syllable is considered to have a tone mark C0 (unmarked) as its own tone mark, and the syllables t31, t32, and t33 are connected by a special hyphen HY. The syllables that make up a Vietnamese loanword, such as "Algeria," are sometimes connected by a hyphen HY.

[0021] As mentioned above, in Vietnamese words, there is a rule that one tone mark (including unmarked (tone mark C0)) is assigned to one syllable. However, there is variation in the way tone marks are written for vowels within a syllable depending on dictionaries, books, culture, customs, region, databases, etc., and the position of the letter to which a tone mark is assigned for a vowel within a syllable may differ.

[0022] For example, as shown in Figure 4(4), the Vietnamese word t4, which means "automate" in Japanese, is composed of the following sequence: syllable t41, space SP, syllable t42, space SP, and syllable t43. As shown in Figure 4(4), the vowels of syllables t41 and t42 that make up the Vietnamese word t4 are each marked with a tone mark C5 (subscript dot), and the first vowel "o" that makes up syllable t43 is marked with a tone mark C2 (grave). The syllables t41, t42, and t43 are connected by a special symbol, space SP.

[0023] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4(5), word t5, which has the same meaning as Vietnamese word t4, is composed of the following sequence: syllable t51, space SP, syllable t52, space SP, and syllable t53. As shown in Figure 4(5), the vowels of syllables t51 and t52 that make up Vietnamese word t5 each have a tone mark C5 (subscript dot), just like Vietnamese word t4. However, the second vowel "a" that makes up the vowel of syllable t53 has a tone mark C2 (grave). Furthermore, each of the syllables t51, t52, and t53 is connected by a special space SP.

[0024] Therefore, when comparing the structure of Vietnamese words t4 and t5, which have the same meaning, the positions of the letters with tone marks in syllables t41 and t42 that make up word t4 are the same as the positions of the letters with tone marks in syllables t51 and t52 that make up word t5. However, there is a difference in that the tone mark C2 in syllable t43 that makes up word t4 is attached to the first vowel "o" in the character "hoa" that makes up syllable t43, while the tone mark C2 in syllable t53 that makes up word t5 is attached to the second vowel "a" in the character "hoa" that makes up syllable t53. Furthermore, in Vietnamese, although the positions of the vowels with tone marks may differ in Vietnamese words t4 and t5 that have the same meaning, both words have the same type of tone marks.

[0025] As such, in Vietnamese, even words with the same meaning may have different vowel positions for tone marks within a single syllable. Therefore, in this embodiment, to improve the convenience of searching for headwords including those with tone marks unique to Vietnamese, the system accepts an input of a Vietnamese string as a search target, removes tone marks C0 to C5 from the accepted Vietnamese string, and converts the string into a converted string in which tone numbers 0 to 5 corresponding to the removed tone marks C0 to C5 are added before or after the syllables. A Vietnamese headword corresponding to the converted string is then searched for using a search key contained in the Vietnamese database 122. If multiple headwords are found as headword candidates, headwords with similar tone numbers are preferentially displayed on the output device 140.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 5, when a user inputs Vietnamese alphabets using the keyboard of the input device 130 and employs a TELEX-style Vietnamese input function, the reception unit 111 receives the input of a Vietnamese character string. The Vietnamese word is not limited to a complete word, and may be a portion of a word. In Fig. 5, the input of the Vietnamese word t4, which means "to automate" in Japanese, is received. For simplicity of explanation, the Vietnamese word t4 shown in Fig. 5 will be described as being the same as the word t4 described above in Fig. 4(4).

[0027] The receiving unit 111 receives Vietnamese word t4, which is a character string input by the user via the input device 130, as a character string to be searched. Vietnamese word t4 is composed of a syllable t41, a space SP, a syllable t42, a space SP, and a syllable t43, in this order. Each of the vowels in syllables t41 and t42 that make up Vietnamese word t4 is marked with a tone symbol C5 (subscript dot), and the second vowel "o" that makes up syllable t53 is marked with a tone symbol C2 (grave). The syllables t41, t42, and t43 are connected by a special symbol, a space SP.

[0028] The conversion unit 112 removes tone symbols C0 to C5 included in the character string received by the reception unit 111 as a search target, and converts the removed tone symbols C0 to C5 into corresponding tone numbers 0 to 5. The conversion unit 112 then generates a converted character string in which tone numbers 0 to 5 are added between multiple syllables t41, t42, and t43 that make up Vietnamese and spaces SP located before or after the multiple syllables t41, t42, and t43. In this process, the conversion unit 112 converts the tone symbols of the syllables t41 to t43 that make up part of the Vietnamese word t4 received by the reception unit 111 into tone numbers, and adds the converted tone numbers after the spaces SP to generate a converted character string, for each of the syllables t41 to t43.

[0029] Specifically, the conversion unit 112 converts the tone symbol C5 of a syllable t41 constituting part of the Vietnamese word t4 received by the reception unit 111 into the corresponding tone number "5." The conversion unit 112 appends the converted tone number "5" to the end of the alphabet to which the tone symbol C5 was attached. The conversion unit 112 then moves the converted tone number "5" between the space SP located at the end (after) of the syllable t41. When converting the tone symbol C5 of the syllable t41 into the corresponding tone number "5," the conversion unit 112 removes the tone symbol C5 attached to the syllable t41 and converts it into a syllable t41', thereby generating a converted character string CH in which the tone number is appended to the end of the character string.

[0030] Similarly, the conversion unit 112 converts the tone symbol C5 of the syllable t42 to the corresponding tone number "5." The conversion unit 112 appends the converted tone number "5" to the end of the alphabet that originally had the tone symbol C5 attached. The conversion unit 112 then moves the converted tone number "5" between the space SP located at the end (after) of the syllable t42. When converting the tone symbol C5 of the syllable t42 to the corresponding tone number "5," the conversion unit 112 removes the tone symbol C5 attached to the syllable t42 and converts it to a syllable t42', thereby generating a converted character string CH with the tone number appended to the end of the character string.

[0031] Similarly, the conversion unit 112 converts the tone symbol C2 of the syllable t43 to the corresponding tone number "2." The conversion unit 112 appends the converted tone number "2" to the end of the alphabetic character to which the tone symbol C2 was attached. The conversion unit 112 then moves the converted tone number "2" between the space SP located at the end (after) of the syllable t43. When converting the tone symbol C2 of the syllable t42 to the corresponding tone number "2," the conversion unit 112 removes the tone symbol C2 attached to the syllable t43 and converts it to a syllable t43', thereby generating a converted character string CH in which the tone number is appended to the end of the character string. After converting all syllables t41 to t43 constituting the Vietnamese word t4 received by the reception unit 111, the conversion unit 112 deletes the spaces SP remaining in the converted character string CH. Note that, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the special symbol is a space SP has been described. However, this is not limited to this. The conversion unit 112 also performs similar processing when the special symbol is a hyphen HY.

[0032] Note that if a syllable forming part of a Vietnamese word received by the receiving unit 111 does not have a tone symbol C1 to C5 attached, i.e., is unmarked, the conversion unit 112 considers that the vowel included in the syllable has a tone symbol C0 attached, and converts the tone symbol C0 of the syllable to the corresponding tone number "0." The conversion unit 112 assigns the converted tone number "0" after the alphabet of the vowel that was considered to have had the tone symbol C0 attached. The conversion unit 112 then moves the converted tone number "0" between the syllable and the space SP located at the end (after) of the syllable. Even if the conversion unit 112 considers that the syllable had the tone symbol C0 attached, the conversion unit 112 converts the syllable into a syllable from which the tone symbol C0 has been removed, and generates a converted string CH in which the tone number is added after the string.

[0033] The search unit 113 searches the Vietnamese database 122 for a headword candidate corresponding to the converted string CH based on the converted string CH converted by the conversion unit 112. As shown in FIG. 6, the Vietnamese database 122 has at least a headword and a search key. The Vietnamese database 122 associates a headword with a search key in which a tone number corresponding to a tone symbol included in the headword is added before or after a syllable. When the language conversion device 100 is used as an electronic dictionary, the Vietnamese database 122 may also have an explanation of a word corresponding to the headword. The search unit 113 searches the Vietnamese database 122 for a headword candidate using the converted string CH.

[0034] For example, when the language conversion device 100 is used as an electronic dictionary, the headwords are Vietnamese headwords that are displayed as search results on the output device 140. The headwords are arranged in the order of the search keys. The headwords may be phrases or example sentences made up of multiple words.

[0035] A search key is a key used for searching in the language conversion device 100, and is stored corresponding to each entry word. A search key is a search character string obtained by removing tone marks from an entry word and adding tone numbers corresponding to the removed tone marks before or after syllables. The search key is created and stored in advance when an entry word is stored in the Vietnamese database 122. Furthermore, if the search key contains multiple syllables, the search character string is converted by moving tone numbers between the multiple syllables that make up the search key and special symbols such as spaces SP and hyphens HY that are positioned before or after the multiple syllables.

[0036] As shown in Figure 7, the search keys are sorted in the order of the arrows shown in Figure 7. That is, search keys with similar tone numbers are sorted first, followed by those with similar Vietnamese alphabets. The search keys include tone numbers but do not include vowel alphabets with tone marks. Close tone numbers refer to the order of the numbers indicating the tone numbers, and close Vietnamese alphabets refer to the order of the 26 letters "a" to "z" that are the general English alphabet, with 7 letters (unique characters) M1 to M7 added, which are the alphabet unique to Vietnamese, with vowel marks (B1 (bribe), B2 (hat), B3 (horn)) and the stroke mark T added. The order of Vietnamese headwords (headword candidates) displayed as search results is prioritized based on the sort order of the search keys, with close tone numbers first. Therefore, the search unit 113 controls the output device 140 to give priority to headwords with similar tone numbers when displaying the search results, and then controls the output device 140 to give priority to headwords with similar alphabets. As a result, the headwords are displayed in the order of their appearance in databases available on the market as dictionaries and books, allowing the user to view them in an order that is familiar to them, thereby improving the usability of the language conversion device 100.

[0037] 8, when input of a character string to be searched P1 is accepted based on an input operation by the user on the input device 130, the conversion unit 112 converts the tone symbol C5 (subscript dot) included in a Vietnamese syllable t61 of the character string accepted as input for the search target P1 into the corresponding tone number "5" and moves the converted tone number "5" to the end (after) of the syllable t61. When converting the tone symbol C5 of the syllable t61 into the corresponding tone number "5," the conversion unit 112 removes the tone symbol C5 attached to the syllable t61 and generates a converted character string CH1 in which the tone number is added after the syllable of the character string.

[0038] In the past, when a character string for search target P1 was input, multiple Vietnamese headwords F0, F1, F2, F3, and F5, which are made up of the same Vietnamese alphabet but differ only in tone marks, as shown in Figure 6, would be searched and displayed as candidates, which increased the user's effort in finding the desired headword.

[0039] In contrast, in this embodiment, the search unit 113 searches for a Vietnamese entry word corresponding to the converted string CH1 based on the converted string CH1 converted by the conversion unit 112 using a search key included in the Vietnamese database 122. The search key is included as a string in which tone marks are removed from the syllables constituting the Vietnamese entry word and tone numbers corresponding to the removed tone marks are added after the syllables. Among the searched entry words, Vietnamese words with similar tone numbers are displayed preferentially. As shown in FIG. 6 , Vietnamese entry words F0, F1, F2, F3, and F5, which are composed of the same alphabet, are assigned different tone marks, and therefore are associated with different search keys D0, D1, D2, D3, and D5, respectively. This improves the convenience of searching for Vietnamese entry words, including those with unique tone marks, by searching for a search key corresponding to a converted string generated from the Vietnamese to be searched by referring to the Vietnamese database 122. Therefore, when input of search target P1 is accepted as a search target, control is performed so that, from among multiple Vietnamese entry words F0, F1, F2, F3, and F5, which are composed of the same Vietnamese alphabet but differ only in tone marking, entry word F5, which has a tone number close to that of the conversion string CH1, is preferentially displayed as a candidate for the Vietnamese search target desired by the user. This allows the search target candidates to be narrowed down. As a result, the effort required for the user to find the Vietnamese search target desired can be reduced.

[0040] As shown in Figure 9, depending on the type of Vietnamese database (for example, between Vietnamese dictionaries), the positions of tone marks assigned to vowels within a syllable may differ, resulting in spelling variations of the tone marks. Figure 9(1) shows an example of the first Vietnamese database 122A, and Figure 9(2) shows an example of the second Vietnamese database 122B. The configurations of the first Vietnamese database 122A and the second Vietnamese database 122B are similar to those of the Vietnamese database 122 described in Figure 6, so detailed explanations will be omitted. The entry word F6 of the first Vietnamese database 122A shown in Figure 9(1) and the entry word F7 of the second Vietnamese database 122B shown in Figure 9(2) are Vietnamese words expressing the same meaning.

[0041] As shown in Figure 9, even when the Vietnamese alphabet has the same meaning, the position of the vowel to which the tone mark is attached may differ depending on the dictionary or book database, even within the same syllable. For example, as shown in Figure 9(1), in the entry word F6 in the first Vietnamese database 122A, the tone mark C1 (acute) is attached to the first vowel "o" that constitutes the syllable t76 of the entry word F6. In contrast, as shown in Figure 9(2), in the entry word F7 in the second Vietnamese database 122B, the tone mark C1 (acute) is attached to the second vowel "a" that constitutes the syllable t77 of the entry word F7.

[0042] In this embodiment, as described above in Fig. 6, search keys D6 and D7 are stored corresponding to each of the entry words F6 and F7. The search keys D6 and D7 are search character strings obtained by converting tone symbols included as part of the words of the entry words into corresponding tone numbers and shifting the tone numbers to the front or back of the alphabetical syllables that make up the entry word.

[0043] 10, when input of a search target P2 is accepted as a character string to be searched, the conversion unit 112 converts the tone symbol C1 (acute) included in the Vietnamese syllable t62 accepted as input of the search target P2 into the corresponding tone number "1" and moves the converted tone number "1" to the end (after) of the syllable t62. When converting the tone symbol C1 of the syllable t62 into the corresponding tone number "1," the conversion unit 112 removes the tone symbol C1 attached to the syllable t62 and generates a converted character string CH2.

[0044] 9 , even for entry words in which tone marks are added to different vowel positions, such as entry word F6 in the first Vietnamese database 122A and entry word F7 in the second Vietnamese database 122B, the search key D6 for entry word F6 in the first Vietnamese database 122A and the search key D7 for entry word F7 in the second Vietnamese database 122B both store "hoa1." As a result, a search based on the converted character string CH2 matches both search key D6 for entry word F6 in the first Vietnamese database 122A and search key D7 for entry word F7 in the second Vietnamese database 122B. Therefore, a search can be performed in both the first Vietnamese database 122A, in which the tone mark is added to the first vowel "o," and the second Vietnamese database 122B, in which the tone mark is added to the second vowel "a," thereby accommodating spelling variations (orthographic inconsistencies) that arise from differences in databases.

[0045] The above-described embodiments are illustrative examples provided to facilitate understanding of the invention. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and should be understood to encompass various modifications and alternatives to the above-described embodiments. For example, the above-described embodiments can be embodied by modifying the components without departing from the spirit of the invention. The language conversion device may, for example, constitute part of a smartphone or tablet terminal. It will also be understood that a network server may be equipped with the functionality of a language conversion device, and the present invention may be applied to language conversion services over a network. It will also be understood that various embodiments can be implemented by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments can be implemented by deleting some components from all of the components shown in the embodiments or by adding some components to the components shown in the embodiments.

[0046] In the above-described embodiment, the receiving unit 111 receives input of at least a part of a Vietnamese word through the input device 130, but this is not a limitation. For example, the receiving unit 111 may receive input of at least a part of the dragged Vietnamese word by dragging a part of a word displayed on the output device 150 and pressing a jump button (not shown). This improves usability for the user when using the language conversion device 100 as an electronic dictionary.

[0047] In the above-described embodiment, the language conversion device 100 converts tone symbols included in a portion of the received Vietnamese into corresponding tone numbers and converts the tone symbols into a character string in which the tone numbers are moved after the syllables of the alphabet that make up the Vietnamese language. However, this is not limited to this. If Vietnamese is a polysyllabic language, the language conversion device 100 may convert tone symbols included in a portion of the received Vietnamese language into corresponding tone numbers and convert the tone symbols into a character string in which the tone numbers are moved together after the words of the alphabet that make up the Vietnamese language.

[0048] In the above-described embodiment, a tone number corresponding to the received Vietnamese tone mark is added before or after a syllable, but this is not limited to this. For example, a specific symbol corresponding to the tone mark may be added. Examples of the specific symbol include a sharp sign, an exclamation mark, an at sign, a dollar sign, an ampersand, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 100: Language conversion device, 111: Reception unit, 112: Conversion unit, 113: Search unit

Claims

1. Accepts Vietnamese strings as search targets, converting tone symbols included in the received character string into corresponding tone numbers, and generating a converted character string in which the converted tone numbers are added before or after syllables of the character string; using the converted character string, searching for headword candidates from a Vietnamese database in which headwords are associated with search keys in which the tone numbers corresponding to the tone symbols included in the headwords are added before or after the syllables; a control unit that displays, on a display unit, headwords having similar tone numbers as search results with priority; Language conversion device.

2. the search target comprises alphabets and the tone symbols; the search target is composed of a plurality of the syllables connected by a special symbol, the control unit generates the converted character string by moving the tone numbers between the plurality of syllables constituting the Vietnamese word and the special symbols located before or after the plurality of syllables. The language conversion device according to claim 1 .

3. the control unit controls the display order of the headwords so that headwords having closer tone numbers are displayed first. The language conversion device according to claim 2 .

4. A processor of the language conversion device Accepts Vietnamese strings as search targets, converting tone symbols included in the received character string into corresponding tone numbers, and generating a converted character string in which the converted tone numbers are added before or after syllables of the character string; using the converted character string, searching for headword candidates from a Vietnamese database in which headwords are associated with search keys in which the tone numbers corresponding to the tone symbols included in the headwords are added before or after the syllables; As a result of the search, entries having similar tone numbers are preferentially displayed on the display unit. Language conversion methods.

5. The processor: Accepts Vietnamese strings as search targets, converting tone symbols included in the received character string into corresponding tone numbers, and generating a converted character string in which the converted tone numbers are added before or after syllables of the character string; using the converted character string, searching for headword candidates from a Vietnamese database in which headwords are associated with search keys in which the tone numbers corresponding to the tone symbols included in the headwords are added before or after the syllables; displaying, as search results, entry words having similar tone numbers on a display unit with priority; Performing a process, program.

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