Chinese input methods for computers

Since the Chinese language uses a logographic script — that is, a script where one or more "characters" correspond roughly to one "word" or meaning — there are vastly more characters, or glyphs, than there are keys on a standard computer keyboard.

Overview

Some Chinese input methods were proposed for typewriters before 1950s - Lin Yutang spent much money on it.^[1] Few were used before the computer age, but now a variety of keyboard input method editors (IME) have been designed to allow the input of Chinese characters using standard keyboards.

Keyboard input methods can be classified into three main types:

• by encoding
• by pronunciation
• by structure of the characters.

The following are some samples of Chinese input methods. Many of these input methods have variations. Full Pinyin and Double Pinyin are variations of the pinyin input method. In addition, the methods which require the user to select a character from a menu generally have sophisticated methods for guessing which characters the user intends based on context.

Each standard has its strengths and weaknesses and usage varies between people. For example, for someone who is already familiar with pinyin, the pinyin method can be learned instantly. However, the maximum typing rate is limited, and learning the system can be difficult for those not familiar with pinyin. Wubi takes much effort to learn, but expert typists can enter text much faster with it than with the phonetic methods. Because of these factors, there is very little likelihood of a "standard" method evolving.

An experimental Chinese keyboard with many keys.

Other means of entering Chinese characters include handwriting recognition, OCR and voice recognition. The first and last of these usually must be “trained” before use; that is, the user must first use the system in a special “learning mode” so that the system can get accustomed to the user’s handwriting or speech pattern, and failure to do so will increase the recognition error rate. These, especially the latter two, are less frequently used than keyboard-based input methods and, as with even the most advanced English language systems, suffer from relatively high error rates, especially when used without proper “training”, though the error rates are an acceptable trade-off to many users.

Particular mention should be given to handwriting recognition systems: although mostly associated with stylus and tablet-based systems, handwriting recognition systems for Chinese are generally far more reliable.^{[citation needed]}

Finally, some systems allow Chinese characters to be entered by typing their equivalent English words.

Pronunciation

• Pinyin method (拼音) (used in mainland China and also increasingly in Taiwan)
• Zhuyin (注音) (used in Taiwan only)
• Cantonese phonetic method (Jyupting) (粤拼) (used in Hong Kong)
• The Latin phonetic method of Shanghainese (吴拼) (used in Shanghai)^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Homophone words are common in the Chinese language, and the intended character must either be manually selected from a list, or automatically by an input method editor capable of recognizing coherent sequences of words. For example, if 繼承 (jicheng, to inherit) is entered into the input method editor, and it is followed by 車 (che, vehicle), the good input method would find a matching noun in its dictionary, 計程車 (jichengche, lit. distance recording vehicle, or taxicab), and would replace the homophone 繼承 with 計程.

Character structure

• Cangjie method (倉頡; 仓颉)
• Simplified Cangjie (簡易倉頡, known as 速成 on Windows systems)
• CKC Chinese Input System (縱橫輸入法)
• Boshiamy method (嘸蝦米)
• Dayi method (大易)
• Array method (行列)
• Four corner method (四角碼; 四角码)
• Q9 method (九方)
• Shouwei method (首尾字型)
• Stroke count method (筆畫; 笔画)
• Stroke method (筆劃; 笔划)
• Wubi method (五筆字型; 五笔字型)
• Wubihua method (五筆畫; 五笔画)
• Zheng code method (鄭碼; 郑码)
• Shou-wei Hao-ma method (首尾號碼)
• Knot DNA method (筆結碼)

Combination of pronunciation and character structure

• Tze-loi method (子來; 子来)
• Renzhi code method (認知碼; 认知码)

A typical keyboard layout for zhuyin on computers, which can be used as an input method	The Wubi keyboard which is an input method	A typical keyboard layout for Cangjie method, which is based on United States keyboard layout. Note the non-standard use of Z as the collision key.	A typical keyboard layout for Dayi method
Chinese (traditional) keyboard layout, a US keyboard with Zhuyin, Cangjie and Dayi key labels, which can all be used to input chinese characters into a computer

See also

• Smart Common Input Method
• Japanese language and computers
  • Japanese input methods
• Korean language and computers
• Han unification
• List of FEP software for Symbian S60 3rd Edition
• Chinese character encodings:
  • Big5
  • Guobiao code (GB)
  • Neima (內碼)
  • Unicode
  • Telegraph code (電報碼)

External links

Information

• What Does a Chinese Keyboard Look Like?, article by Slate.com
• Overview of Input Methods, by Sebastien Bruggeman.
• 中文輸入法世界 Chinese input method news.

Tutorials

• What is an Input Method Editor and how do I use it?, a Microsoft article about Windows XP's Input Method Editor.
• Enabling International Support in Windows XP/Server 2003 Family, a Microsoft tutorial on how to install input methods on Windows XP.
• Tutorial on typing Chinese using PinYin method - based on HanWJ Chinese Input Engine
• IME Tutorial, tutorial on how to use Microsoft Global IME for pre-Windows 2000 systems.

Tools

• Typing Chinese Online with Optional Tone Input
• Online Cantonese Input
• SCIM's homepage
• CantonWP, Colloquial Cantonese and Mandarin Editor and Learning Tool.
• online zhuyin fuhao keyboard which can convert them into characters

Notes