nsa5832478.htm
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<TITLE>NSA Patent 5,832,478 - 1998</TITLE>
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<P>
29 May 1999<BR>
Source: US Patent Office Online:
<A HREF="http://www.uspto.gov/">http://www.uspto.gov/</A>
<P>
Search "National Security Agency" though none of the patents disclose the
full name.
<P>
For related images see IBM's patent server:
<A HREF="http://www.patents.ibm.com/ibm.html">http://www.patents.ibm.com/ibm.html</A>
<P>
<HR>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="50%"><B>United States Patent </B></TD>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="50%"><B> 5,832,478 </B></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="50%"><B> George </B></TD>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="50%"><B>November 3, 1998 </B></TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<P>
<HR>
<FONT size="+1"> Method of searching an on-line dictionary using syllables
and syllable count </FONT><BR>
<BR>
<CENTER>
<B>Abstract</B>
</CENTER>
<P>
The present invention is a method of searching an on-line dictionary in any
language representation using syllables and syllable count and an on-line
dictionary, where the on-line dictionary includes a primary headword field,
a segmented primary headword field, additional unsegmented language
representation (headword) fields as required, additional segmented representation
(headword) fields as required, a syllable count field, additional syllable
count fields as required, and a definition field. The user selects a language
representation for a query and makes the query in the selected language
representation. The present invention then parses the query to determine
if segmented syllables were used in the query and how many, if any. If no
segmented syllables were used in the query, a character string search for
the headword that matches the query is conducted. If the query contains segmented
syllables, a syllable search for headwords that contain the same syllables
in the same locations is conducted. The present invention returns one or
more headwords in the language of the query and their corresponding definitions
in the language of the user. Various wildcard symbols may be used for unknown
syllables and for characters within a syllable, which may include tones.
<P>
<HR>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="TOP" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="10%">Inventors:</TD>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="90%"><B>George; John L.</B> (Laurel, MD)</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="TOP" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="10%">Assignee:</TD>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="90%"><B>The United States of America as represented
by the National Security</B> (Washington, DC)</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="TOP" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="10%" NOWRAP>Appl. No.:</TD>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="90%"><B> 815670</B></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="TOP" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="10%">Filed:</TD>
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="90%"><B>March 13, 1997</B></TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<P>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD VALIGN=TOP ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="40%"><B>U.S. Class:</B></TD>
<TD VALIGN=TOP ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="60%"><B>707/3</B>; 707/5; 707/6; 382/225;
704/7; 704/8</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN=TOP ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="40%"><B>Intern'l Class: </B></TD>
<TD VALIGN=TOP ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="60%">G06F 017/30</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN=TOP ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="40%"><B>Field of Search: </B></TD>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="60%">707/3,4,5,6,10 382/229,230 704/7,8,9</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<P>
<HR>
<CENTER>
<B>References Cited
<A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=CR98&Query=ref/5,832,478">[Referenced
By]</A></B>
</CENTER>
<P>
<HR>
<CENTER>
<B>U.S. Patent Documents</B>
</CENTER>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F4438505">4438505</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Mar., 1984</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Yanagiuchi et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">704/7.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5148541">5148541</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Sep., 1992</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Lee et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">395/600.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5519857">5519857</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">May., 1996</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Kato et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">395/600.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5544049">5544049</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Aug., 1996</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Henderson et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">364/419.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5675788">5675788</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Oct., 1997</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Husick et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">395/615.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5724593">5724593</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Mar., 1998</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Hargrave, III et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">395/757.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5734749">5734749</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Mar., 1998</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Yamada et al.</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">382/187.</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="25%"><A href="/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F5737734">5737734</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%">Apr., 1998</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="LEFT">Schultz</TD>
<TD WIDTH="25%" ALIGN="RIGHT">707/5.</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<P>
<BR>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%">
<TR>
<TD><BR>
<CENTER>
<B>Other References</B>
</CENTER>
</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT><BR>
Chang et al. "Isolated Mandarin Syllable Recognition Using Segmental Features"
IEE Proc.-Vis. Image Signal Process, vol. 142, No. 1, Feb. 1995, pp. 59-64.
<BR>
Poo "A two-Level TDNN (TLTDNN) Technique for Large Vocabulary Mandarin FINAL
Recognition" IEEE, 1994, pp. 4396-4399. <BR>
Hon et al. "Towards Large Vocabulary Mandarin Chinese Speech Recognition"
IEEE, 1994, pp. 545-548. <BR>
Ching et al. "From Phonology and Acoustic Properties to Automatic Recognition
of Cantonese" 1994 International Symposium on Speech, Image Processing and
Neural Networks, Apr. 1994, Hong Kong, pp. 127-132. <BR>
Lee et al. "Golden Mandarin(II) --An Improved Single-Chip Real-Time Mandarin
Dictation Machine for Chinese Language with Very Large Vocabulary" IEEE,
1993, pp. 503-506. <BR>
Lin et al. "A New Framework for Recognition of Mandarin Syllables with Tones
Using Sub-syllabic Units" IEEE, 1994, pp. 227-230. <BR>
Chen "A First Study on Neural Net Based Generation of Prosodic and Spectral
Information for Mandarin Text-to-Speech" IEEE, 1992, pp. 45-48.</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<P>
<BR>
<I>Primary Examiner:</I> Black; Thomas G. <BR>
<I>Assistant Examiner:</I> Wallace, Jr.; Michael J. <BR>
<I>Attorney, Agent or Firm:</I> Morelli; Robert D. <BR>
<HR>
<CENTER>
<B><I>Claims</I></B>
</CENTER>
<P>
<HR>
<BR>
<BR>
1. A method of searching an on-line dictionary using syllables and syllable
count; comprising the steps of: <BR>
<BR>
a) having an on-line dictionary, where the on-line dictionary includes for
each entry in the on-line dictionary a headword field, a segmented headword
field, a syllable count field, and a definition field; <BR>
<BR>
b) selecting, by the user, a language representation for a query; <BR>
<BR>
c) making the query in the selected language representation; <BR>
<BR>
d) determining if the query is segmented into syllables; <BR>
<BR>
e) searching each headword field in the on-line dictionary for headwords
that match the character string of the query if the query is not segmented
into syllables; <BR>
<BR>
f) determining the number of syllables in the query; <BR>
<BR>
g) searching each segmented headword field in the on-line dictionary for
headwords that contain the same syllables in the same locations as in the
query and the same number of syllables as in the syllable count field if
the query is segmented into syllables; <BR>
<BR>
h) returning the headword, in the language representation of the query, and
the definition of the headword, in the language of the user, that matches
the query if the query did not contain segmented syllables; and <BR>
<BR>
i) returning the headwords, in the language representation of the query,
and the definitions of the headwords, in the language of the user, that match
the query with respect to syllable, syllable location, and syllable count
if the query is segmented into syllables. <BR>
<BR>
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of having an on-line dictionary
is further comprised of the step of having an on-line dictionary in any language
and language representation. <BR>
<BR>
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of making a query in the selected
language representation is further comprised of the step of making a query
in the selected language representation in the form of a character string,
where a wildcard symbol may be used to represent at least one character in
the query. <BR>
<BR>
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of making a query in the selected
language representation is further comprised of the step of making a query
in the selected language representation that is segmented into syllables,
where a symbol may be used to represent an unknown syllables in the query
and at least one character in a partially known syllable. <BR>
<BR>
5. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of making a query in the selected
language representation is further comprised of the step of making a query
in the selected language representation in the form of a character string,
where a wildcard symbol may be used to represent at least one character in
the query. <BR>
<BR>
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of making a query in the selected
language representation is further comprised of the step of making a query
in the selected language representation that is segmented into syllables,
where a symbol may be used to represent an unknown syllable in the query
and at least one character in a partially known syllable. <BR>
<BR>
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of having an on-line-dictionary
is comprised of the step of having an on-line dictionary, where the on-line
dictionary includes for each entry in the on-line dictionary a headword field,
a segmented headword field, at least one unsegmented language representation
field, at least one segmented language representation field, a syllable count
field, at least one language representation syllable count field, and a
definition field. <BR>
<BR>
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said step of searching each headword field
is comprised of searching each headword field and the at least one unsegmented
language representation field in the on-line dictionary for headwords that
match the character string of the query if the query is not segmented into
syllables. <BR>
<BR>
9. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of searching each segmented headword
field is comprised of the step of searching each segmented headword field
and the at least one segmented representation field in the on-line dictionary
for headwords that contain the same syllables in the same locations as in
the query and the same number of syllables as in the syllable count field
and the at least one language representation syllable count field if the
query is segmented into syllables.
<HR>
<CENTER>
<B><I> Description</I></B>
</CENTER>
<P>
<HR>
<BR>
<BR>
FIELD OF THE INVENTION <BR>
<BR>
The present invention relates to data processing and, more particularly,
to a method of searching an on-line dictionary using syllables and syllable
count. <BR>
<BR>
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <BR>
<BR>
The field of text searches includes the activity of searching an on-line
dictionary for a particular word. Such a search is useful to a student learning
a foreign language. Each dictionary term consists of two, or more, components
or fields. At a minimum, each term includes a headword and a definition,
but other fields are possible (e.g., part-of-speech, source). A language
(e.g., Chinese) may have multiple ways of representing terms (e.g., simplified
Chinese ideographs, traditional Chinese ideographs, Pinyin romanization
›commonly referred to as just Pinyin!, Pinyin and Tone ›Pinyin
with something to indicate the various tones used by the Chinese to convey
meaning!, etc.). <BR>
<BR>
Pinyin romanization is a textual representation created by the Chinese government
that uses twenty-five letters of the English alphabet to represent the sound
of a particular Chinese term (e.g., SANLUNQICHE). In printed material, standard
Pinyin also uses four diacritic marks to represent the four tones which convey
meaning in Mandarin Chinese. A neutral tone is generally indicated by the
lack of a diacritic mark. An English-speaking student studying Chinese could
learn to pronounce Chinese words through the use of the Pinyin terms, which
convey the sounds of Chinese words in the same way that English, French,
or German spelling conveys the sounds of those languages. Computer programs,
particularly programs developed for Western language students, frequently
drop the diacritic marks. This practice is discussed in more detail below.
In the present invention, standard Pinyin refers to the official representation
created by the Chinese Government. The term Pinyin by itself refers to the
alternate representation method used in computer programs which drops the
diacritic marks. <BR>
<BR>
Another representation of Chinese referred to as "Pinyin and Tone" uses the
same twenty-five letters as Pinyin but adds numbers or other symbols in place
of the four diacritic marks to phonetically represent Mandarin Chinese, the
official national language of China. Pinyin and Tone is a convention developed
for use in computer programs, particularly those programs developed for Western
language students, in order to overcome the limitations of the computer systems
and represent all of the sounds found in standard Pinyin. In contrast to
the alternate Pinyin method described in the previous paragraph, Pinyin and
Tone can fully represent the sounds of spoken Mandrin. For the purposes of
describing the present invention, the numerals one through five will be used
to represent the four Mandarin tones and the neutral tone, respectively.
<BR>
<BR>
Pinyin orthography provides strict rules for spelling a single syllable word
(e.g., "JIAO1" and "YANG2"). Because of a large number of homophones in Chinese,
each Pinyin syllable will, generally, map to more than one ideograph. The
orthographic rules are not as well determined for polysyllabic words and
phrases. Because Chinese words are generally polysyllabic, a variety of
orthographic styles have emerged. <BR>
<BR>
Chinese publications follow style guides, but the spelling standards are
by no means universally consistent. Pinyin romanization of discrete polysyllabic
words will, generally, be written without a space between the syllables.
For example, "FEN1JIE4XIAN4" (meaning boundary). In the case of phrases and
traditional four-character sayings (CHENGYU), the conventions generally call
for spaces or dashes between words. For example, "FENG1PING2-LANG4JING4"
(meaning calm and tranquil) or "SAN1LUN4 QI4CHE1" (meaning three-wheeled
automobile). <BR>
<BR>
Developers of Chinese on-line dictionaries have, frequently, modified Pinyin
usage to overcome the technical limitations of computer systems. For example,
the standard English keyboard and the American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (ASCII) do not support the input, storage, and display of the
diacritic marks. To overcome this limitation, diacritic marks are either
dropped, or another method is employed, such as using numerals to indicate
tone. <BR>
<BR>
A second problem involves the use of spaces between phrases. The use of spaces
requires that terms be stored in accordance with a strict style guide. In
order to conduct an accurate search of the dictionary, users would have to
be thoroughly familiar with the conventions of the style guide. A small mistake
in following the conventions of the style guide would lead to a failed search.
For example, a search against "SANLUNQICHE" would fail to find "SANLUN QICHE."
<BR>
<BR>
To solve these problems, developers of Chinese on-line dictionaries have
adapted a number of modified Pinyin styles. The reason that a number of
dictionaries provide a field for Pinyin without tone markers is that many
language students may not know the correct tones of a word in question. A
database that does not include tone markers allows a user to search for the
romanized word without regard to the tonal pattern. If only a Pinyin and
Tone field were present, a user would have to add wildcard characters (characters
that represent one or more unspecified letters or numerals) to the search,
which would slow down the search and return many more terms than the user
wishes to see. <BR>
<BR>
The modified Pinyin style for Pinyin fields described above enhances the
search capability for Chinese on-line dictionaries, but creates other problems.
In particular, the use of this format creates a serious problem with a wildcard
search. In a wildcard search, the user may substitute a special character
to represent from zero to many letters and numerals in a character string.
In standard conventions, the special character "?" represents a single letter
or numeral, while the special character "*" represents zero to many letters
and numerals. For example, the entry "J*" would return the following Pinyin
representations from an on-line dictionary of single syllable words: JI,
JIA, JIAN, JIANG, JIAO, JIE, JIN, JING, JIONG, JIU, JU, JUAN, JUE, and JUN.
Moreover, each Pinyin syllable would map to many characters. For example,
the Pinyin syllable "JI" maps to well over one-hundred distinct Chinese
ideographs. Thus, while Chinese ideographs are distinct and unambiguous,
spoken Chinese is not. Spoken Chinese has a large number of homophones. For
example, Mandarin Chinese has four-hundred six distinct monosyllabic sounds
when tones are disregarded. When tones, which are integral to the meaning
of a word, are considered, the number of distinct monosyllabic sounds increases
to about one-thousand five-hundred. As a phonetic representation, Pinyin
romanization mirrors the ambiguity and redundancy of the spoken language
and maps poorly to the terms stored in the computer, since the dictionary
terms are distinguished and categorized on the basis of the Chinese ideograph
headwords. Thus, there is, generally, a one to many mapping between a Pinyin
string and related terms stored in the dictionary. For example, a search
on the Pinyin string "BEIJING," without tone numerals, would yield at least
three results in a typical dictionary: "BEI3JING1 (meaning the city Beijing),
"BEI4JING3" (meaning background); and "BEI4JING4" (meaning quiet and secluded).
<BR>
<BR>
A similar wildcard search in a typical Chinese-English on-line dictionary
could, and frequently does, yield many thousands of terms. This is because
most such dictionaries contain polysyllabic words and phrases and because
there is greater redundancy and ambiguity in the character string patterns
of Romanized Chinese than there is in most other languages due to the homophonic
nature of the language. For example, a search against "BEI*" would find every
term in the dictionary that began with the letters "BEI." In practice, the
list of dictionary entries resulting from a wildcard search against Pinyin
headwords is frequently so large and contains so many non-relevant terms
that it becomes impractical for the user to review the resulting list. For
example, the search "BEI*" yielded three-thousand four-hundred seventeen
terms for one particular on-line dictionary. <BR>
<BR>
The present invention proposes a method of doing text searches, particularly
on-line dictionary searches, for only the most relevant entries that a person
studying a foreign language may be interested. <BR>
<BR>
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,505, entitled "ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY AND LANGUAGE INTERPRETER
WITH AUTO-SEARCH KEY FOR DERIVING A FULL-LENGTH WORD AND ITS ASSOCIATED
TRANSLATION WORD BASED ON A PARTIAL WORD ENTERED," discloses a method of
text searching that involves providing a partial word and receiving every
word, in that language and the foreign language of interest, that contains
the partial word. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,505 would return many
words that are not relevant to the user and may return so many words that
the user would find the result useless. The present invention discloses a
method that would return only those words that are most relevant to the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,505 is hereby incorporated by reference into the
specification of the present invention. <BR>
<BR>
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <BR>
<BR>
It is an object of the present invention to improve the effectiveness of
text searches. <BR>
<BR>
It is another object of the present invention to improve the effectiveness
of text searches of on-line dictionaries. <BR>
<BR>
It is another object of the present invention to improve the effectiveness
of text searches of an on-line dictionary by specifying the known syllables
and their locations in the word sought, specifying the total number of syllables
in the word sought, and putting a wildcard mark in the locations of any unknown
character(s) or unknown syllable(s). <BR>
<BR>
The objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of improving
the effectiveness of wildcard searches of on-line dictionaries by having
the user provide all known syllables of the word, or words, the user wishes
to retrieve (in the language of the on-line dictionary), the location of
all known syllables, and a wildcard mark in the location of all unknown
characters and syllables. The present invention is applicable to any language.
<BR>
<BR>
The user selects a language representation for a query (e.g., Pinyin). The
table for each entry in the on-line dictionary includes at least a primary
headword field (representation), a primary segmented headword field
(representation), zero or more unsegmented language representation fields
(secondary headwords), zero or more segmented language representation fields
(segmented secondary headwords), a syllable count field, additional syllable
count fields if any additional segmented language representation fields differ
in syllable count from the syllable count field, and a definition field.
A user may request a character string search or a syllable search based on
the format of the query. Segmentation marks between syllables are used in
the query to request a syllable search. If no segmentation marks are included
in the query, a character string search will be conducted. The user selects
a language representation for the query. Next, the user presents a query.
Next, a parser parses the query to see if there are any segmentation marks
in the query. If a query includes a segmentation mark, a syllable search
is conducted. If no segmentation mark is included in the query, a character
string search is conducted. <BR>
<BR>
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <BR>
<BR>
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the present invention; <BR>
<BR>
FIG. 2 is a representative table of each entry in an on-line dictionary
searchable by the present invention; and <BR>
<BR>
FIG. 3 is an example of a dictionary entry. <BR>
<BR>
DETAILED DESCRIPTION <BR>
<BR>
The present invention is a method of improving the effectiveness of on-line
dictionary searches by specifying the known syllables and their locations
in the word sought, specifying the total number of syllables in the word
sought, and putting a wildcard mark in the locations of the unknown syllables
or unknown characters of a partially known syllable. The present invention
is not limited to any language or any language representation. <BR>
<BR>
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a table that
represents one possible way to store information for each entry in an on-line
foreign language dictionary employed in the present invention. <BR>
<BR>
In the first step of FIG. 1, the user selects a query type. The possible
query types are any language representation (e.g., English alphabet, English
ASCII, Chinese Pinyin, Chinese Pinyin and Tone, etc.) that are available
in the on-line dictionary. <BR>
<BR>
FIG. 2 illustrates a table that might exist for each entry of the on-line
dictionary. The table includes at least a headword field, a segmented headword
field, zero or more unsegmented language representation fields, zero or more
segmented language representation fields, a syllable count field, additional
syllable count fields if any additional segmented language representation
field differed in syllable count from the syllable count field, and a definition
field. More fields are possible depending on the nature of the on-line dictionary
and the options that a user may want. <BR>
<BR>
In FIG. 2, the headword field of each entry in the on-line dictionary indicates
the stored word, where the word is not broken down into syllables. Headwords
allow the user to do a character string search for the exact word if the
desired headword is known to the user. The on-line dictionary may store words
in more than one language. The on-line dictionary will store the headword
in the most popular language representation of the language in question (e.g.,
Chinese Pinyin). A wildcard character is available in the present invention
to represent one or more characters. For example, the symbol "*" may be used
to represent one or more characters. <BR>
<BR>
A user may search for an exact character string by presenting a query that
does not include a segmentation mark or a wildcard symbol. The user may also
request a character string search that includes a wildcard character. This
option is only provided for completeness, because character string searches
with wildcard characters may return so many irrelevant words that the original
purpose of the search is obscured. The contribution of the present invention
to the art of text searches is a method of doing wildcard-type searches that
returns only the most relevant words. <BR>
<BR>
In FIG. 2, the segmented headword field of each entry contains the headword
of the corresponding entry segmented into syllables. A "space" character
is used to segment the syllables from each other. Any other suitable character
may be used. The segmented word is in the same language representation as
the headword. Having the headwords segmented into syllables allows for searches
based on syllables. As will be described below in more detail, a search for
every headword that contains certain syllables may be done. By doing this,
searches are done more quickly and return only the most relevant words desired
by the user. <BR>
<BR>
There may be zero or more unsegmented language representation fields. That
is, a particular language may have more than one language representation
(e.g., Chinese Pinyin, Chinese Pinyin and Tone, etc.). The most popular language
representation is used in the headword field (e.g., Chinese Pinyin). Therefore,
additional fields are provided in the on-line dictionary to store these
additional unsegmented language representations of the headword so that a
user may do a character string search on any language representation of the
headword. As the name suggests, the zero or more unsegmented language
representation fields are not broken down into syllables and may be searched
on a character string basis as described above for the unsegmented headword
field. <BR>
<BR>
There are also zero or more segmented language representation fields. That
is, for each unsegmented language representation, there is a corresponding
segmented language representation field that contains the unsegmented language
representation segmented into syllables. Again, the "space" character is
used to segment the syllables, but any suitable character will do. Having
these segmented fields for each language representation allows a user to
do a syllable based search for a headword in any language representation.
<BR>
<BR>
There is also a syllable count field. The syllable count field for each on-line
dictionary entry contains the number of syllables listed in the corresponding
segmented headword field. If the number of syllables contained in a segmented
language representation field differs from the syllable count of the
corresponding headword then an additional syllable count field would be included
for each segmented language representation field. Each additional syllable
count field would contain the syllable count for the corresponding segmented
language representation field. As will become more clear in an example that
follows, the syllable count field allows a user to specify the total number
of syllables in a query so that only those words that have the exact number
of syllables is retrieved. This feature reduces the amount of irrelevant
words retrieved while still affording the users the luxury to be imprecise
in their query. <BR>
<BR>
The last field in the on-line dictionary is a definition field for each entry.
The definition field contains the definition of the foreign word retrieved.
The definition is written in the native language of the user. That is, the
headword and segmented headwords are in the language the user is trying to
learn while the definition is in a language the user already knows.
<BR>
<BR>
FIG. 3 is an example of an on-line dictionary entry using the format of FIG.
2. The headword field contains the unsegmented Chinese Pinyin word
"BEIJINGZHILIREN." The segmented headword field contains this word broken
down into syllables, where a "space" character is used to separate the syllables
(i.e., BEI JING ZHI LI REN). Here, only one additional unsegmented language
representation field is shown (i.e., Pinyin and Tone "BEI3JING1ZHI2LI4REN2").
Pinyin and Tone includes five numerals which convey additional meaning. There
are numerous other Chinese language representations that may be included.
The corresponding segmented language representation field contains "BEI3
JING1 ZHI2 LI4 REN2," where the tone numeral is attached to the end of the
syllable for which it applies. Since the number of syllables is the same
for both language representations, there is only one syllable count field,
and it contains the number five. Assuming that the user already speaks English,
the definition field contains the definition of the word above (i.e., Peking
Man). If the user spoke a different language then the definition would be
returned in that language. The on-line dictionary would have to be pre-set
for the native language of the user and the language that the user wished
to learn. <BR>
<BR>
Because Pinyin and Tone representations are commonly implemented in the segmented
format, it is possible to eliminate the requirement for the unsegmented Pinyin
and Tone field in the example on-line dictionary. Users of the on-line dictionary
would be familiar with this convention and would not expect to make character
string searches against the Pinyin and Tone field. Further, the unsegmented
Pinyin field and the unsegmented Pinyin and Tone field have very similar
character string patterns. This fact allows the segmented Pinyin and Tone
field to be used for the syllable search in place of the segmented Pinyin
field. This alternate method requires a modification of the query statement
to account for the differences in the two fields. These changes result in
the elimination of the need for two fields and a substantial reduction in
data storage requirements while allowing the present invention to conform
more closely to the conventions of the specific language. The present invention
allows similar modifications wherever the conventions of a specific language
representation permit or encourage such modifications. <BR>
<BR>
The next step in the flow chart of FIG. 1 is for the user to select a language
representation for the query (e.g., Chinese Pinyin). As mentioned above,
the language representation selected determines which fields will be searched
(i.e., the headword and, possibly, its associated segmented field or an
additional language representation field and, possibly, its associated segmented
field). <BR>
<BR>
Next, the user presents a query. Typically, the query is a word. The present
invention is applicable to phrase dictionaries and any other multi-word on-line
references. The query must be in the language representation selected by
the user. Typically, the user is a person trying to learn a foreign language.
The user may wish to know the definition of a particular foreign word or
all relevant foreign words with a particular series of letters or a number
of syllables, where some syllables may be known and others may not. That
is, if the user wishes to do a character string search for a word the user
wishes to know the definition of, the user types the entire word as the query
without any additional characters. If the user wishes to do a character string
search for any headword beginning or ending with a certain letter combination
then a wildcard character (e.g., "*") may be added in the appropriate location.
For example, "BEI*", "*LI*", and so on. If the user wishes to search for
words having a fixed number of syllables, where some syllables are known
and other are not, then the user types the syllables, segmented by the "space"
character, where any unknown syllable is indicated by the wildcard symbol
(e.g., "*") enclosed by segmentation marks (e.g., the "space" symbol). For
example, "BEI * * LI *." The wildcard character may also be used in conjunction
with the syllable search when one or more characters of a syllable are known
(e.g., "BEI J* * LI *). When the wildcard is used in conjunction with the
syllable pattern defined by the segmentation marks, the user avoids the problem
of receiving too many irrelevant words as one would using the wildcard approach
of the prior art. A wildcard may represent an unknown syllable or part of
a syllable which is unknown. The more information which is known about a
syllable, the more precise the search. <BR>
<BR>
Next, a parser parses the query to see if there are any segmentation marks
in the query. The presence of a segmentation mark indicates that the user
does not wish to do a character string search but wishes to retrieve words
having a fixed number of syllables. A segmentation mark (e.g., a "space"
character or any other suitable symbol) is used by the user to segment the
query by syllable. The user need only specify the syllables known to the
user. A wildcard symbol "*" enclosed by segmentation marks may be used to
indicate the unknown syllables, but the user must know the location of the
known and unknown syllables. The "unknown syllable" symbol (i.e., the wildcard
symbol enclosed by segmentation marks) represents any syllable of character
length one or more. That is, only those headwords having the known syllables
in the exact locations as indicated in the query will be retrieved. The "unknown
syllable" symbol is useful for helping to establish the total number of syllables
in the query (e.g., "BEI * * LI *" is a five syllable query, where the first
and fourth syllables are known and the second, third, and fifth syllables
are unknown). Only those headwords having the exact number of syllables as
the query will be retrieved (e.g., five syllables). These two limitations
are additive. That is, only those headwords having the exact number of syllables
with the known syllables being in the locations as indicated by the query
will be retrieved (e.g., five syllable headwords having the first syllable
"BEI" and the fourth syllable "LI"). <BR>
<BR>
If a query includes a segmentation mark, a syllable search is conducted using
the segmented field corresponding to the language representation selected
by the user. If no segmentation mark is included in the query, a character
string search is conducted using the headword field or the unsegmented language
representation field corresponding to the language representation selected
by the user. <BR>
<BR>
A syllable search query contains two essential elements, a character string
pattern which defines the locations of the known and the unknown syllables,
and the total syllable count that includes the known and the unknown syllables.
These two elements are joined by the boolean "AND" operator and compared
against the segmented field that matches the language representation selected
by the user and the appropriate syllable count field. <BR>
<BR>
For example, a Pinyin query "BEI*" using the typical method of the prior
art would return thirty-four hundred seventeen words. Another prior art query
of "BEI*LI*" would return two-hundred sixty-six words. A query "BEI * * LI
*" of the present invention returns one five syllable word having "BEI" as
the first syllable and "LI" as the fourth syllable. A search using the present
invention is more discriminating than the prior art method and may return
a smaller, and more accurate, list of headwords to the user. Because the
query string and the stored data are segmented by syllables, a more precise
pattern match is possible. Also, the method allows the user to delimit the
search by the number of syllables in the query. <BR>
<BR>
In the preferred embodiment for Chinese language representations described
above, Pinyin and Tone would be available as a syllable search option using
a segmented Pinyin and Tone field. In Pinyin and Tone syllable searches,
the symbol representing the tone may be thought of as simply another character
and the user may make intuitive searches using the same conventions used
for other types of syllable searches. That is, the user may replace unknown
tones with the appropriate wildcard symbol. It is possible to implement Pinyin
and Tone for both character string searches and syllable searches if locally
accepted language representation conventions prefer this approach. When
implementing Pinyin syllable searches utilizing a segmented Pinyin and Tone
field, the user enters queries in the same format that would be used against
a segmented Pinyin field. The user query is modified in the background to
run against the Pinyin and Tone field without further intervention by the
user. Because of this capability, computer efficiency may be increased by
not requiring a segmented Pinyin field. <BR>
<BR>
<CENTER>
<B>* * * * *</B>
</CENTER>
<P>
<HR>
<CENTER>
</CENTER>
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