FR2775858A1 - Entry of Chinese characters to an electronic device such as a portable telephone - Google Patents

Abstract

The entry device uses a limited number of keys (20) with each key marked with a number and with three Latin characters or accents. The Chinese characters are entered by typing in their pronunciation using the Latin characters or accents, based on the hanyun pinyin which uses a Latin alphabet and four accents. The character is then displayed on a screen (30).

Description

Entering Chinese writing in an electronic device is a

  problem due to the large number of Chinese characters to distinguish. It is impossible, as with Latin script, to reserve a key for each character. A variant of the process is known, based on the fact that the Chinese characters are composed of a set of some ten basic lines. By reserving a key for each baseline and pressing a number of them in a prescribed order, it is possible to enter a Chinese character with a limited number of keys. However, this process has the disadvantage that, due to its complexity, it is impractical to use and difficult to

  implement in an electronic system.

  One of the objects of the invention is to provide a method for entering non-Latin characters in an electronic device, which can be easily implemented in an electronic device and which is simpler for the user. This object is achieved by a method for entering a non-Latin character in an electronic device with a digital keyboard, characterized in that at least one key on the keyboard is assigned at least one Latin character, and in a first step, a phonetic transcription corresponding to the non-Latin character and composed of at least one Latin character is entered by a user using the numeric keyboard by pressing a key or combination of keys corresponding to this Latin character and, in a second step , based on the Latin character entered, the corresponding non-Latin character is selected. This object is also achieved by an electronic device with a digital keyboard and screen, characterized in that at least one key on the keyboard is assigned at least two Latin characters, which Latin characters are visibly reproduced on or near the key, so that Latin characters can be entered via the keyboard, the electronic device further comprising: - means for recognizing a phonetic transcription of a non-Latin character in a series of Latin characters entered through of the keyboard,

  - means for reproducing the non-Latin character thus entered on the screen.

  In a particularly advantageous embodiment, this device

  electronics is a mobile phone.

  According to the invention, Chinese characters are entered on the basis of their pronunciation. A known system for writing Chinese on the basis of pronunciation with Latin characters is the hanyun pinyin. The hanyun pinyin uses the Latin alphabet and four accents. A Chinese character reproduced in the Latin alphabet can easily be entered in a

  electronic system with limited keyboard.

  An embodiment is shown by means of Figure. This

  shows a mobile phone 10 provided with a numeric keypad 20 and an LCD screen 30.

  To key 1 correspond the letters a, b and c, to key 2, the letters d, e and f, to key 3, the letters g, h and i, etc. When the mobile phone 10 is in text entry mode, press once the key 1 corresponds to "a", quickly press twice the key 1 corresponds to "b", etc. Equipping such a mobile phone with the possibility of entering Chinese characters allows a user (of Chinese language) to use a file of telephone numbers based on Chinese names or to send short messages in Chinese . To enter the Chinese character 'fei' in hanyun pinyin, it is necessary, in the present embodiment, to rapidly press key 2 three times in succession, then after a short pause press key 2 twice and finally, again after a short pause, press key 3 three times. The four Chinese characters corresponding to 'fei' then appear on screen 30 as shown in the Figure. Then the desired character can be selected by indicating the desired accent. In the present embodiment, this selection is made by means of the keys 9 and 0 to which the four accents are assigned. Entering a Chinese character is then complete. This process can be repeated

for another character.

  It goes without saying that the embodiment indicated here is only an illustration of the process. Thus, the numeric keys can be positioned in another way on the mobile phone, the Latin letters and the accents can be assigned in another way to the keys and there may possibly be more keys. In addition, the invention is naturally suitable for entering Chinese characters in any

electronic device.

  It is obvious that the invention can be used in combination with different series of Chinese characters, including Simplex and Traditional. Languages other than Chinese can also benefit from the above process, for example Cantonese from Hong Kong, Japanese, Korean, etc.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS: 1. Method for entering a non-Latin character in an electronic device (10) with a digital keyboard (20), characterized in that at least one key on the keyboard (20) is assigned at least one Latin character , and in a first step, a phonetic transcription corresponding to the non-Latin character and composed of at least one Latin character is entered by a user by means of the numeric keyboard (20) by pressing a corresponding key or combination of keys to this Latin character and, in a second step, on the basis of the Latin character entered, the corresponding non-Latin character is selected.   1. Electronic device (10) with digital keyboard (20) and screen (30), characterized in that at least one key on the keyboard (20) are assigned at least two Latin characters, which Latin characters are visibly reproduced on or near the key, so that Latin characters can be entered using the keyboard (20), the electronic device further comprising: - means for recognizing a phonetic transcription of a non-Latin character in a series of Latin characters entered using the keyboard, - means for reproducing the non-Latin character thus entered on the screen (30). 3. Electronic device (10) according to claim 2, having the   characteristic that the electronic device (10) is a mobile telephone.