JP2904059B2 - Language information processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a language information processing device suitable for use in a portable translation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various portable translators have been put to practical use today. In a portable translation device, for example, when a user specifies a Japanese phrase, this is translated into a foreign language and displayed on a display (or pronounced via a speaker). By the way, since phrases used in various scenes are extremely large, a general portable translator is configured to select a category or a keyword first, and then select a phrase. .

[0003] Here, the "category" means a place or a situation where a phrase is mainly used, such as "house", "restaurant", and "traffic". For example, if "house" is selected as a category, it is possible to search for various phrases mainly used in personal residences. Such a search mode is hereinafter referred to as “category search”. The “keyword” means a main word or the like in a phrase. For example, if the keyword "toilet" is selected, it is possible to search for a phrase related to "toilet" such as "Which is the toilet?" Such a search mode is hereinafter referred to as “keyword search”.

[0004] Here, even if the phrase in Japanese is the same, the phrase may differ depending on the category depending on the foreign language. For example, "toilet"
Is translated into English, if the category is "house", it will be "bathroom", and if it is a category such as "restaurant", it will be "rest room". The “seat” of “Please give me a seat by the window” is “table” for “restaurant” and “s” for “traffic”
eat ".

[0005] In order to avoid misuse of different phrases according to such categories, when a category search is performed, a phrase corresponding to the selected category is naturally output. When a keyword search is performed, translations corresponding to various categories are displayed and, for example, “(at home)” or “(at restaurant)”
The notice is displayed as follows.

[0006]

By the way, the above-mentioned conventional device has various problems as follows. First, even when the user is visiting a private residence, the user may request a train reservation or have a conversation about cooking, so that the category needs to be switched as appropriate. In addition, a desired sentence example can be obtained beyond the category frame from the keyword search, but when it is desired to continue a series of related conversations, the user enters the category in which the classification obtained from the keyword search is stored and continues the conversation. Will be.

[0007] However, in the conventional portable translator, there is no portable translator that can display a category in which a sentence example obtained from a keyword search is stored. For this reason, the user cannot immediately know to which category the obtained sentence belongs, and it is necessary to search for the category to which the sentence belongs. For this reason, the conventional one is inconvenient and inconvenient to operate.

In a conventional portable translator,
When a keyword search was performed, a plurality of translations according to various categories and a note corresponding to each were displayed. As a result, the translated sentence becomes long, and the translated sentence that should be originally contained on one screen is displayed over a plurality of screens, which causes a problem that the operation becomes complicated. further,
There is also a problem that the amount of data to be stored in the ROM for storing character data relating to the precautionary note increases. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object to provide a language information processing apparatus having extremely excellent operability.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a language information processing apparatus for displaying a specific phrase or word, wherein a keyword is designated to designate a predetermined keyword. Means, phrases and
Indicates the word for each phrase or category to which the word belongs.
Memory means for storing the specified phrase or word.
Instruction means to be specified and specified by the keyword specification means
Specific phrases or keywords that use
Display the word, and
Read the specific phrase or word from the storage means.
The classification to which the particular phrase or word belongs.
Specifying based on the read address of the storage means,
The specific phrase or word along with the specific frame
Display means for displaying the classification to which the word or word belongs by a graphic corresponding to the classification.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the language information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the display means includes a second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the first language. Is characterized by displaying a specific phrase or word in.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a linguistic information processing apparatus for displaying a specific phrase or word, wherein the phrase or word is replaced with the phrase or simple word.
Storage means for storing for each classification to which the word belongs;
Instruction means for instructing a laze or a word, and the instruction means
The specific phrase or word indicated by
Read from storage means, the specific phrase or word
The classification to which the
And with that particular phrase or word
Classification to which the particular phrase or word belongs
Is displayed in the shape corresponding to the specified classification.
Display means for sequentially displaying related information in the display means,
Specify the specific classification from the classifications displayed in the column
And a classification instruction means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the language information processing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein a keyword specifying means for specifying a predetermined keyword and a keyword specified by the keyword specifying means are used. Search means for searching for a specified phrase or word that is a specific phrase or word that is displayed, wherein the display means displays the searched specified phrase or word as the specific phrase or word. I do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a language information processing apparatus for displaying a specific phrase or word, wherein the phrase or word is replaced with the phrase or simple word.
Storage means for storing for each classification to which the word belongs;
Instruction means for instructing a laze or a word, and the instruction means
The specific phrase or word indicated by
Read from the storage means, said specific phrase or word
In a first language and the first language
A second phrase corresponding to the specific phrase or word in
Display the specific phrase or word in the language of
The classification to which the particular phrase or word belongs
Identify based on the read address of the storage means, and
The specific phrase along with the specific phrase or word
Or the classification to which the word belongs is determined by the figure corresponding to the classification.
Display means for displaying the data.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the language information processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, a specific classification is selected from among the classifications displayed together with the specific phrase or word in the first language. A display unit that displays the specific phrase or word in the second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the first language based on the specific classification. It is characterized by doing.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the language information processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the display means corresponds to the specific phrase or word displayed in the first language. For each classification, the specific phrase or word in the second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the first language is displayed.

In the configuration according to the eighth aspect, in the language information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the instruction means may specify a predetermined keyword.
And the specific frame using the keyword
Character or word .

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the language information processing apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the storage means
Stores a phrase or word in a first language
With a phrase or word in the first language
A phrase or word in a second language corresponding to
It is characterized by remembering .

[0018]

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage means is a file system.
The phrase or word to which the phrase or word belongs
Stored for each class, and the keyword designating means
And the indicating means replaces the specific phrase or word.
When instructed, the display means uses the specified keyword
Display the phrase or word
The specific phrase or unit specified by the instruction means;
Words from the storage means, and
Or the classification to which the word belongs is read out from the storage means.
Specific phrase or word
Together with the classification to which the particular phrase or word belongs
It is displayed by a figure corresponding to the classification. This allows
Users can specify the classification to which a particular phrase or word belongs.
It can be easily recognized.

Further, according to the configuration of the second aspect, the same operation as the first aspect is exhibited, and the conversion means is the first type.
The phrase or word in the second language is converted to the second language, and the display unit displays the phrase or word in the second language on the display unit. As a result, the user can perform the translation work without misclassification.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided :
Remembering a phrase or word
Are stored for each classification to which the specified frame belongs.
When the user designates a word or word, the display means
The specific phrase or word specified by
Read from the storage device and find that particular phrase or word
Classification belongs to based on the read address of the storage means
To identify the specific phrase or word
Classification to which the particular phrase or word belongs
Display by the corresponding figure. Instruction means is displayed
When a specific classification is designated from among the classes, the display means is instructed.
Related information for a specific classification is displayed sequentially.
Users can specify the classification to which a particular phrase or word belongs.
It is easy to recognize and easily access related information.
It is possible to

According to the configuration of the fourth aspect, while exhibiting the same operation as the third aspect, the display means specifies a predetermined keyword to display a phrase or a word using the keyword. indicate. Thereby, the user can easily access a phrase or a word according to a specific classification.

Further, in the configuration of claim 5, serial
Remembering a phrase or word
The information is stored for each classification to which the word belongs, and the instruction means is used for the specific frame.
When a word or word is specified, the display means
Preceding the particular phrase or word indicated by the column
Read from the storage means and search for a specific phrase or word
Display in the first language and the particular frame
The classification to which the word or word belongs
Identify based on the dress and the specific phrase or
The word and the portion to which the particular phrase or word belongs
The class is displayed by a graphic corresponding to the classification. And
Display means for displaying the identification in the displayed first language
Before in a second language corresponding to the phrase or word of
Display a specific phrase or word. This allows
Users can do translation work based on the correct classification
it can.

According to the construction of the sixth aspect, the same operation as that of the fifth aspect is exhibited, and the indicating means is provided with the first means.
A specific classification is indicated from among the classifications displayed together with a specific phrase or word in the language. Then, the display unit displays the specific phrase or word in the second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the first language based on the specific classification. Thereby, the user can perform translation based on a desired classification after specifying a phrase or a word in advance.

[0025] In the configuration of claim 7, the same operation as in claim 5 is provided, and the display means corresponds to the specific phrase or word displayed in the first language. For each classification, the specific phrase or word in the second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the first language is displayed, respectively. Thereby, the user can easily compare the translation results based on various classifications.

[0026]

[0027] In the configuration of the eighth aspect, the same operation as the first to seventh aspects is exhibited, and the instruction means designates a predetermined keyword to specify a phrase or phrase using the keyword. Indicate a word.

[0028] In the configuration of the ninth aspect , the same operation as the eighth aspect is exhibited, and the storage means stores a phrase or a word in the first language.

[0029]

【Example】

A. Configuration of Example A-1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Configuration of an embodiment Hereinafter, a portable translator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing, which is formed in a substantially flat plate shape and is held by a user. Reference numeral 2 denotes a display, a character display unit 22 for displaying characters such as a phrase or a word, and a category display unit for displaying a classification (hereinafter, referred to as a category) by a graphic (pictograph) that includes "house" or "car". 23.

Reference numeral 3 is a language conversion button for instructing language conversion, 4 is a keyword search button for instructing keyword search, 5 is a category search button for instructing category search, and 6 and 7 are first words for instructing word search. And a second word search button 8 is a set button for confirming the instruction content. Reference numeral 9 denotes a cursor button, which can be commanded in any of up, down, left, and right directions. The details of these buttons 3 to 9 will be described later together with the operation.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of the portable translator. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU, which has a built-in RAM 12 and controls other components based on a control program stored in a ROM 13. The ROM 13 stores text data or speech data of a phrase or a word in addition to the control program. A display driver 14 displays various information on the display 2 based on a command supplied from the CPU 11 via the bus 16. Reference numeral 15 denotes a button input device.
9 is detected, and the detection result is supplied to the CPU 11.

A-2. Next, the structure of the phrase data section stored in the ROM 13 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3B, each phrase data includes a code of a character string constituting each phrase and an end mark (01h, @ mark) indicating the end of the phrase. Here, the code of the character string is a number assigned to one or a plurality of phrases constituting the phrase. For example, the phrase "I am an office worker" is divided into "3" clauses "I,""employee," and "is," and is represented by "3" codes.

A character string (clause) corresponding to each code
Are stored in another area in the ROM 13. Also,
Each phrase data is organized for each category.
In other words, the leading part of the phrase data part belongs to the category "restaurant", followed by those belonging to the category "traffic".

The top addresses in each category are shown in FIG.
It is stored in the category top address table of (a). In other words, in the category head address table,
The offset value of the head address of the corresponding category is stored for the head address of the phrase data part. Since each offset value is represented by "2" bytes,
The size of the category head address table is “the total number of categories × 2” bytes.

B. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. First, when the power of the portable translation apparatus of the present embodiment is turned on, a message "Press any button" is displayed on the display 2 (hereinafter, this state is referred to as a startup state). Then, when the user presses any button,
The processing corresponding to this is executed. Hereinafter, the contents will be described in different cases.

B-1. When the Keyword Search Button 4 is Pressed When the keyword search button 4 is pressed, the program shown in FIG. 3 is started. In the figure, the processing is step SP
When the process proceeds to step 1, “A line” to “ta line” are displayed on the character display unit 22 of the display 2 in alphabetical order of Hiragana as initials of a keyword of a default language (Japanese).
Then, the cursor position is set at the character portion of "A". Next, when the process proceeds to step SP2, the process waits until any button is pressed. Then, when any button is pressed, the process proceeds to step SP3,
The following processing is executed according to the type of the pressed button.

When the cursor button 9 is depressed to the right Here, when the cursor button 9 is depressed to the right, the process proceeds to step SP8, and it is determined whether or not the cursor position is located at "n". Is determined. Here, since the cursor position is located at “A”, “NO” is determined, and the process proceeds to step SP9. Here, the cursor position is moved to the next character "i", and the process proceeds to step SP2.
Return to

Here, if the cursor button 9 is continuously depressed rightward, steps SP2, SP3, SP8
, The process proceeds to step SP9 again. And
Furthermore, the cursor position moves to the next character "U". Similarly, when the cursor button 9 is depressed rightward, the cursor position moves and eventually reaches the position of "n". If the process proceeds to step SP8 in such a state, “YES” is determined, and the process returns to step SP2 without performing any process.

When the cursor button 9 is pressed leftward When the cursor button 9 is pressed leftward, the process proceeds to step SP6, and the reverse of steps SP8 and SP9 is performed. That is, if the cursor is at a position other than "A", step SP7 is executed, and the cursor position moves to the immediately preceding character, whereas if the cursor position is "A", no substantial processing is performed. .

When Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Down When cursor button 9 is pressed down, the process proceeds to step SP14. Here, it is determined whether or not the character displayed on the display 2 is at the bottom. In this embodiment, “stage” refers to a set of four consecutive rows. That is, the “bottom row” refers to a set of “ma” rows to “wa” rows. If "NO" is determined in the step SP14, the process proceeds to a step SP15.

In step SP15, the next four lines of the current cursor position are displayed on the display 2, and the cursor position is moved to the uppermost line of the newly displayed four lines. For example, if “a line” to “ta line” are displayed on the display 2 before step SP15 is executed,
"Ka line" to "na line" are displayed on the display 2, and the cursor position is set to "ka line". And
The process returns to step SP2.

Here, if the cursor button 9 is continuously pressed down, the process proceeds to step SP14 again via steps SP2 and SP3. If the cursor position has not reached the bottom, the next four lines are displayed again and the cursor position is set to the top line. Similarly, if the cursor button 9 is continuously pressed down, the steps displayed on the display 2 are shifted down by one line.

Eventually, when the lowermost row ("ma row" to "wa row") is displayed on the display 2, "YES" is determined in the step SP14, and the process proceeds to a step SP16. Here, it is determined whether or not the cursor is located at “wa row”. If "NO" is determined here, the process proceeds to step SP17, and the cursor position is moved down by one line (however, the stage itself displayed on the display 2 is not changed). Further, when the cursor button 9 is kept depressed in the downward direction and the cursor position reaches “WA line”, “YES” is determined in the step SP16, and the process returns to the step SP2 without substantially performing the process.

When the cursor button 9 is pressed upward When the cursor button 9 is pressed upward, the process proceeds to step SP10, and the above-mentioned steps SP14 to SP
The processing opposite to that of 17 is performed. That is, the display 2
If the top row is not displayed in step SP1, the process proceeds to step SP1.
Go to 1 to display the four lines before the current cursor position,
The cursor position is set at the bottom line.

If the top row is displayed on the display 2 and the cursor position does not reach the top row, step SP13 is executed, and only the cursor position is moved up by one row while the displayed row is held. Then, after the cursor position reaches "A line", no substantial processing is performed even if the cursor button 9 is continuously pressed upward.

As described above, by pressing the cursor button 9 in the up, down, left, and right directions, the cursor can be adjusted to an arbitrary hiragana. That is, the user positions the cursor on the initial of the keyword by the above-described operation. If the keyword is a kanji, the hiragana that is the "reading" is used as the initial character. For example, if the word "seat" is used as a keyword, the cursor is set on the character "se".

When the language conversion button 3 is depressed There are some foreign words and the like that are commonly used in Japan, where the alphabet is an initial letter (for example, a CD player). In such a case, in this embodiment, the keyword can be searched not only by hiragana but also by alphabet.
In such a case, the user presses the language conversion button 3. When the language conversion button 3 is pressed, the processing proceeds to step SP3
To step SP4 via. Here, necessary processing is performed to display the alphabet on the display 2. Then, when the process proceeds to step SP5, all 26 letters of the alphabet are displayed on the display 2, and the process returns to step SP2.

Even when the alphabet is displayed, by pressing the cursor button 9 up, down, left, and right, steps SP6 to SP17 are executed, and the user can set the cursor to an arbitrary character. However, as shown in step SP5 of the flowchart,
The display 2 can simultaneously display all 26 letters of the alphabet. That is, the display content of the display 2 is the top row and the bottom row, and it is always determined to be “YES” in steps SP10 and SP14.

Although not shown particularly in the flowchart, when the alphabet is displayed, the determination of the cursor position is slightly different from that in the case of Hiragana.
That is, in step SP6, it is determined whether or not it is located at “A”, in step SP8, it is determined whether or not it is located at “Z”, and in step SP12, it is determined whether “S to Z”. It is determined whether or not it is located on the row, and in step SP16, it is determined whether or not it is located on the row of "A to I". Further, if the language conversion button 3 is pressed again while the alphabet is displayed on the display 2, step SP4 is executed again. In such a case, the display of the alphabet is returned to the hiragana display.

When Keyword Search Button 4 is Pressed When keyword search button 4 is pressed, the process returns to step SP2. That is, such an operation is ignored.

When the Set Button 8 is Pressed When the set button 8 is pressed, the processing proceeds to step SP2
0 (see FIG. 4). Here, it is determined whether or not there is a keyword starting from the character at the cursor position.
If there is no keyword, "NO" is determined, and the process proceeds to step SP21. Here, “No keyword exists” is displayed on the display 2 and the processing is performed in step S
Return to P2. Therefore, the user re-specifies the initial of the keyword.

On the other hand, if a keyword exists, “YES” is determined in step SP20, and the process proceeds to steps SP22 and SP23. Here, a list of keywords starting with the character at the cursor position is displayed on the display 2. If the number of keywords is “5” or more, the display 2 displays the top “4” keywords. For example, if "se" is designated as an initial, keywords such as "seat", "public", "description", and "back" are displayed.

By the way, some keywords displayed on the display 2 are too long to fit in the "1" line of the display 2. In such a case, step SP23
, Only the portion that fits on the display 2 is displayed. For example, if the keyword is "CD (compact disc)" and all its characters cannot be displayed,
A displayable portion “CD (compact)” and a right-pointing triangle indicating that the remaining characters are present are displayed on the display 2.
Will be displayed.

As described above, all characters are displayed on the display 2.
The keywords that cannot be displayed at the same time are hereinafter referred to as “long keywords”. A state in which various keywords are displayed on the display 2 is hereinafter referred to as a “keyword display state”. The details of the processing in such a state will be described below in another section.

B-2. Processing in Keyword Display State When a keyword is displayed in step SP23,
The process proceeds to step SP24, and waits until any button is pressed. Then, when any button is pressed, the process proceeds to step SP25, and the following process is executed according to the type of the pressed button.

When the cursor button 9 is pressed rightward When the cursor button 9 is pressed rightward, the processing proceeds to step SP26. Here, it is determined whether or not the “next screen” of the screen currently displayed on the display 2 exists. Here, the “next screen” refers to a screen that displays a character string following the currently displayed portion when a long keyword is displayed on the display 2. The “previous screen” refers to a screen that displays a character string of a part before the currently displayed part.

Here, if there is no long keyword among the keywords displayed on the display 2, there is no next screen. Therefore, in step SP26, "N
O "is determined, and the process returns to step SP24. That is, no substantial processing is performed when the cursor button 9 is pressed rightward.

On the other hand, if the first part of the long keyword is displayed on the display 2, it is determined “YES” because the next screen exists, and the steps SP 27 and SP 28 are executed to display the next screen on the display 2. Is done. Then, the process returns to step SP24. Here, if the cursor button 9 is continuously pressed rightward, the process proceeds to step SP26 again, and it is determined again whether or not the next screen (third screen) exists. Three screens are displayed.

When the cursor button 9 is pressed leftward When the cursor button 9 is pressed leftward, the process proceeds to step SP29. Here, it is determined whether or not the “previous screen” of the screen currently displayed on the display 2 exists. If there is no previous screen, “NO” is determined, and the process returns to step SP24. That is, no substantial processing is performed when the cursor button 9 is pressed in the left direction.

On the other hand, when a portion other than the first portion of the long keyword is displayed on the display 2, “YES” is determined because the previous screen exists, and the steps SP 30 and SP 3 are performed.
1 is executed, and the previous screen is displayed on the display 2.
Then, the process returns to step SP24. Here, if the cursor button 9 is continuously depressed leftward, the process proceeds to step SP26 again, and it is determined again whether or not the previous screen exists, and if so, the previous screen is displayed. .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a long keyword is displayed in the keyword display state, a desired portion of the long keyword is displayed by pressing the cursor button 9 in the left-right direction. 2 can be appropriately displayed.

When Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Upward When the cursor button 9 is pressed up in step SP25, the process proceeds to step SP40 (see FIG. 5) via step SP25. Here, it is determined whether the cursor is located at the head of the keyword list. Here, the keyword list is a list in which all keywords are arranged in the order of the Japanese syllabary.
It is the first keyword (for example, “red”) among the keywords with “a” as an initial.

If "NO" is determined here, the process proceeds to step SP42, in which the cursor moves to the keyword located immediately before in the keyword list. Then, the process returns to step SP24. Here, the cursor button 9
If is continuously pressed upward, the process proceeds to step SP40 again, and if the cursor position is not the head of the keyword list, step SP42 is executed again.

Therefore, when the cursor button 9 is kept pressed upward, the keywords displayed on the display 2 scroll forward in the keyword list, and eventually reach the head of the keyword list. If the process proceeds to step SP40 again in this state, "YES"
Is determined, and the process proceeds to step SP41. Here, the last part of the keyword list is displayed on the display 2, and the cursor moves to the bottom line (for example, "one piece").

When Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Downward When the cursor button 9 is pressed down in step SP24, the process proceeds to step SP43. Here, it is determined whether or not the cursor is located at the end (“one piece”) of the keyword list. Here "NO"
When the determination is made, the process proceeds to step SP44, and the cursor moves to the next keyword located on the keyword list. Then, the process returns to step SP24.

Thereafter, when the cursor button 9 is continuously pressed downward, step SP44 is repeatedly executed until the cursor position reaches the end of the keyword list.
The keyword displayed on the display 2 scrolls backward in the keyword list. Then, when the process proceeds to step SP43 after the cursor position reaches the end of the keyword list, “YES” is determined, and the process proceeds to step SP45. In step SP45, the head of the keyword list is displayed on the display 2, and the cursor position is set at the top line. As described above, when the cursor button 9 is pressed vertically,
The keyword list can be scrolled cyclically.

When the Keyword Search Button 4 is Pressed As described above, the user can scroll the keyword list by pressing the cursor button 9 up and down. If the cursor is far away from the current cursor position, scrolling to display a new keyword is inconvenient. In such a case, the user may press the keyword search button 4. Keyword search button 4
Is pressed, the process returns to step SP2 (see FIG. 3). That is, by specifying the initials of a new keyword, it is possible to quickly access the new keyword.

When the Set Button 8 is Pressed As described above, the user can adjust the cursor to a desired keyword by operating the cursor button 9 or the keyword search button 4 as appropriate. When the set button 8 is pressed in such a state, the processing (keyword search start processing) shown in FIG. 6 is executed in accordance with the selected keyword. The details will be described below.

B-3. Keyword Search Start Process In FIG. 6, when the process proceeds to step SP51, a message "Searching" is displayed on the display 2, and a code corresponding to the previously selected keyword is searched from the phrase data portion. You. For example,
The keyword is “seat” and the code of “seat” is “1234
If it is "h", all codes of "1234h" are searched from the phrase data portion, and the offset value corresponding to the address where these codes are stored is stored in the RAM 12.

For example, if the phrase “Please give me a seat by the window” is included in the categories of “restaurant” and “transport”, the code of “seat” (1234
h) is detected twice, and the corresponding offset value is obtained each time. Next, a subroutine shown in FIG. 11 is called for each of the obtained offset values. That is, in the above example, the subroutine is first called for the offset value relating to “restaurant”.

In FIG. 11, the processing is step SP100.
Proceeds to, the category value is set to “1”. Here, the category value indicates the category number currently referred to in the category head address table (see FIG. 12). Next, when the process proceeds to step SP101,
An offset value of “category number 1: restaurant” is set to a predetermined pointer. Next, the process proceeds to step S
In P102, it is determined whether or not the offset value set in this pointer is less than the offset value to be processed.

Since the offset value currently being processed belongs to the category relating to “restaurant”,
The determination is "YES", and the process proceeds to step SP105. Here, an offset value for the next category (category number 2: traffic) is set in the pointer. Then, the category value is incremented by "1" through step SP106, and the processing is performed in step SP106.
Return to 102. Here, since the offset value to be processed is lower than the offset value in the pointer, "N
O "is determined, and the process proceeds to step SP103.

Here, the offset value to be stored in the pointer is returned by 2 bytes. That is, since the offset value is composed of 2 bytes, it is returned to the previous offset value. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP104, the category number is decremented by "1". That is, the category number is “1”. When the above steps are completed, the processing of this subroutine ends.

The category number "1" obtained in step SP104 specifies the category to which the offset value to be processed belongs. That is, it is specified that the code of “seat” searched first belongs to “category number 1: restaurant”. Also, 2
The same processing as described above is performed for the code of the "seat" detected second, and it is specified that this character belongs to "category number 2: traffic".

As described above, according to this embodiment, each phrase data is stored collectively for each category.
It is not necessary to store for each category which category each code belongs to. Therefore, the required memory capacity of the ROM 13 can be reduced by an amount corresponding thereto.

Returning to FIG. 6, when all the phrases (phrases including the code of “seat”) corresponding to the keyword are searched, and the category corresponding to each phrase is detected, the process proceeds to step SP52. Here, the first one of the searched phrases is displayed on the character display unit 22, and the pictogram corresponding to the category is displayed on the category display unit 23.

In the example shown, "Please give me a seat by the window"
And a pictogram (a figure with a knife and a fork) of the category "restaurant" are displayed. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP53, the process waits until any button is pressed. Then, when any one of the buttons is pressed, the process proceeds to step SP54, and the following process is executed according to the type of the pressed button.

When Language Conversion Button 3 is Pressed When language conversion button 3 is pressed, step SP55,
Step 56 is executed, and the phrase previously displayed on the display 2 is translated into English. That is, an English sentence corresponding to each phrase stored in the phrase data section is stored in the ROM 1 in advance.
3 and read out and displayed on the display 2. In the above example, "I'd like aw
indow table, please. "is displayed. When the above steps are completed, the process returns to step SP53.

When Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Downward When the cursor button 9 is pressed down in step SP53, the process proceeds to step SP60 (see FIG. 7) via step SP54. Here, it is determined whether or not the phrase previously searched in step SP51 exists. In the example described above, the phrase "Please sit by the window" was detected in the categories of "restaurant" and "traffic" for the keyword of "seat".

In this embodiment, even if the character strings constituting the phrase are the same, if the category is different, they are different phrases. Then, the phrase relating to “traffic” is detected after the phrase relating to “restaurant”. Therefore, it is determined “YES” in step SP60, and the process proceeds to step SP61. Here, the next detected phrase and the corresponding pictogram are displayed.
In the above example, a pictograph (a figure depicting a car) of the category “traffic” is displayed on the category display section 23. When the above steps are completed, the process proceeds to step S
Return to P53.

Here, when the user presses the language conversion button 3, the displayed phrase is translated into English as described above. However, the read address of the ROM 13 corresponds to the current category “traffic”, and the character display section 22 displays “I'd like a window seat, please.” (Compared to the English sentence described above). , “Table”
Has been changed to “seat”). Needless to say, the pictograph of "traffic" is displayed on the category display section 23. When the above steps are completed, the process returns to step SP53.

Here, when the cursor button 9 is pressed down, the process proceeds to step SP60 again. Since the phrase relating to “traffic” displayed earlier is the last of the detected phrases, it is determined to be “NO” here, and the process proceeds to step SP66. Step SP6
In 6, a message “<First>” is displayed on the display 2. This allows the user to understand that the user has returned to the first phrase.

Next, when steps SP67 and SP68 are executed, the first detected phrase and the pictogram corresponding to the phrase are displayed on the display 2, and the process returns to step SP53. Thus, the user can display the detected phrase cyclically by keeping the cursor button 9 pressed down. In addition, by pressing the language conversion button 3 as needed, the corresponding English sentence can be confirmed.

In particular, in this embodiment, when each phrase is displayed on the character display section 22, a pictogram corresponding to the phrase is displayed on the category display section. That is, the user can easily confirm in which scene the displayed phrase (or its English translation) should be used. As a result, the possibility of mistranslation due to confusion in the usage of words can be made extremely small.

When Keyword Search Button 4 is Pressed When keyword search button 4 is pressed, the process returns to step SP1 (see FIG. 3). Therefore, the user can specify a keyword again and display a new phrase.

B-4. Processing when the first word search button 6 is pressed When the first word search button 6 is pressed while the portable translator of the embodiment is running, a program shown in FIG. 8 is started. This program is for providing the location of a place name or the like as classification information.

In the figure, when the processing proceeds to step SP71, the type of the place name is displayed on the display 2. In addition,
Types of place names are classified into “municipalities”, “mountains, rivers, lakes”, and “buildings”. Next, the process proceeds to step SP7.
In step 2, the process waits until one of the buttons is pressed. Then, when any button is pressed, the process proceeds to step SP73, and the following process is executed according to the type of the pressed button.

When the Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Down When the user presses the cursor button 9 down, the processing of steps SP75 and SP is executed. That is, the type of the place name displayed on the display 2 is scrolled downward, and the process returns to step SP71. This processing is performed in steps SP43 to SP45 described above (see FIG. 5).
It is similar to that of

When Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Upward When the user presses the cursor button 9 up, the processing of steps SP77 and SP78 is executed. That is, the type of the place name displayed on the display 2 is scrolled upward, and the process returns to step SP71. This processing is performed in steps SP40 to SP42 described above (see FIG. 5).
It is similar to that of

When the Set Button 8 is Pressed When the set button 8 is pressed, the first noun corresponding to the cursor position is displayed on the display 2 in alphabetical order. Further, the name of the prefecture to which the place name belongs is displayed in hiragana on the display 2, and the attribute (prefecture name) of the place name is displayed. In the illustrated example, character strings of “mountain / river / lake”, “Mt. Akagi” and “gunma” are displayed on the display 2.

In the ROM 13, individual place names are stored collectively for each type. That is, in FIG. 12, the data structure is such that "restaurant" is read as "city", "traffic" is read as "mountain / river / lake", and "phrase data" is read as "place name data". I have. That is, information for specifying the type is not required for each place name data, thereby reducing the required storage capacity of the ROM 13.

The prefectures to which each name belongs are associated with R, such as English for Japanese.
It is stored in the OM13. Now, when the process proceeds to step SP80 (see FIG. 9), the process waits until any button is pressed. Then, when any button is pressed, the process proceeds to step SP81, and the following process is executed according to the type of the pressed button.

(A) When the cursor button 9 is pressed down When the user presses the cursor button 9 down, the processing of steps SP82 and SP83 is executed. That is, the place name displayed on the display 2 is scrolled downward, and the process returns to step SP80. This processing is the same as that in steps SP43 to SP45 described above.

(B) When the cursor button 9 is pressed upward When the user presses the cursor button 9 upward, the processing of steps SP84 and SP85 is executed. That is, the place name displayed on the display 2 is scrolled upward, and the process returns to step SP80. This processing is the same as that in steps SP40 to SP42 described above.

(C) When Other Buttons are Pressed When buttons other than those described above are pressed, the process returns to step SP71. Therefore, the user can select a place name category again and display a desired place name.

B-5. Processing when the second word search button 7 is pressed When the second word search button 7 is pressed while the portable translator of the embodiment is running, the program shown in FIG. 10 is started. This program is provided for memorizing Japanese history.

In the figure, when the process proceeds to step SP90, the first title (renewal of Taika) among the titles related to Japanese history is displayed. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP91, the process waits until any button is pressed. Then, when any one of the buttons is pressed, the process proceeds to step SP92, and the following process is executed according to the type of the pressed button.

When the cursor button 9 is pressed down When the user presses the cursor button 9 down, the processing of steps SP95 and SP96 is executed. That is, the title displayed on the display 2 is scrolled downward, and the process returns to step SP91. This processing is the same as that in steps SP43 to SP45 described above.

When Cursor Button 9 is Pressed Upward When the user presses the cursor button 9 up, the processing of steps SP97 and SP98 is executed. That is, the title displayed on the display 2 is scrolled upward, and the process returns to step SP71. This processing is the same as that in steps SP40 to SP42 described above.

When the Set Button 8 is Pressed When the set button 8 is pressed, an attribute (year) corresponding to the displayed title is searched, and the searched attribute is displayed on the display 2. That is, by pressing the set button 8, the user can know the year of each title.

C. Modifications The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, for example, as follows. In the above-described embodiment (especially, FIGS. 6 and 7), even if the Japanese character strings constituting the phrase are the same, if the category is different, they are treated as different phrases and displayed on the display 2 at the same time. Did not. However, if the Japanese character string is the same, the character string may be displayed together with a plurality of pictographs.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is also possible to display the pictographs of “restaurant” and “traffic” on the display 2 together with the character string “Please give me a seat by the window”. In this case, the desired pictogram (category) can be obtained by pressing the cursor button 9 right and left.
Can be selected, and it is more preferable that the selected pictograph be displayed in a blinking manner. When the user presses the language conversion button 3, it goes without saying that the English sentence corresponding to the selected pictogram is displayed.

Further, in such a case (when the Japanese sentence has the same character string and an English sentence corresponding to any of them is displayed), a plurality of pictographs are displayed on the display 2 and the currently selected pictogram is displayed. May be displayed blinking, and the user may select a pictograph using the cursor button 9. That is, in the above example, by pressing the cursor button 9 left or right, “I'd like a window table, please.” Or “I'd
like a window seat, please. "

Further, it is possible to simultaneously display each translated sentence over a plurality of lines. In that case, a pictogram is displayed at the beginning of each line, and the difference in the wording can be confirmed on the same screen. That is, in the above example,
"I'd like a window table, please." And "I'd lik
ea window seat, please. "is displayed at the same time with the corresponding pictogram.

Thus, the user can easily grasp how the English wording differs depending on the scene. If there is no appropriate category among the categories prepared by the portable translation device, the user must determine the most appropriate category by comparing the translation results in these prepared categories. No. At this time, according to this modification, translation results can be compared by pressing the cursor button 9 in the left-right direction or on the same screen, so that a quick translation operation can be performed.

[0106]

As described above, according to the configuration of the first aspect, the user can easily recognize the classification of a specific phrase or word. Further, according to the configuration of the second aspect, the user can perform the translation work without misclassification. According to the configuration of the third aspect, the user can easily access the related information. Further, according to the configuration of the fourth aspect, the user can easily access a phrase or a word related to a specific classification. Further, according to the configuration of the fifth aspect, the user can perform a translation operation based on a correct classification.

Further, according to the configuration of the sixth aspect, after specifying a phrase or a word in advance, the user can perform translation based on a desired classification. According to the configuration of the seventh aspect, the user can easily compare the translation results based on various classifications. According to the configuration of the eighth aspect, the user can easily recognize the classification to which the specific phrase or word belongs.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a language information processing apparatus having extremely excellent operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portable translator according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portable translator according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a processing program of the portable translation device of one embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a memory map of a main part of a ROM 13;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 display (display means, conversion result display means) 9 cursor buttons (keyword designation means, instruction means) 11 CPU (conversion means) 12 RAM (storage means) 13 ROM (storage means)

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A language information processing apparatus for displaying a specific phrase or word, comprising: keyword specifying means for specifying a predetermined keyword; and a phrase or word to which the phrase or word belongs.
Storage means for storing for each classification, instruction means for indicating the specific phrase or word, and a specific phrase or word using the keyword specified by the keyword specification means , and the instruction means The particular frame indicated by
A word or word from the storage means, and
The classification to which the phrase or word belongs is read by the storage means.
Specific phrase based on the
Or a display means for displaying a class to which the specific phrase or the word belongs together with the word by a graphic corresponding to the class. 2. The linguistic information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a specific phrase or word in a second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in a first language. apparatus. 3. A linguistic information processing apparatus for displaying a specific phrase or word, wherein the phrase or word belongs to the phrase or word.
A storage means for classifying each the storage that, an instruction unit for instructing said particular phrase or word, the particular phrase also instructed by the instructing means
Reads the word from the storage means and retrieves the particular frame
The classification to which the word or word belongs is read out from the storage means.
Identify based on the dress and the specific phrase or
A display unit that displays the class to which the specific phrase or the word belongs along with the word by a graphic corresponding to the classification, and sequentially displays related information in the specified specific class; and from among the classes displayed on the display unit. A language instructing unit for instructing the specific classification. 4. A keyword specifying means for specifying a predetermined keyword, and a search means for searching for a specified phrase or word which is a specific phrase or word using the keyword specified by the keyword specifying means. 4. The language information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display unit displays the searched specified phrase or word as the specific phrase or word. 5. A language information processing apparatus for displaying a specific phrase or word, wherein the phrase or word belongs to the phrase or word.
A storage means for classifying each the storage that, an instruction unit for instructing said particular phrase or word, the particular phrase also instructed by the instructing means
Reads a word from the storage means and
Words or words in the first language and
The particular phrase or word in the first language
Said specific phrase in the corresponding second language or
Displays the word and the particular phrase or word belongs to
Classification is specified based on the read address of the storage means
The specific phrase or word along with the specific
Class to which the phrase or word belongs
A language information processing apparatus , comprising: display means for displaying a graphic in a form . 6. Classification instructing means for instructing a specific classification from among the classifications displayed together with a specific phrase or word in the first language, wherein the display means, based on the specific classification, The first
The language information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the specific phrase or word in a second language corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the second language is displayed. 7. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is configured to display, for each classification corresponding to the specific phrase or word displayed in the first language, a second phrase corresponding to the specific phrase or word in the first language. The language information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the specific phrase or word in a language is displayed. 8. An instruction means for pointing a predetermined keyword.
By specifying the keyword,
Identify certain phrases or words
A language information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . 9. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein said storage means is a file in a first language.
Memorize the laze or word and said first language
In a second language corresponding to the phrase or word in
A phrase or a word that is stored
The language information processing apparatus according to claim 8 .