System and method for improving text input in a shorthand-on-keyboard interface

• US 20070094024A1
• Filed: 10/22/2005
• Published: 04/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Zhai, Shumin, Kristensson, Per-Ola
• Application Number:
  US11/256,713
• Publication Number:
  US 20070094024A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/252
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/237 Lexical tools

Abstract

A word pattern recognition system improves text input entered via a shorthand-on-keyboard interface. A core lexicon comprises commonly used words in a language; an extended lexicon comprises words not included in the core lexicon. The system only directly outputs words from the core lexicon. Candidate words from the extended lexicon can be outputted and simultaneously admitted to the core lexicon upon user selection. A concatenation module enables a user to input parts of a long word separately. A compound word module combines two common shorter words whose concatenation forms a long word.

Claims

1. A word recognition system for recognizing an input signal entered via a shorthand-on-keyboard interface, the system comprising:

a core lexicon comprising commonly used words;

an extended lexicon comprising words not contained in the core lexicon;

a recognition module for recognizing words associated with the input signal;

a selector module for outputting an output word associated with the input signal from the core lexicon; and

a module for admitting a candidate word associated with the input signal to the core lexicon, upon selection of the candidate word by the user.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user selection interface presenting candidate words associated with the input signal from at least one of the core lexicon and the extended lexicon, for selection by the user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the user selection interface lists candidate words from the core lexicon and candidate words from the extended lexicon with different perceptual features for ease of distinction.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the recognition module generates an N-best list of candidate words from the core lexicon and the extended lexicon.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising a pre-ranking module for ranking the N-best list of candidate words according to at least one criterion.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the ranking module outputs a highest ranked word from the core lexicon as the highest ranked word in the N-best list of candidate word.

7. A word recognition method for recognizing a input text entered via a shorthand-on-keyboard interface, the method comprising:

storing commonly used words on a core lexicon;

storing words not contained in the core lexicon in an extended lexicon;

recognizing words associated with the input signal;

outputting an output word associated with the input text from the core lexicon; and

admitting a candidate word associated with the input text to the core lexicon, upon selection of the candidate word by a user.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising presenting candidate words associated with the input signal from at least one of the core lexicon and the extended lexicon, for selection by the user.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising listing candidate words from the core lexicon and candidate words from the extended lexicon with different perceptual features for ease of distinction.

10. A computer program product having program codes stored on a computer-usable medium for word for recognizing an input signal entered via a user input interface, comprising:

a core lexicon comprising commonly used words;

an extended lexicon comprising words not contained in the core lexicon;

a program code for recognizing words associated with the input signal;

a program code for outputting an output word associated with the input signal from the core lexicon; and

a program code for admitting a candidate word associated with the input signal to the core lexicon, upon selection of the candidate word by the user.

11. A system for recognizing an input signal entered via a shorthand-on-keyboard interface and for allowing a stem and an affix of the input text to be combined, the system comprising:

a concatenation module for recognizing the input signal as an input affix;

the concatenation module further recognizing a candidate word as neighboring candidate word;

a compound output module for retrieving a set of words in a lexicon containing the input affix;

a ranking module for ranking the set of words containing the input affix according to a similarity function that compares each lexicon word in the set of words containing the input affix, with a string containing the candidate word and the input affix; and

the compound word module outputting a highest ranked lexicon word in the set of words containing the input affix.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the input affix is a suffix.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the compound word module compounds the suffix and the highest ranked lexicon word.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the input affix is a prefix.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the compound word module compounds the prefix and the highest ranked lexicon word.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the similarity function includes a distance function.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the neighboring candidate word includes any one of a candidate word that precedes the input affix or a candidate word that succeeds the input affix.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein if the input text is not recognized as the input affix, the compound word module creates a string resulting from a concatenation of the input text and the neighboring candidate word;

determines a frequency of occurrence of the string in the lexicon;

compares the frequency of occurrence of the string to frequencies of occurrence of the input text and the neighboring candidate word separately; and

if the frequency of occurrence of the string exceeds the frequencies of occurrence of the input text and the neighboring candidate word separately, the compound word module concatenates the input text and the neighboring candidate word as a concatenated word, and replaces the string with the concatenated word.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein a comparison of the frequency of occurrence of the string relative to the frequencies of occurrence of the input text and the neighboring candidate word is a weighted comparison.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising compounding the suffix and the highest ranked lexicon word.

20. A method for recognizing an input text entered via a shorthand-on-keyboard interface and for allowing a stem and an affix of the input text to be combined, the method comprising:

recognizing the input text as an input affix;

if the input text is recognized as the input affix, recognizing a candidate word as neighboring candidate word;

retrieving a set of words in a lexicon containing the input affix;

ranking the set of words containing the input affix according to a similarity function by comparing each lexicon word in the set of words containing the input affix, with a string containing the candidate word and the input affix; and

outputting a highest ranked lexicon word in the set of words containing the input affix.

22. A computer program product having program codes stored on a computer-usable medium for recognizing an input signal and for allowing a stem and an affix of the input text to be combined, comprising:

a program code for recognizing the input signal as an input affix, and for further recognizing a candidate word as neighboring candidate word;

a program code for retrieving a set of words in a lexicon containing the input affix;

a program code for ranking the set of words containing the input affix according to a similarity function that compares each lexicon word in the set of words containing the input affix, with a string containing the candidate word and the input affix; and

a program code for outputting a highest ranked lexicon word in the set of words containing the input affix.