Language interpreter for inflecting words from their uninflected forms

• US 4,594,686 A
• Filed: 10/25/1983
• Issued: 06/10/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yoshida, Kunio
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas, James D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLIAMS JR, ARCHIE E
• Application Number:
  US06/545,216
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 364/200 MS File, 364/900 MS File, 364/419
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/211 Syntactic parsing, e.g. based on context-free grammar [CFG] or unification grammars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/268 Morphological analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation

Abstract

An electronic language interpreter is operated such that an uninflected word is entered to obtain at least one inflected form of that word. The interpreter comprises three types of memories. The first contains a plurality of words of the uninflected form inclusive in their uninflected word. The second contains a plurality of words in a second language each of which is equivalent to one of the words within the first memory. The third memory contains digital data reflecting a certain number of inflection principles used to inflect the inflected words stored in the first memory. An alphabetical keyboard is provided for entering the uninflected form of the word. An inflection selection keyboard is provided for entering desired inflection information that is used to select data reflecting the appropriate inflection principles stored digitally in the third memory. An inflection enabling circuit is responsive to the selection functions of the inflection selection keyboard for inflecting the uninflected word according to the desired inflection principles derived from the third memory, to obtain the properly inflected word.

Claims

1. An electronic word inflection device wherein an uninflected word represented in a first language is entered to obtain at least one inflected form of the uninflected word, the device comprising:

first memory means for storing digital data representing a plurality of words in the language in their respective uninflected forms;

input means for entering an uninflected word, the input means being operatively connected to the first memory means, said device comprising means for determining that the input uninflected word is stored within the first memory means of the device;

inflection memory means for storing digital data representing a certain number of principles used in the language to inflect the uninflected forms of the words stored in the first memory means;

inflection selection means, responsive to the input means, for selecting and retrieving that digital data stored in the inflection memory means that corresponds to the inflected form of the uninflected input word,

said inflection selection means including several groups of key switches operatively associated with said input means, each of the groups corresponding to one set of the principles used in the language to inflect words, and separate register means, responsive to the several groups of key switches, for storing the digital data retrieved from the first memory means;

inflection enabling means, responsive to the inflection selection means, for modifying the digital form of the uninflected input word to obtain a digital representation of the inflected form of the input word,

said inflection enabling means including an amend circuit means operatively connected to the register means for modifying the digital data representing the word from that of the inflected form in response to digital data in the register means; and

display means, responsive to the inflection selection means, for modifying the digital form of the uninflected input word to obtain a digital representation of the inflected form of the input word.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a translated word memory means operatively connected to the input means for storing digital data representing a plurality of words in a second language, each such word being equivalent to one of the words stored in the first memory means, and wherein the display means is further adapted to show the word in the second language equivalent to the uninflected word entered through the input means.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the inflection enabling means further comprises a second inflection memory means operatively connected to the inflection selection means for storing digital data representing a plurality of endings for inflected words in the language stored in the first memory, the inflection enabling means serving to retrieve the appropriate digital data from the second inflection memory means to produce the digital form of the inflected word.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the amend circuit means is further operatively connected to a second inflection selection means storing a plurality of endings for inflected words that may be added to one of the uninflected words in the language stored in the first memory, the inflection enabling means serving to retrieve the appropriate digital data from the second inflection memory means to produce the digital form of the inflected word.