Chinese character app notes/help
Updated
14 November, 2020
This Unicode character app allows you to produce or analyse runs of Chinese text using the Simplified and Traditional Chinese orthographies. Character apps are especially useful for people who don't know a script well, as characters are displayed in ways that aid identification.
If something is broken or missing raise an issue. For release notes see the Github commit list.
Inputting characters
The app includes support for around 3,000 common Han characters, used for everyday writing in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. These include the set indicated as main and auxiliary in CLDR 31.
To analyse text, copy & paste it into the large text area and select the desired control(s). The app is particularly useful for analysing text. You can get information about Han characters using the Analyse text feature. While identifying most characters used for everyday Chinese, it produces pinyin transcriptions and definitions for supported characters.
To produce Chinese text in the text area, do one or more of the following:
- Type on your keyboard, with help from type-assist. This character app doesn't provide an in-built IME, so you will need to use the one provided by your system. However, type-assist does allow easy input of fullwidth alphanumerics, and punctuation, and there are ways to find Han characters.
- Find a Han character to add to the text by typing the pinyin equivalent, then using Lookup Han. This, along with a shortcut alternative approach, is described in more detail below. You can also look up hanzi by typing keywords found in their definition, with the English to Han feature.
- Click on the punctuation characters in the selection area.
More detail is provided further down this page.
Lookup Han. Allows you to look up Han characters with a given pronunciation.
- Type the pronunciation in pinyin, including relevant tone marks. It helps to turn on the Latin type-assist feature: as you type, relevant characters are suggested to you. (Hit the ~ key for a shortcut to turn this feature on.)
- Highlight the pinyin syllable you want to look up (only one syllable at a time), and click on Lookup Han. Matching hanzi characters will appear below the text area.
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Copy the desired character in place of the highlighted pinyin text. You can do this by copy-pasting, or by using the ^ control to the right of the alternatives and deleting what you don't need.
Alternatively, as a keyboard shortcut, you could hit the § key and the pinyin text will be replaced by the matching hanzi characters, surrounded by slashes (to keep them distinct from any other hanzi on the line). You can then remove the text you don't want to keep.
Vocab to markup. Converts a vocab entry to markup that can be used for an example. Must be applied to one line at a time.
មេឃ|sky|meːk
will produce:
<span class="charExample" translate="no"><bdi class="ex" lang="km" dir="ltr">មេឃ</bdi> <bdi class="trans">m̱eḵʰ</bdi> <bdi class="ipa">meːk</bdi> <bdi class="meaning">sky</bdi></span>
English to Han. Allows you to look up Han characters by keywords from the definitions.
Type one or more words in English, highlight it, and select English to Han from the pulldown menu. Matching hanzi characters, with their definitions, will be displayed below the text area.
Toggle direction. Switches the writing mode of the text area between horizontal and vertical.