Cantonese search in 4.0: worse?
- Thread starter ovelp
- Start date
Had you created a dictionary group just for Cantonese besides the built-in one? Did that not migrate over?
If you were just using the built [CAN] dictionary group, that actually still was searching Mandarin dictionaries - character results from that should have generally been identical to those from [C]; it's just that for pronunciation it used whatever your Cantonese system was instead of Mandarin. In 4.0 we now search both of those in the same tab, though it's certainly something we can revisit if people find that too many of their pronunciation searches match both.
If you want to make a profile just for Cantonese, go into Expert Settings / Search Profiles and create a new Cantonese search profile; on that screen you can configure its "reading language" to be just Cantonese and its "dictionary order" to include only your Cantonese dictionaries and no other ones.
If you were just using the built [CAN] dictionary group, that actually still was searching Mandarin dictionaries - character results from that should have generally been identical to those from [C]; it's just that for pronunciation it used whatever your Cantonese system was instead of Mandarin. In 4.0 we now search both of those in the same tab, though it's certainly something we can revisit if people find that too many of their pronunciation searches match both.
If you want to make a profile just for Cantonese, go into Expert Settings / Search Profiles and create a new Cantonese search profile; on that screen you can configure its "reading language" to be just Cantonese and its "dictionary order" to include only your Cantonese dictionaries and no other ones.
Alexis
状元
I've been playing around with the different Cantonese search options (I currently use Pleco for both Mandarin and Cantonese).
In Pleco 3, my solution was to have a "Cantonese" dictionary group which included the following dictionaries:
I then controlled my search by clicking on the convenient "dictionary group switcher".
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In Pleco 4 (trying to use only the non-advanced settings), I setup a Cantonese dictionary group, but don't see any way to use it in the search.
I discovered that I had the "Legacy search screen interface" setting on, which I didn't intend to (though I may have switched it on at one point)? I like this off because of the large dictionary switchers visible when it's off. I noticed that while my iPhone has 4 search types (Chinese, English, All Mand..., Cantonese), iPad only has 2 (Chinese, English). Not sure if this is due to my settings. Ideally I'd love to see: "Chinese | English | Mandarin | Cantonese" (where Cantonese is Cantonese only dictionaries). Perhaps the default could be "Chinese | English", and then if a user downloads at least one Cantonese dictionary, it could split out to the 4 options?
With the current settings (ordering the dictionary results intelligently based on if the input is detected as Mandarin or Cantonese), I find it's a bit of a mixed bag. For example, entering "fuk" will show Mandarin results, but I was hoping for Cantonese (though I get that mind-reading is hard!). But this could be a non-issue if it was easy to switch/filter out the results as per the previous paragraph.
As an idea for the Search settings, I'd personally find it super useful to have a "Ignore a/aa Cantonese differences" (mainly because I find these super tough to hear the difference). But that might be silly; it could be I just need to train my ear better.
Would it be possible to know what the "Detect patterns" search option does?
In Pleco 3, my solution was to have a "Cantonese" dictionary group which included the following dictionaries:
- Works.hk Cantonese
- ABC Cantonese
- CCCanto
- Guangzhouhua-Putonghua
- Guangzhouhua Fangyan Cidian
I then controlled my search by clicking on the convenient "dictionary group switcher".
---
In Pleco 4 (trying to use only the non-advanced settings), I setup a Cantonese dictionary group, but don't see any way to use it in the search.
I discovered that I had the "Legacy search screen interface" setting on, which I didn't intend to (though I may have switched it on at one point)? I like this off because of the large dictionary switchers visible when it's off. I noticed that while my iPhone has 4 search types (Chinese, English, All Mand..., Cantonese), iPad only has 2 (Chinese, English). Not sure if this is due to my settings. Ideally I'd love to see: "Chinese | English | Mandarin | Cantonese" (where Cantonese is Cantonese only dictionaries). Perhaps the default could be "Chinese | English", and then if a user downloads at least one Cantonese dictionary, it could split out to the 4 options?
With the current settings (ordering the dictionary results intelligently based on if the input is detected as Mandarin or Cantonese), I find it's a bit of a mixed bag. For example, entering "fuk" will show Mandarin results, but I was hoping for Cantonese (though I get that mind-reading is hard!). But this could be a non-issue if it was easy to switch/filter out the results as per the previous paragraph.
As an idea for the Search settings, I'd personally find it super useful to have a "Ignore a/aa Cantonese differences" (mainly because I find these super tough to hear the difference). But that might be silly; it could be I just need to train my ear better.
Would it be possible to know what the "Detect patterns" search option does?
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Sorry, 'dictionary groups' in 4.0 have a totally different meaning in 3.0 and we probably ought to use a different name for them. They're now only a tool for grouping dictionaries in lists and in the search screen, they don't impact anything about searches.
The 4.0 equivalent of the old dictionary groups is making a custom search profile in Expert Settings; you can make one of those with whatever reading system and whatever selection of dictionaries you like, so you should be able to create your Mandarin / Cantonese tabs that way.
"ignore a/aa" - this wouldn't be too tricky, but I'd rather do it as part of a larger system where people could ignore other differences that they have trouble hearing too.
"Detect patterns" - this means it'll search for grammatical patterns along with words. So if you make up a nonsensical 不...而... phrase - 不牛而羊, say - and paste it in the search box, in addition to a breakdown of those 4 characters you should see a 不...而... entry too.
The 4.0 equivalent of the old dictionary groups is making a custom search profile in Expert Settings; you can make one of those with whatever reading system and whatever selection of dictionaries you like, so you should be able to create your Mandarin / Cantonese tabs that way.
"ignore a/aa" - this wouldn't be too tricky, but I'd rather do it as part of a larger system where people could ignore other differences that they have trouble hearing too.
"Detect patterns" - this means it'll search for grammatical patterns along with words. So if you make up a nonsensical 不...而... phrase - 不牛而羊, say - and paste it in the search box, in addition to a breakdown of those 4 characters you should see a 不...而... entry too.