Tamil: How do I differentiate மரம் vs மறம்
smartguy
confused letters.
1) ர vs ற
2) ல vs ள
3) ன vs ந
It looks like this transiliteration is trying to follow the footsteps
of chinese Katakana and/or Kanjaan input methods, where typing an
english charactor will show all the words beginning with that sound in
the target language. However, it doesn't work that way in the general
writing. Unlike Chinese/Japanese Tamil has a defined set of alphabet
(12 uyir 18 mei and 1 ayytham and a few grantham letters) that can
bring in all the letters that are used in the Entire language.
Due to these reasons Tamil transiliteration needs a different approach
(for example lowercase 'r' standing for ர and the uppercase 'R'
standing for ற and so on)
I am not proposing something new. Rather this approach is something
that experts have agreed upon based on debates, conferences, testings
etc.
Bottom Line it will be better if google transliteration can adapt to
something like TamilNet Transliteration Standards.
Look here for more details: http://www.tamilnet.com/transcription/
एस्.के
>
> The transliteration looks very poor in differentiating popular
> confused letters.
>
> 1) ர vs ற
> 2) ல vs ள
> 3) ன vs ந
I checked it up.
I find that the algorithm used functions very good in assuming the
"வல்லினம்", மெல்லினம்" and "இடையினம்" in rendering ர, ற, ல, ள etc. For
instance, I typed "raman" it became "ராமன்"; "ennarra" became
"எண்ணற்ற", "karrathanal" => "கற்றதனால்" etc. There is no need to
double-type or to use upper case. But you have to click and select in
cases when these consonants become the first letter in a word, which
is very rare.
If you come across any difficulty, please cite specific words.
Thanks and regards,
S.K
--
Don't sweat the small stuff,
and it's all small stuff.
S.K
http://www.cyberbrahma.com/
http://blog.cyberbrahma.com/ - My English Blog
http://kichu.cyberbrahma.com/ - My Tamil Blog
smartguy
1) மரம் -- மறம் -- மாரம்
2) அரம் -- அறம் -- ஆரம் -- ஆறாம் -- ஆராம்
3) கலம் -- களம் -- கலாம்
4) கல் -- கள்
5) அபினயம் - அபிநயம் (both variations are in use so there is no way of
selecting the one you wanted)
6) பழம் -- பலம்
These are only examples. I am sure there are lot more of them.
The problem with the current google transiliteration is that it is
"non-predictive". i.e One who wants to type using an english/western
keyboard, doesn't know what characters to type to get correct
translitered word he/she intends, without a popup that shows the
possible words. This is something similar to Katakana and Kanjaan
input methods. But my point is we do not need that because tamil is a
well defined language.
On Nov 7, 2:48 pm, "एस्.के" <ski...@gmail.com> wrote:
एस्.के
>
> The problem with the current google transiliteration is that it is
> "non-predictive". i.e One who wants to type using an english/western
> keyboard, doesn't know what characters to type to get correct
> translitered word he/she intends, without a popup that shows the
> possible words. This is something similar to Katakana and Kanjaan
> input methods. But my point is we do not need that because tamil is a
> well defined language.
Yes. I get your point.
Why not they use the TAM99 keyboard setup which has separate keys for ல, ள etc.
A picture of the layout is here.
http://amachu.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/tamilvu_tamil99.png
S.K
--
Don't sweat the small stuff,
and it's all small stuff.
S.K
smartguy
or similar keyboard? Well I can even use a phonetic keyboard like e-
kalappai (http://thamizha.com/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?
cid=3&lid=3) with Unicode...done.
So I guess various keyboards that are available out there are
irrelevant to this discussion. Our goal is transliteration.
On Nov 7, 5:57 pm, "एस्.के" <ski...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 7, 2007 4:03 PM, smartguy <suthars...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > The problem with the current google transiliteration is that it is
> > "non-predictive". i.e One who wants to type using an english/western
> > keyboard, doesn't know what characters to type to get correct
> > translitered word he/she intends, without a popup that shows the
> > possible words. This is something similar to Katakana and Kanjaan
> > input methods. But my point is we do not need that because tamil is a
> > well defined language.
> >==============
>
> Yes. I get your point.
>
> Why not they use the TAM99 keyboard setup which has separate keys for ல, ள etc.
>
> A picture of the layout is here.
>
> http://amachu.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/tamilvu_tamil99.png
>
> S.K
>
> --
> Don't sweat the small stuff,
> and it's all small stuff.
>
एस्.के
>
> Why do you need transliteration in the first place if I have a TAM99
> or similar keyboard?
Basically this conversion interface, transliteration or otherwise, is
helpful for direct rendering in a non-English language, especially
those with non-Roman scripts, without the need for an external program
to be installed and running. This is a boon for those who are not that
savvy of such things, and for you and me to type in Tamil wherever we
go.
=====================
>Well I can even use a phonetic keyboard like e-
> kalappai
------------------------------------
Transliteration uses a phonetics-based algorithm just like the keyman
of e-Kalappai (Anjal version. They have TAM99 version too).
What I meant was Google can switch over to Tam99 layout's basic logic
so that the issues pointed out by you can be resolved. May be they
have to change the name "transliteration" to something else. I thought
that is the only solution (lateral thinking!).
Must try and find out how the transliteration works in Hindi.
S.K
--
Don't sweat the small stuff,
and it's all small stuff.
S.K