jpn
(The initial translation table for a translation is determined by the selected template, and may be changed using the Document / Translation Tables menu. Using those menus does not involve explicit use of the table designator. However, in cases where it is necessary to switch to a different translation table partway through a file, the designator for the table being switched to is required; see the general description of the [lnb~...] command for further details.)
The Japanese tables support print-to-braille translation of Japanese-language literary text into uncontracted Japanese braille.
Uncontracted English is also supported. Technical (mathematics and computer) notation is generally transcribed as in Unified English Braille (UEB).
Although DBT Win 11.1 and later are able to display accented letter combinations and many non-Roman scripts, it is nevertheless often more convenient to use Microsoft Word for entering and editing print text, which can then be imported into DBT for subsequent translation. When preparing the text in Word, be sure to use a Unicode font (such as Lucida Sans or the default Times Roman), so that the underlying characters are encoded in Unicode. (Note that the appearance on screen is not the issue. Fonts that merely cause standard ASCII characters to be displayed as the desired accented or non-Roman letters will not work, because they will be imported according to their standard interpretation, not their appearance.)
True braille-to-print translation is not supported. This means that it is not generally useful to translate an Japanese braille file to print. It also means that the "translated line" will typically contain gibberish when viewing the braille file. You may prefer to turn off the "translated line" under the View menu, or even under Global/Default if you wish it to be off by default.
Roman script is generally transcribed as in Unified English Braille (UEB).
There are no secondary languages supported within the Japanese table itself; however it is possible to switch to any of the available translation tables listed in DBT. (See the [lnb~...] code below.)
Technical (mathematics, computer, or scientific) notation is generally transcribed as in Unified English Braille (UEB). It is also possible to switch to any of the available translation tables listed in DBT (see the [lnb~...] code below), many of which do support various technical codes, such as for mathematics or computer notation, or which support “unified” treatment of technical notation as well as literary text in the base language associated with the table.
The following DBT translation codes are available when using the Japanese table. Codes related to the entry of type forms, mathematics, etc. as in the English/Unified tables may also be used and will generally be treated in the same way. Any other translation codes used will be ignored, or indeed may cause unexpected results. If using an alternative translation table, i.e when switching to another base language table by means of the[lnb~...] code, please refer to the relevant topic and available codes for that table.
[cz]
[lnb]
[lnb~...] (for switching to another base [primary] language table)
[tx]
The table is designed to work with the following groups of characters:
All ASCII printable characters
Japanese letters and punctuation marks
Mathematical signs, shapes, etc. (DUSCI pages D+df..., D+e2..., D+e5..., D+ef..., D+f0..., D+f1...)
The above is a general guide only (see "General Notes" section under the main “Language Translation Tables” topic).
To generate Japanese braille, one really needs a skilled human being. At this point there is no way to produce quality Japanese braille in the framework of the Duxbury Braille Translator. However, rather than abandon the project, we offer a very rough start.
Japanese is a combinaton of three script systems: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Braille for Hiragana and Katakana are fairly straight forward. Here are two resources consulted: The Wikipedia article on Japanese Braille at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japa- nese_Braille and Japanese Braille Tutorial By Mitsuji Kadota.
Kanji is where things get difficult. Basically, once needs to obtain the correct pronunciation of the Kanji in the linguistic context of the text being translated. What Duxbury DBT does is offer a fixed replacement with Hiragana and/or Katakana during file import (see important note below). This transformation is based on The KANJIDIC/KANJD212 Project. We are grateful for the language specialists that offer this material on the web for our use. We welcome suggestions on ways to improve on our work.
Japanese uses a common codespace in the Unicode for the Kanji with "Chinese characters". Duxbury DBT 11.1 handles this by having three separate tables that assist in the file importation from Microsoft Word. Go to Global Menu, Word Importer. There is a new selection for "Default language for Han (Chinese) script". The three choices are Mandarin, Cantonese (Yue), and Japanese. Make sure you select Japanese before importing any files.
(Documentation reviewed June 2010)