How to use CJKV Dict?
Search for Words in Chinese Characters
CJKV Dict allows you to search for words using the following Chinese character sets:
- Chinese words using simplified Chinese characters (example: 电话)
- Japanese words using simplified Kanji (Shinjitai) (example: 元気)
-
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and/or Vietnamese words in
traditional Chinese characters
(example: 經濟)
When searching for a word in simplified Chinese characters or in simplified Kanji (Shinjitai), this word will automatically be converted to traditional Chinese characters. Examples:
- 电话 will automatically be converted to 電話
- 元気 will automatically be converted to 元氣
CJKV Dict always displays search results in traditional Chinese characters, with the alternative spelling (simplified Chinese characters for Chinese words, or simplified Kanji (Shinjitai) for Japanese words) given inside square brackets after the traditional Chinese character spelling.
Additionally, CJKV Dict supports searching for variant Chinese characters (異體字). For example, in traditional Chinese characters, the word "inspection" is written 檢查 in Chinese and Vietnamese (using 查 as the second character), while it is written 檢査 in Japanese and Korean (using 査 as the second character). CJKV Dict knows that the characters 查 and 査 are variants of one another, and will therefore automatically search for "檢査" when "檢查" is used as a search term (and vice versa).
Search for Words Using a Phonetic Transcription System
CJKV Dict supports searching for words using various Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese phonetic transcription systems. The following systems are supported.
For Chinese:
- Zhuyin Fuhao (Bopomofo), without spaces (example: ㄉㄧㄢˋㄏㄨㄚˋ)
-
Hanyu Pinyin, without spaces,
either with numbered tones (example: dian4hua4)
or without tones (example: dianhua) -
Jyutping (Cantonese romanization),
without spaces, either with tones
(example: din6waa2) or without tones (example: dinwaa)
For Japanese:
-
Kana
(example: でんわ)
- Hepburn romanization (example: denwa)
For Korean:
- Hangul (example: 전화)
- Revised Romanization (example: jeonhwa)
For Vietnamese:
- The Vietnamese alphabet (Quốc ngữ), either with diacritics (example: điện thoại) or without diacritics (example: dien thoai)
CJKV Dict will automatically try to convert phonetic transcription search terms into Chinese characters. However, this is only possible when a single word matching the search term exists.
Search for English Words
CJKV Dict supports searching for English words (example: telephone). It returns Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese words containing the English search term in their definition, as well as Chinese characters whose meaning matches the English search term.
Using Wildcards
CJKV Dict supports search terms using the * wildcard (the full-width version of that character, ＊, is also accepted). The * wildcard may be used at the beginning and/or at the end of the search term, but not inside of it. Wildcards can be used with Chinese characters, phonetic transcription systems, and English words. Examples: