MTL Toolbox

MTL Toolbox (https://learntaiwanese.org/MTLtoolbox/about.html) is software and data to help work with written Taiwanese using the Modern Taiwanese Language (MTL) writing system and other romanizations for Taiwanese.

Features

• six Taiwanese dictionaries spanning from Japanese era to present day
• full-text search engine accepts written Taiwanese as well as English, and Harnji
• audio from government-compiled dictionary: DFT
• word unjoiner to aid learning and searching at syllable level
• Seven Tones soundboard: table of all MLT finals with examples

How to search

We describe how to use "Taiwanese–English dictionaries full-text search". This interface is mainly for MLT or MTL input, but also can auto-detect Harnji. The "en" button is used to direct the search to the English field.

Typical usage

• input: Taiwanese word (often consists of two syllables joined together), for example:
  • køefcie
• the Toolbox "unjoins" words by database lookup
• then it performs search using unordered collection of syllables (bag-of-syllables)
• the results from historical works should be about the same as for:
  • køea cie

• more examples:
  • chviafmng
  • tøsia
  • Taioaan

Monosyllable

• for a monosyllable, exact matches are displayed by default, for example (PTC):
  • goar
  • lie
  • ee

• "Monosyllable mode" normally allows only monosyllable results. To see more entries with this syllable, click "Khahzøe"

• if the syllable is a DFT monosyllable, a navigation bar displays adjacent DFT monosyllables in alphabetical order

Data

Local copies of:

• HTB: Hiexntai-buun Dictionary
• DFT: Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan (in TL. We added MTL annotations and annotated over 5800 definitions in English for monosyllables)
• MK: Maryknoll Taiwanese-English Dictionary (in POJ. We added MTL annotations)
• EDUTECH: Liim Keahioong (2001-2003) EDUTECH: Taiwanese-English Dictionary Searched with Concise Atonal Spelling (in MLT with unified spellings (øe))
• Embree, Bernard L. M. (1973). A Dictionary of Southern Min: based on current usage in Taiwan and checked against the earlier works of Carstairs Douglas, Thomas Barclay, and Ernest Tipson. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Language Institute. (in POJ. We added MLT annotations)
• Lim08: Tai-Nichi Daijiten translated into Taiwanese. (original 1931 & 1932, in Taiwanese kana. Data in POJ. We added MLT annotations)

We also support searching other websites with conversion to POJ/TL:

• Lim (2019): Tai-Nichi Daijiten
• Taibuun/Hoabuun Svoarterng Sutiern

Technical notes

• SQLite: FTS4 for full-text search
• Token prefix queries: use the asterisk ('*') at the end. Similar to wildcard character in operating systems (normal wildcard search not currently supported by FTS)
  • Example: Taioa*, 臺*
• Specify a column-name followed by a colon (':')
  • Example: thj:頭* (returns entries where Taiwanese written with Harnji begins with character for thaau)
• Add carat ^ before token to require token to be very first token in its column
  • Example: ^thaau

See also

• Taiwanese-English dictionaries

Acknowledgements

• The MTL Toolbox uses data from the Maryknoll Taiwanese-English Dictionary, which was generously released to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.