How to insert Japanese phonetic guide on top of Kanji ?

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aokh1979 Author

Level 1

5 points

How to insert Japanese phonetic guide on top of Kanji ?

Hi Everyone:

I wonder if there's any Japanese user who can help me on this. I am able to easily insert Japanese phonetic guide in Hiragana on top of the Kanji words I type in Microsoft Office for Windows. It's done almost automatically, that Microsoft Word is able to pronounce every Kanji I type, and top up smaller Hiragana characters on the Kanji words.

Can I do that with Pages ? I have not purchased iWork but I am trying to explore more about its features now. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Regards,
Kee How

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6), Upgraded from factory installed Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Posted on Feb 28, 2008 3:01 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,836 points

Feb 28, 2008 3:59 PM in response to aokh1979

Can I do that with Pages ?

You can't. I think to do that on a Mac you must use MS Word, NeoOffice, LightwayText, or the Japanese version of InDesign. If I remember right, Word for Mac does not do it automatically either like Word for Windows does, but others here may have better info...

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Answer 2

Feb 29, 2008 11:54 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Tom gives a good summary of programs that handle it.

The Japanese version of Word 2004 for Mac OS X adds furigana automatically, but the English version does not.

Both the English and (most likely) Japanese version of Word 2008 for Mac OS X add furigana automatically.

Other language versions of MS Word for Mac do not even include the ability to add furigana or type vertical script, as far as I can tell.

None of the Mac versions of MS Word support automatic phonetic guides for simplified (pinyin) or traditional (bopomofo) Chinese, as far as I know. This is also a limitation compared to the Windows version.

Microsoft's sales and marketing departments have been abysmal here. This kind of information is not available on their web site, and the English and Japanese versions are not even possible to buy legally in for example France. Neither can you buy them by mail order from for example Japan. I have tried. Why there should be export restrictions on software that supports phonetic guides in certain countries beats me.

But that is a problem with sales and marketing. If you are able to handle all the obstacles and manage to buy a copy of MS Office 2008, it seems like a really nice product.

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,836 points

Feb 29, 2008 12:00 PM in response to Magnus Lewan

Both the English and (most likely) Japanese version of Word 2008 for Mac OS X add furigana automatically.

Thanks for that info!

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Answer 4

aokh1979 Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 2, 2008 11:06 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Hi Tom and Magnus:

Thank you so much for the detailed guide on Japanese word processing. Looks like I have to get a 2008 soon. I used 2004 but I din like it. About the Chinese thingy, I am able to play around with Mandarin phonetic guide in Office for Windows though. But Bopomofo is a little tough, never thought of that coz when I need it, I usually choose fonts that come integrated with it. Some fonts produced by Taiwan do provide Bopomofo, but you dun get to amend it. It will be headache if you come across a character with multiple pronunciations.

Thank you so much for all the help. Cheers...... ^^

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Answer 5

Mar 3, 2008 12:10 AM in response to aokh1979

There is no problem changing the Bopomofo in Word for Windows. However, the layout is non standard, with pure vertical display - not the nice squares you usually find in Taiwanese texts.

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