University of Aizu, Graduation Thesis. Mar, 2004

s1070199

1

Improvement of a Hyper Dictionary user-friendlinessYoshikatsu Matsumoto
1 Abstracts1070199

A dictionary which called the Hyper Dictionary uses
Indo-European roots. A user-friendly side has not been
improved in previous research, though various functions
have so far been improved by University of Aizu undergraduate students. Because links are not yet attached tothe examples, links are not attached to English words
used in a semantic column for explanations, although thecolumns are blank, the titles of columns are displayed,and so on. These factors were improved by adding links
to English words with example sentences. Links wereadded to reference English words in a semantic column
which enables consulting a word only by a click of amouse. As a result, conjugated forms of English words
made it easier to understand them intuitively. These improvements were able to greatly increase the usability ofthe dictionary.

Supervised by Prof. Nobuyoshi Asaithe 12 groups: Anatolian, Indo-Iranian, Greek(Hellenic),
Italic, Celtic, Germanic, Armenian, Tocharian, BaltoSlavic, Albanian, and other branches [see Figure 1].
Indo-European roots is an imaginative language which
divides the roots of these languages into several patterns.[2]2 Introduction
2.1 What is the Hyper Dictionary?
The Hyper Dictionary is an English word study dictionary using Indo-European roots. It has been improvedby many University of Aizu undergraduate students until now[14]. This year it is being improved by four senior students. The following section shows the improved
functions with each researcher’s name in parentheses.
2.1.1 Improving points of a Hyper Dictionary thisyear
• Addition of pronunciation (Ishikawa)• Classification of English words (Ootake)• Addition of suffix searching (Oowada)• Addition of links to English words in example sentences (Matsumoto)2.2 What is the Indo-European roots?
Indo-European roots are an imaginative language createdby comparative linguistics. The group of languages spoken in west Ireland, the area from eastern Ireland to India
and the area from north Scandinavia to southern Italy arecalled Indo-Eurorean. Comparative linguists have investigated the similar features of languages in this group.
Those languages were found to come from a common
ancestry from the investigation, and are called ProtoIndo-European. The language is roughly divided into

Figure 1: Derivation

2.2.1 What is the American Heritage Dictionary?
The American Heritage Dictionary (AHD) has been
compiled by various authorities of cultural anthropology, construction, movie, law, military affairs, music, religion, and sports, etc. It is used by people whose native
language is English, and by translators whose native language is not English. It is a dictionary similar to KOUJIEN, which is used in Japan.[1]2.3 BackgroundNow, dictionaries are offered in various forms, such as
Internet medium, hard copy and digital mediums. Dictionaries were originaly offered only in paper medium.
However, Internet and CD-ROM dictionaries have recently increased with the spread of personal computers. Today, since CD-ROM and Internet dictionaries are
spreading, the only advantage of paper dictionaries istheir portability. But present internet dictionaries have
only a little advantage in comparison with hard copy dictionaries; because there are many Internet dictionaries, itUniversity of Aizu, Graduation Thesis. Mar, 2004

is possible to use a dictionary of paper medium by the Internet. Another advantage is that time is shortened when
consulting a dictionary, and there is no restriction suchas the number of letters and pages, and, if clicked, it
is possible to look up a linked word, which can be accessed by anyone by the internet. There are some internet dictionaries that already have these feature, such as
EIJIROU, which has many example sentences. Some Internet dictionaries also include the pronunciation of English words. If the act of consulting a dictionary is means
to just examine the definitions of English words, such
Internet dictionaries do not have good study efficiency,
because only the definitions are studied without the semantic background of English words. Although various
methods to learn English exist, the method using IndoEuropean roots has been very efficient and effective.[10]s1070199

2• JDBC Driver: mm.mysql• Tomcat Connector: mod jk2

3.2 Explanation of technology
3.2.1 About LinuxLinux is a popular and free Unix-like operating system. This operating system can be customized freely andwidely, so it is currently very useful and popular in thefield of computing. It’s prototype was developed by Linus Torvalds. Linux was widely opened to the public
as open source software, and many volunteer developers
have participated in developing it.
3.2.2 About Apache

Apache is a Web Server which started being developedin 1995. The Web server of The National Center for SuVarious dictionaries are now offered, such as on-line, percomputing Aplication’s httpd called NCSA httpd 1.3
hard copy and digital mediums. One Internet dictionary, is the foundation. In the same way as Linux, it develcalled the Hyper Dictionary, is an English word study oped by volunteer programmers around the world. The
dictionary which uses Indo-European roots. Although it name of Apache has come from a mixture of correction
has already been developed by many University of Aizu and the Advanced Capability patch. Presently, Apacheundergraduate students until now[14], the focus of this is the most often used Web server in the world.
research will be on improving the Hyper Dictionary bymaking it more user-friendly. Currently, the Hyper Dic- 3.2.3 About Tomcat
tionary is not user-friendly. Because links are not yet Tomcat was developed as sub project of the Jakarta
attached to the examples, links are not attached to En- project. It is an Application Server in which is possiglish words used in a semantic column for explanations, ble to process a Java Servlet/JSP. Tomcat has function
although the columns are blank, the titles of columns as a Web server independently, but it is normally used
are displayed, and so on. These factors reduce the user- as a plug in of APACHE and IIS. Many different servlet
friendliness of a dictionary clearly. So one goal of this containers are available today. The most popular one isresearch was to improve this aspect of the Hyper Dictio- recognized as the official servlet/JSP container.
nary. Moreover, another major goal is to build the system
by adding more English words, example sentences, and 3.2.4 About Mysql
Indo-European roots, so learners can study even more Mysql is Relational Database Management SysEnglish words.
tem(RDBMS). It operates by the multithread and multiuser, and it has strong and hi-speed character. It is the
3 Technology of building a server most popular RDBMS in Europe and America.

2.4 Purpose

3.1 Composition of server• Operating System: RedHatLinux9.0

3.2.5 About Java DataBase Connectivity(JDBC)
Connector• Servlet Container: Tomcat4.1.27

A JDBC Connector is the driver which is accessed froma Java program to RDBMS. It issues the commandsof SQL language to make it possible to operate thedatabase.

• JSP API version: 2.3

3.2.6 About Java Server Pages(JSP)• Web Server: Apache2.0.40• Servlet API Version: 1.2• Reletional Database Server: MySQL4.0.16• Java: JavaTM 2 SDK 1.4.2 02

JSP is a technology which generates Web pages dynamically on the Web server and transmits them to the client.
It has an advantage in that it is not necessary to remember a particular script language, and it is possible to use
Java Language.

University of Aizu, Graduation Thesis. Mar, 2004

3.2.7 About Java Servlet
Java Servlet is a module-ized program which is executedon the Web server. Servlet is described with Java language, so it does not depend on the particular operating system and hardware. It differs from other CGI programs and the like. Because if a program is called once,
it is permanently stationed in memory. So it makes highspeed processing possible.

s1070199

3

Database. But it is not possible to use (1), (2) and (3) inthe example sentences. When these English words areindicated, it must be indicated after deleting (1), (2) and(3). A program was written to actualize it with Java [seeFigures 2 and 3].

3.2.8 About Java Beans
Java Beans is a style which combines a module-ized Java
program, and Application software is built. It can do
sharing with two or more developers easily, and reuse ofsource code.
3.2.9 About Java Technology
The software which was developed with Java does notdepend on a particular operating system and hardware.
The degree of flexibility of Java is its largest merit ofJava.

Figure 2: like(1)4 Research Contents
4.1 Addition of link to the English word inexample sentence
Last year, new functions were added to the Hyper Dictionary which can display example sentences of each English word. But it displayed merely example sentences.
Therefore, when understanding of an English word inan example sentence is not impossible, it was necessary to take the trouble to type the English word in the
text box. Clearly, this act reduced usability. I wrote
a program that divides each word by the program andattaches a link to each word, when an example is displayed. But by improving this function, a problem wasencountered, which is dealing with English words withdefferent meaning in spite of having the same spelling,for example, the word ”like.” When this word is classified roughly, it has two meanings. The first meaning of”like” is to enjoy something, or to think that someone
or something is nice. Here, ”like” is used in a sentence
similar to ”She’s nice. I like her.” A second meaning of”like” is similar to someone or something. This ”like” isused in a sentence similar to ”She’s wearing a dress likemine.” These meanings similar to ”like(1),” ”like(2)” exist in the database of the Hyper Dictionary. And the paper dictionary also has similar to ”like1,” ”like2.” Whenan English word is used in an example sentence, the program is confused about which meaning is most appropriate. Thus, the database of Hyper Dictionary was redeveloped to improve understanding. The last portionof the English words was added (1), (2), and (3) in the

Figure 3: like(2)4.2 Addition of link to reference English
word in semantic column
In the semantic column of words, there are times whenother English words are used in order to explain a particular English word. In this case, it is the same as theexample sentence. Other English words are used in order
to explain an English word displayed merely as example
sentences. This also reduced usability.

4.3 Addition of the conjugated form of an
English word
Pronunciation is important in the conjugation of a conjugated form. Spelling is not so important. It was difficult

University of Aizu, Graduation Thesis. Mar, 2004

to recognize a conjugated form because the Hyper Dictionary does not have a technique to display pronunciation.

s10701994

4.5 Correction of the already-known System Bug
There was a misconverted bug in the dictionary until

4.4 Deletion the unnecessary notations in a now. This bug appeared when English words and IndoEuropean roots had both been used for the explanation
Web PageIn the previous Hyper Dictionary, although the column
was blank, the title of a column was displayed. But if
only the title of a column is displayed, the user has trouble [see Figure 4 and 5].

in the semantic column of the Indo-European roots. Allof the English words being used for the explanation are
misconverted in ”(unknown),” which is displayed. Thisbug does not appear when words such as a prefix, stem,and so on, were used. The program was modified, andthis bug was corrected [see Figure 6 and 7].

Figure 6: Before modifying

Figure 4: Previous Hyper Dicitonary
Figure 7: After modifying

5 Conclusion

Figure 5: Present Hyper Dictionary

In this research, various functions were added to the Hyper Dictionary. Appropriate links were added to English
words in example sentences, and links were added to reference English words in the semantic column. Conjugated forms of English words were also added and unnecessary notations were deleted in the Web Page. The
links added to the English words in example sentences
and reference English words in the semantic column enables consulting a word only by a click of a mouse.
These expansions was able to increase the usability of
the Hyper Dictionary substantially. Adding the conjugated forms of English words made it easier to understand a conjugated form intuitively. This also improved
usability. Deleting unnecessary notations in the Web
Page resulted in a simpler Webpage.

University of Aizu, Graduation Thesis. Mar, 2004

Acknowledgement
I deeply appreciate Professor Nobuyoshi Asai who gaveme his opinions and advice in this research. I also appreciate all members of the Mathematical Foundation ofComputer Science Laboratory, Kou Ishikawa, Toshiyuki
Oowada, Shingo Ootake, Daisuke Takahashi for theirhelp, and other people who related to this research. I
am also grateful to Prof. Stephen G. Lambacher for correcting my English.

s1070199

5[13] The English-Japanese, Japanese-English dictionary
in excite,
http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/[14] Past graduation theses about the Hyper Dictionary,(1)Scientific English (Atsushi Iwatsuki:s1052015)(2)Upgrading the English-Japanese HyperDictionary (Hideo Sugiura:s1061091)(3)UpgradingtheIndo-European-RootBased Hyper English Dictionary (Yoshihiro
Hoshino:s1061138)
References(4)Improving Portability and Usability of the
Indo-European-Root-Based
English-Japanese[1] Margery S. Berube, The AMERICAN HERITAGE
Hyper Dictionary (Kumi Miyata:s1061148)
dictionary OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE fourth(5)Synonym Usage viewed from Pre-Historic Roots
edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000
(Chie Yamanaka:s1061155)(6)Hyper English Word Study Dictionary with
[2] C. Watkins, The AMERICAN HERITAGE dicIndo-European Roots and Interim Transitionaltionary of Indo-European Roots Second Edition,
Words (Yasuto Horikawa:s1070190)
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000
(7)Hyper English Word Study Dictionary with
[3] N. Asai laboratory at University of Aizu, Hyper
Indo-European roots (Yasunori Matsuo:s1070195)
English Dictionary with Indo-European roots Ver.
(8)Development of English Word-Study Tool
3.00,
with the Indo-European Roots (Takumi
http://hidic.u-aizu.ac.jp/
Sekikawa:s1070131)[4] TAISHUKAN’S Unabridged Genius EnglishJapanese Dictionary second edition, Taishukan
Inc, 2002[5] NEW SHOGAKUKAN Random House ENGLISHJAPANESE DICTIONARY second edition,
Shogakukan Inc, 2003
[6] Margery S. Berube,
ENGLISH-JAPANESEKENKYUSYAKENKYUSHA’S NEWDICTIONARY,[7] MyNA, My SQL Reference,
http://www.mysql.gr.jp/jpdoc/4.0/manual.ja toc.html[8] JavaTM 2 Platform, Standard Edition, 1.4.0 API,
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/ja/docs/ja/api/index.html[9] Apache Software Foundation,“The Jakarta Site — Apache Tomcat”
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/index.html[10] Mutsu Imano, Atsushi Takayasu, Kazuhiro Toda,
Rei Nishikawa, Hiroshi Hujimura, Servlet/JSP Programming, SOFTBANK Publishing, 2003[11] EIJIROU on the web,
http://www.alc.co.jp/[12] The EXCEED dictionary in infoseek,
http://jiten.www.infoseek.co.jp/