muCiYu (μ词语)

Dan Mailman

2026-04-14

Language

muCiYu (μ词语)

Overview

muCiYu (μ词语) extends the duration-based μLex idea into Mandarin lexical input. Candidates pair a Hanzi lexical item with a toneless pinyin (TP) keypath. The opening grid preserves ranked one-gesture shortcuts, and existing lexical shortcuts stay available at deeper prefixes. Cells that previously offered only a child branch now also offer its most frequent associated lexeme.

The prefix rule is deliberately simple. If the current grid represents prefix P, pressing key k can move to prefix Pk. A keypath is a route for a candidate; Pk is the incremental prefix step that makes the route visible and navigable. Multi-character candidates can have sibling keypaths: full TP and TP-initial. For example, 中国 can be reached through zhongguo and through zg.

The way a user chooses an action depends on the input device. On a keyboard, a quick press chooses the short action and a held key chooses the long action. With a desktop mouse, the left half of a cell chooses the short action and the right half chooses the long action. Touch and pen input use brief and sustained presses.

Action Short action Long action Prefix / overflow navigation
Result Send the displayed lexeme; formerly branch-only cells gain a lexical selection while existing shortcuts stay Open the child-prefix grid Pk when the cell has a child branch Use < / > when a prefix family spans screens

Interactive Demo

Interaction Model

μ词语 demonstrates that duration-based interaction can expose Mandarin lexical items directly rather than only individual characters. The grid acts as both an input surface and a compact preview of the ranked candidates available at the current TP prefix.

The two sibling route strategies are full TP prefixing and TP-initial prefixing. A full TP route follows the candidate's toneless pinyin; a TP-initial route uses the first letter of each syllable for a multi-character candidate. This keeps fluent abbreviation available beside the learnable full path.

Existing lexical shortcuts keep their positions and actions, both at home and at deeper prefixes. A cell that previously offered only a child branch gains a short action that sends the most frequent lexeme associated with that branch; its long action opens the child grid. Existing cells that already pair a lexeme with a branch keep both choices. The added representatives follow whole-form frequency in the BCC corpus, with source rank breaking ties. Keyboard and touch/pen users distinguish the actions by press duration; desktop mouse users choose the left half for the lexeme and the right half for the branch.

Terminal cells have no child branch: either action sends the displayed lexeme. A child prefix containing just one terminal candidate is folded into a direct selection. Additional candidates remain reachable through prefix grids and continuation pages. Home-return and < / > cells remain navigation controls.

Dissertation Context

In dissertation terms, μ词语 helps show that μLex-style duration logic is not limited to alphabetic or accent-driven cases. It can support a lexically organized Chinese input method in which ranked candidates, visible prefix transitions, and compact browsing work together.

The P to Pk strategy is central to that claim. A user can select very common items immediately, or continue through the TP prefix tree as needed. The same display therefore supports two legitimate strategies: quick selection from ranked candidates and deliberate narrowing through explicit phonetic prefixes.

Every lexical candidate has accepted hover text, and the grid shows toned-pinyin annotations. These help readers inspect the candidate, pronunciation, and meaning. The same candidate carries the same hover text wherever it appears.

Design Priorities

  • Expose lexical candidates directly instead of hiding them behind an invisible candidate list.
  • Make prefix movement visible: each step from P to Pk narrows the displayed choices.
  • Keep direct candidate entry and deeper prefix search in the same compact cell, using duration for keyboard and touch/pen input and split cell halves for a desktop mouse.
  • Support both scanning and memorized keypaths, so common items are quick while less common items remain systematically reachable.
  • Keep the top-left cell as orientation: μ词语 at the starter grid and the current prefix or page label deeper in the system.
  • Reserve the lower-right home cell as an inactive 选项 placeholder; non-home grids use / to return home.