Word converting apparatus utilizing general dictionary and cooccurence dictionary to display prioritized candidate words

Claim 1

A word converting apparatus comprising: an input unit for entering a string of characters; a general dictionary for holding converted results and converted-result IDs with respect to entries; a cooccurrence dictionary for holding converted results, cooccurrent examples, and converted-result IDs with respect to each of the words in a combination of cooccurrent words; a word recognizer for dividing a string of characters entered by said input unit into a string of words by referring to said general dictionary; a cooccurrence recognizer for recognizing cooccurrent relationships between the words divided by said word recognizer, by using said cooccurrence dictionary; a result storage unit for storing converted results and converted-result IDs with respect to each of the words divided by said word recognizer, in order of priority; a candidate storage unit for storing a converted result stored in said result storage unit so as to correspond to a word if the converted result stored in said result storage unit is derived from said general dictionary, and searching said cooccurrence dictionary for a cooccurrent example and storing the cooccurrent example so as to correspond to a word if the converted result stored in said result storage unit is derived from said cooccurrence dictionary; a converter for storing converted results corresponding to the words divided by said word recognizer, in said result storage unit by referring to said general dictionary, and, if a cooccurrent relationship is recognized between the words by said cooccurrence recognizer, storing a corresponding combination of converted results and converted-result IDs in said result storage unit by referring to said cooccurrence dictionary, and replacing the converted results in said result storage unit according to the order of priority; a display unit for displaying the converted results in said result storage unit; and a candidate selector for displaying the converted results and cooccurrent examples stored in said result storage unit, in a candidate selection menu on said display unit when the words are indicated and candidate selection is indicated, and, if a candidate alternative in said candidate selection menu is selected, instructing said converter to give highest priority to a selected converted result or a converted result corresponding to a selected cooccurrent example, using a converted-result ID as a key.