James Kass writes:
[snip]
> An ideal index for the casual or non-CJK user might be quite
> different in approach. Perhaps the first component drawn in
> any character would be a good basis for indexing rather than
> the significant radical. But, as you've pointed out, not all
> components are immediately recognizable as pertaining to a
> particular radical, especially to the casual user.
If the goal is to generate an index for the non-CJK user then perhaps
something similar to Jack Halpern's SKIP index used in his kanji
dictionaries would be worth considering. For those not familiar with
it, the basic idea is that characters are classified based on their
primary structural pattern and the stroke counts in each component. It
is easier to learn to count strokes than it is to recognize radicals,
IMHO.
-tree
-- Tom Emerson Basis Technology Corp. Sr. Sinostringologist http://www.basistech.com "Beware the lollipop of mediocrity: lick it once and you suck forever"
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