Typing Pinyin using numbered input method on OS X Leopard (10.5)

billglover
December 09, 2007, 10:52 PM posted in General Discussion

I'm sure many of the Mac users out there are aware of this already, but I have just come across the Biaoyin2 plugin for OSX Leopard. It adds an entry to the Input Menu to allow you to type pinyin by typing the tone numbers.

I haven't used it extensively, but my initial reaction is that it feels easier to use than the US Unicode input method that I have used previously.

Has anyone else found an easier way to input pinyin on the Mac? 

Profile picture
goulnik
December 10, 2007, 06:32 AM

I recently bought an iMac, I have to say I'm struggling a bit, constantly switching between with XP laptops where I use 谷歌拼音输入法。 Thanks for this, will definitely give it a try when I'm back home tonight.

Profile picture
mandafars
December 10, 2007, 09:57 AM

WOW! This is just what I needed! Thanks for the info!

Profile picture
tvan
December 10, 2007, 03:11 PM

billglovruk, First, thanks for sharing your tip. Does the Biaoyin allow you to input more than one character at a time (e.g. ni3hao3ma) or do you have to input characters one-by-one? Regarding your question, the most useful pinyin-based Mac IME I've used is QIM. Unlike the other IME’s that come standard with Mac OS 10, it allows you to input more than one character at a time (I find ITABC painful), allows quick switching between traditional and simplified, etc. etc. That said, I paid $30 USD and, if you’re just starting, the standard ones work fine.

Profile picture
tvan
December 10, 2007, 03:14 PM

Whoops, forgot the link. Here it is. http://glider.ismac.cn/RegQIME.html

Profile picture
mrdtait
December 10, 2007, 03:30 PM

Could you explain to me what the difference between QIM and QIT is? For the free version do I just download QIM?

Profile picture
tvan
December 10, 2007, 04:26 PM

QIM is the actual product. My understanding is that QIT is a technology that essentially guesses the correct characters for a given pinyin input string. QIM recently licensed QIT. Yeah, just download QIM. It starts off with full-featured free version and, after a trial period, reverts to a basic version unless you pay.

Profile picture
billglover
December 10, 2007, 09:10 PM

The Biaoyin2 plug-in is only useful if you are intending to type pinyin. It doesn't then convert your pinyin into Hanzi characters. I find this useful because it is easier to type than using various key combinations to insert the tone marks. Sorry if my original post caused any confusion. I haven't given QIM a try, although, as a relative newbie, I haven't found much that the built in input methods can't cope with. If my Chinese advances enough to require some of the more advanced features I'll be so pleased that the $30 fee will probably go unnoticed.