Rikaisama

Rikaisama is a modification of the rikaichan Japanese-English popup dictionary that adds many unique features.

Contents

• Features
• Screenshots
• Download
• How to Install (Windows)
• How to Install (Linux)
• General Usage
• Setting up the Anki Real-Time Import Feature
• Pitch Accents


• Version History
• Feature Wishlist
• Known Bugs

Features

• Ability to hear the pronunciation for the highlighted word.
  Just hover over a word and press the "F" key to hear the pronunciation for that word. The pronunciations are provided by the good folks at japanesepod101.com.
• EPWING dictionary support. (screenshot 1, screenshot 2).
  This allows you to hover over a word like usual, but instead of the normal J-E EDICT definition, you will see the definition taken from the EPWING dictionary of your choice. Press the "P" key to toggle on/off. Use "-" and "+" to switch between dictionaries. Use "[" and "]" to switch between entries.
• Sanseido web dictionary support. (screenshot).
  Similar to EPWING Mode, but the definition is taken from the J-J sanseido web dictionary site. Press the "O" key to toggle on/off.
• Pitch Accents. (screenshot).
  Show pitch accent number to the right of the reading if available. To enable, check the "Options... -> Dictionaries Tab -> Show pitch accent" checkbox.
• Advanced Clipboard & Save options. (screenshot).
  You can now specify the exact format of the save feature using tokens. You can even save the pronunciation audio! In addition to the normal "S" save key, Rikaisama adds the "X" save key that allows you to save the kana version of the highlighted word (essentially, the $d token is replaced with the $r token).
• Ability to add cards directly to your Anki deck using Anki's "Real-Time Import" plugin. (screenshot).
  Click here for instructions on how to setup and use this feature.
  
• Show which words are already in your Anki vocubulary deck. (screenshot).
  By analyzing you Anki vocabulary deck, Rikaisama can inform you (via asterisk "*" in the popup window) if the highlighted work is already in your deck.
  
  Note: Presently, this feature only works with Anki 1.2.x decks.
• "Super Sticky" mode.
  Allows you to see the definition only when you Ctrl-click on a word (as opposed to hovering over it). Press the "U" key to toggle on/off.
  
  Tip 1: Ctrl-Right click a word when it resides in a link (so you don't follow the link).
  
  Tip 2: You can use this mode for words that are inside the popup (Rikaisama-within-Rikaisama).
• Ability to customize the shortcut key layout. (screenshot).
• Added startup tab to the preferences dialog. (screenshot).
  This allows you to automatically enable certain features when Rikaisama is enabled.
• Kanji link to the Reviewing the Kanji study page.
  Clicking the Heisig label/number in the kanji view (via lookup bar, sticky mode, or "Super Sticky" mode) now links to the corresponding RevTK study page.

Screenshots

• The customizable shortcut keys:
  
  
• EPWING options:
  
  
• EPWING Mode example (showing kenkyusha 5th edition):
  
  
  
• Sanseido Mode example:
  
  
  
  
• Pitch Accent example:
  
  
  
  
• Advanced Save options:
  
  
• Anki options:
  
  
• Startup options:
  
  

Download

How to Install (Windows)

1. Uninstall your current rikaichan/Rikaisama (if applicable). Only uninstall the main extension, not the dictionaries.
2. Download the latest version of Rikaisama.
3. From the Firefox menu, select "File | Open File..." and select the .xpi file that you just downloaded.
4. Click the "Install Now" button.
5. Restart Firefox.
6. Install the official rikaichan dictionaries if you don't already have them.

How to Install (Linux)

1. Follow the steps in the How to Install (Windows) section.
2. To enable the audio pronunciation feature:
   mplayer must be installed in /usr/bin/mplayer.
3. To enable the EPWING feature:
   Make sure that both bash and wine are installed.
   
4. To enable ability to add cards directly to your Anki deck using Anki's "Real-Time Import" plugin:
   Make sure that both bash and python are installed.

General Usage

• Play Audio:
  Hover over a word and press the "F" key.
• Change Audio Playback Volume:
  
  1. Open the Rikaisama options and select the General tab.
  2. In the Audio Volume box, enter a value in the range 0-100 with 100 being the loudest.
• Using the Advanced Save Feature:
  
  1. Open the Rikaisama options and select the Clipboard & Save tab.
  2. Select a save file. If you would like to save audio clips, select an audio save directory.
  3. Adjust the formatting options to suit your needs by adding one or more tokens. You can hover your mouse over a token to get a brief description of what the token does.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Hover over a word and press the "S" key to save information about the word to the chosen file.
     Note: In addition to the normal "S" save key, Rikaisama adds the "X" save key that allows you to save the kana version of the highlighted word (essentially, the $d token is replaced with the $r token).
• Using EPWING Mode:
  
  • First add one or more EPWING dictionaries to the EPWING tab of the options dialog in the boxes labeled 'EPWING path 1-4'. Enter the path that contains your EPWING dictionary’s "CATALOG" or "CATALOGS" file.
    Note: The EPWING dictionary path must not contain Japanese or other non-ASCII characters.
  • To toggle EPWING mode just hover over a word and press the "P" key.
  • To move to the next/previous dictionary, use the plus "+" and minus "-" keys.
  • To move to the next/previous entry, use the "]" and "[" keys.
  • You can customize the look and behaviour of EPWING mode by selecting various options in the EPWING tab of the options dialog.
• Enable/Disable Sanseido Mode:
  Hover over a word and press the "O" key to toggle on/off. At this point, Sanseido Mode will stay enabled until toggled off.
• Enable/Disable Pitch Accents:
  Open the Rikaisama Options dialog, click on the "Dictionaries" tab, and select "Show pitch accent".
• Show words that are already in your Anki vocubulary deck (Anki 1.2.x only):
  
  1. In the Rikaisama options dialog, select the Anki tab.
  2. Check the "Enable" box.
  3. In the "Vocabulary deck" box, enter the full path to your Anki vocubulary deck.
  4. In the "Vocabulary field" box, enter the name of the field that you want to compare against. For example, if the kanji forms of your deck's words are in the "Expression" field, that's the one you should probably use.
  5. Click the "OK" button to save.
  6. Now, whenever you highlight a word, an asterisk "*" will appear at the top-left of the popup if it is already in your vocubulary deck.
• Enable/Disable "Super Sticky" mode:
  Hover over a word and press the "U" key to toggle on/off. Now, just hold down the Ctrl key and click on a word to see its definition. You can even Ctrl-click inside of the popup window!

Setting up the Anki Real-Time Import Feature

1. In Anki, install the Real-Time Import add-on using code 2512410601 (Tools > Add-ons > Browse&Install...).
2. Open the Rikaisama options dialog and select the Clipboard & Save tab. There are 2 things that you need to setup:
   
   
   1. Tags. These are the tags that you want to use for cards that will be added. You may leave this blank if you want.
   2. Save format. This is the save format to use. Make sure that it matches the fields that you enter the in the Field names box (see next step).
3. Now open the Anki tab. In the Field names box, enter the names that correspond to the desired fields in your Anki deck. Make sure that it matches the save format (see previous step).
   
4. Open your Anki deck. The Real-Time Import plugin will automatically load itself.
5. Back in Firefox, highlight a word and press the "R" key. If you setup everything correctly, you should see a "Note Added" popup in Anki.
• Note: In addition to the "R" key, you may also use the "T" key to send the kana version of the word to Anki (essentially, the $d token is replaced with the $r token).

Example:

Here are the fields in my Anki deck:


Here is one way to setup Rikaisama:


In the above screenshots,

I am using 2 tags: "web" and "active".

I am telling Rikaisama to use 3 of the fields from my Anki deck: "Expression", "Reading", and "Meaning".

The Save format box shows "$d" going to the "Expression" field, "$r" going to the "Reading" field, and "$n" going to the "Meaning" field.

Notes:


I’ve tested this feature on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Linux Mint. Linux users will need to have bash and python installed.

By default, Real-Time Import will not add a duplicate note. To change this behavour, open the Anki add-ons folder and edit "Real-Time_Import_for_use_with_the_Rikaisama_Firefox_Extension.py". Find the line "ALLOW_DUPLICATES = False" and change it to "ALLOW_DUPLICATES = True". Now restart Anki.

It something isn't working you may be able to figure out why by opening the Anki add-ons folder and editing "Real-Time_Import_for_use_with_the_Rikaisama_Firefox_Extension.py". Find the line "DEBUG = False" and change it to "DEBUG = True". Now restart Anki. A file called real_time_import.log will be placed in your add-ons directory that will contain useful information about what went wrong.

You can change the UDP port assignment in both Rikaisama and Real-Time Import if it is already being used by some other program.

Pitch Accents

1. If the accent is on the first mora, then the pitch starts high, drops suddenly on the second mora, then levels out. The pitch may fall across both moras, or mostly on one or the other (depending on the sequence of sounds)—that is, the first mora may end with a high falling pitch, or the second may begin with a (low) falling pitch, but a native speaker will hear the first mora as accented regardless.
2. If the accent is on a mora other than the first or the last, then the pitch has an initial rise from a low starting point, reaches a near-maximum at the accented mora, then drops suddenly on the next.
3. If the word doesn't have an accent, the pitch rises from a low starting point on the first mora or two, and then levels out in the middle of the speaker's range, without ever reaching the high tone of an accented mora. Japanese describe the sound as "flat" (平板 heiban) or "accentless".

1. If the accent is on the first mora, then the first syllable is high-pitched and the others are low: H*L, H*L-L, H*L-L-L, H*L-L-L-L, etc.
2. If the accent is on a mora other than the first, then the first mora is low, the following moras up to and including the accented one are high, and the rest are low: L-H, L-H*L, L-H-H*L, L-H-H-H*L, etc.
3. If the word is heiban (doesn't have an accent), the first mora is low and the others are high: L-H, L-H-H, L-H-H-H, L-H-H-H-H, etc. This high pitch spreads to unaccented grammatical particles that attach to the end of the word, whereas these would have a low pitch when attached to an accented word. Although only the terms "high" and "low" are used, the high of an unaccented mora is not as high as an accented mora.