The Chinese language has multiple DBT Templates.
The preferred braille system in China is Chinese Mandarin with tones - basic. The braille produced using the template Chinese Mandarin - basic is without any tones and is very hard to read.
The template Chinese Yue (Cantonese) is for Cantonese (the language of Hong Kong).
The template Chinese for Taiwan - basic is for braille used in Taiwan. The braille rules are quite similar to mainland China braille, but all the braille cell assignments are different.
When Han text is imported into DBT for mainland Mandarin, it is converted into Pinyin. When Han text is imported into DBT for Taiwan Mandarin, it is converted into Zhuyin. For Cantonese it is converted into Jyutping. The Cantonese translator can handle either the Jyutping or the Yale Romanization system, as these are very similar.
For the details about the DBT translator used, first select one of the DBT Templates for this language.
Default Braille Mathematics Code
The default math braille code for this Template is Russian.
To use this translator for technical material, the math material needs to be enclosed in the DBT style, math. This markup is added automatically when importing LaTeX files and some other formats.
Chinese is usually produced in uncontracted braille. This means that words in the text are produced in braille on a one-for-one basis. One braille character for each inkprint symbol. Some inkprint punctuation may require more than one braille character. Showing upper case, emphasis, or numbers will add braille characters to the character count. But there are no abbreviations or contractions. If you have questions about how braille is produced, please contact a member of the relevant braille authority.
Chinese is written in a script other than the Roman alphabet. To import files into DBT your best option is to import the files from Microsoft Word or Open Office and ensure that they are written in a Unicode font. You can contact support at Duxbury Systems if you have a file which does not import properly into DBT. Please send the file which does not import (the original inkprint file), not a screen shot of DBT.
Please contact us if you have any concerns.
Chinese uses Han (Chinese) characters. DBT supports Han characters through the process of file importation. You need to create an MS-Word file or an Open Office file with Han characters first, and then import the file into DBT. You cannot clipboard Han characters directly into DBT.
Normally, the type of Han character conversion is determined by the template that you select. However, DBT has a menu to let you override the automatic choice for how DBT handles Han characters. Go to the Global Menu, and select Import Options. There is a menu that looks like this.
Language for Han (Chinese) script:
Using this menu may cause errors if you switch languages without returning to it to update your selection.