How to use DDSKK, Japanese input method for Emacs

ddskk-usage.org

How to Use DDSKK Japanese Input Method for Emacs

This tutorial describes the basic usage of DDSKK Japanese input method for Emacs.

Installation and configuration

Install ddskk package.

Turn on skk-mode minor mode to write Japanese. It is recommended that you should bind a key to this command:

(global-set-key (kbd "C-x C-j") 'skk-mode)

Installation of SKK-JISYO.L (large dictionary)

You have to install at least one dictionary to translate Hiragana to Kanji. SKK-JISYO.L (L stands for large) contains a lot of words, so it will be a good starting point:

(setq skk-large-jisyo "/usr/share/skk/SKK-JISYO.L")

Usage

In skk-mode, hiragana is inserted by default as you type alphabets.

Translating to Kanji

You can enter kanji using one of the following ways:

• To enter a word consisting only of kanji, begin the word with a capital letter and enter space after the word.
• To enter kanji followed by 送り仮名/okurigana (hiragana) such as 行く and 難しい, begin the okurigana with a capital letter.

During candidate selection, use SPC to select the next candidate and x to the previous one.

If there is no candidate found in any of your dictionaries, DDSKK opens the minibuffer to register a new word to your dictionary. You have to re-enter words by breaking down your input to smaller pieces of the language.

See the following examples:

Word	Hiragana	Alphabets to type
変換中	へんかんちゅう	Henkan (select) Tyuu (select)
難しい	むずかしい	MuzukaSi (select) i
行きます	いきます	IKi (select) masu

Switching to other modes

You can switch to other modes with the following keys:

Key	Mode action
q	Toggle between hiragana and katakana modes
l	Switch to ASCII mode (inserting alphabets literally)
L	Switch to a mode for inserting double-width alphabets
C-j	Switch back to hiragana mode from alphabet modes

References

• SKK Manual (Japanese)

Does mozc allow you to add words to its own dictionary? By the way, I cannot write 行く with ddskk.

I don't know, but I don't care. I use it only for code comments at work. I sometimes want to translate Japanese to other languages, and this package may help with it (but I'm not using it now): https://github.com/akirak/katawa.el

By the way, I cannot write 行く with ddskk.

If you cannot write it by IKu, then you haven't set up a dictionary.

IKu inputs 行く. It seems skk is somewhat difficult to learn.

That's one of the reasons I stopped using it. It's different from other typical Japanese input methods.

mozc is very easy to use on emacs. I also replaced anthy with mozc in fcitx.