kamiya-codec

A JavaScript/TypeScript library to conjugate Japanese verbs and auxiliary verbs based on Taeko Kamiya's The Handbook of Japanese Verbs (Kodansha, 2001). The idea is, you have a verb—書く, say (to write)—and maybe an auxiliary like たい (wanting to do something), and finally a conjugation, like negative. Then,

var codec = require('kamiya-codec');
codec.conjugateAuxiliary('書く', codec.Auxiliary.Tai, codec.Conjugation.Negative)
// [ '書きたくない' ]

gives us what we want: 書きたくない, or, “doesn’t want to write”.

This library will make most sense if you have the book for reference. It currently implements part I of the book (up to page 47).

Install

Node.js developers: npm install --save kamiya-codec will add this package to your current project.

For everyone else who just want to poke around:

1. Install Git.
2. Install Node.js.
3. In your terminal, run the following

$ git clone https://github.com/fasiha/kamiya-codec.git
$ cd kamiya-codec
$ npm install
$ npm run build

where, in the above, each line is one command, and the $ represents your terminal's prompt (not to be typed in: the first letters you type should be "git…"). This makes a copy of this repository on your computer (git …), changes into the new directory (cd …), installs a few JavaScript dependencies (npm install; npm is the Node.js package manager that was installed when you installed Node.js), and finally builds the TypeScript source code to Node.js-ready JavaScript (npm run…).

Then you can start a new Node.js shell (run node in the terminal) or create a new JavaScript or TypeScript program to exercise this library:

var codec = require('./index');
codec.conjugateAuxiliary('書く', codec.Auxiliary.Tai, codec.Conjugation.Negative)
// [ '書きたくない' ]

Usage

conjugate(verb: string, conj: Conjugation, typeII: boolean = false): string[]

Conjugates a verb in dictionary form with a given conjugation (see below for list of allowed values). Returns an array of strings (guaranteed to be at least one element long, which is the most common case).

This library doesn't yet have a perfect way to tell type I (五段godan) verbs from type II (一段ichidan) ones, so all functions including conjugate accept a typeII boolean to let you specify that the incoming verb is or isn't type II. (I'm not very fond of opaque names like type I and type II but to maximally take advantage of Taeko Kamiya's book, we use her notation.)

conjugateAuxiliary(verb: string, aux: Auxiliary, conj: Conjugation, typeII: boolean = false): string[]

Given a verb as well as an auxiliary verb (see below for list of allowed values), plus the conjugation and the optional typeII boolean, apply the auxiliary to the verb and conjugate the result.

enum Conjugation

Conjugations must be one of the following:

{
  Negative,
  Conjunctive,
  Dictionary,
  Conditional,
  Imperative,
  Volitional,
  Te,
  Ta,
  Tara,
  Tari
}

enum Auxiliary

Auxiliaries must be one of the following:

{
  Potential,
  Masu,
  Nai,
  Tai,
  Tagaru,
  Hoshii,
  Rashii,
  SoudaHearsay,
  SoudaConjecture,
  SeruSaseru,
  ShortenedCausative,
  ReruRareu,
  CausativePassive,
  ShortenedCausativePassive
}

Development

Run tests with npm test. We use tape and all exported functions have tests in the tests/ directory. Tests currently happen to all be in JavaScript.