CLI tool to format latin script Pali for chanting in the Thai style.

This program was written with the Makhot style of the Dhammayut order in mind but with the -samyok flag its output can also be used for the Saṁyok style of the Maha Nikaya order. You may also use the -css flag to pass personalized CSS.

This program implements the tone rules provided at https://www.dhammatalks.org/ebook_index.html#tone_guide (v151003)

Try it on CodePen: https://codepen.io/tassa-yoniso-manasi-karoto/pen/poaOedv

Please note:

• the input file needs to be UTF-8 encoded. Windows users, especially prior to windows 10, should be aware of this.
• without arguments, giita will process the "input.txt" file located in the folder of executable and output it there in a "output.htm" with HTML formatting
• in the HTML format, no formatting is hardcoded and all formatting can be changed through CSS
• the above mentionned guide does not provide a way to identify syllables which can get the optional low tone therefore this is not implemented
• optional high tones are disabled by default and will result in false positives
• this program is provided here "for posterity" and will not be actively maintained
• To chant in the Saṁyok style, try passing the -samyok flag which will optimize the default CSS for this style
• keep in mind that syllable delimitations and tone rules can be subject to exceptions and the guidance provided by the formatting is not always accurate!

Known issues

• certain pali grammatical transformations could create unusual syllables, needs testing
• non standard syllables embedded in the middle/end of a word : any *brāhma, *nhārū, *nhāyeyya derivates

Formatting of short/long syllables

By default there is no formatting to help differentiate short and long syllables.

With the -samyok flag the long syllables are in bold and the short are thin. This formatting makes it very easy to tell them apart but it impairs the readability of a word as whole a lot.

CSS makes it possible to increase the weight slightly through the font-weight attribute, however most fonts do not support font-weight other than with bold and thin. A font that does support all possible variations and has full support of IAST characters is noto-fonts. Download this folder and install the fonts.

With the -noto flag the long syllables can be formatted differently with little disruption. High tones are kept in bold.

Hints

NOTE: This feature is obsolete now that compound words can be easily be decomposed with by LLM like Claude/ChatGPT/etc

You may rarely encounter this formatting, a wavy underline with a vertical bar:

This hint is guaranteed to be on a long syllable. It occurs in sentences with a long compound word or in enumerations where punctuation is missing, it is a suggested location to make the syllable extra long in order to have the time to read the rest, or, a short pause to catch one's breath.

Usage of giita:

    -c string
	allow comments in input file and specify which characters marks
	respectively the beginning and the end of a comment, separated
	by a colon
    -css string
	will overwrite all CSS and CSS-related options with the CSS file at
	this path.
    -d	dark mode, will use a white font on a dark background
    -f int
	set font size (default 34)
    -hint float
	suggests hints on where to catch one's breath in long compound words or
	list/enumerations missing proper punctuation.
	Superior values increase sensitivity as to what counts as a list.
	Reasonable range between 4 and 8, disabled with -hint 0. (default 4.5)
    -i string
	path of input UTF-8 encoded text file
	 (default: "input.txt" in directory of executable)
    -l int
	set how many linebreaks will be created from a single linebreak in
	the input file. Advisable to use 2 for smartphone/tablet/e-reader.
	 (default 1)
    -noto
	use noto-fonts and a slightly greater font weight for long syllables
    -o string
	path of output file
	 (default: "output.htm" in directory of executable)
    -optionalhigh
	requires -t, it formats optional high tones with capital letters
	just like true high tones
    -re string
	on the fly regular expression deletion. Uses Golang (Google RE2) format.
	See https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax, https://regex101.com/
    -samyok
	tweak and optimize default CSS for chanting in the Samyok style
    -t	use raw text instead of HTML for the output file
    -th int
	transliterate from Thai script from:
	    	1=Pali put down in regular Thai writing
	    	2=standard Thai Pali as used in Thai Tipitaka
    -version
	output version information and exit

Download: Releases