ORT – Orthographic Conversion via Dictionary Lookup
Status: Current Last updated: 2026-05-12 11:11 EDT
Purpose
Reimplements CLAN’s CONVORT command, which applies orthographic conversion rules from a dictionary file to main-tier words. When a word is modified, the original main-tier text is preserved on a %ort: dependent tier for reference.
Usage
chatter clan ort --dictionary ort.cut file.cha
Options
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
-d, --dictionary | path | (required) | Path to the orthographic conversion dictionary |
-o, --output | path | stdout | Output CHAT file path |
External Data
Requires an orthographic conversion dictionary. CLAN uses ort.cut
from its lib/ directory by default; chatter clan ort does not
bundle a dictionary, so --dictionary must be passed explicitly.
Format: from_word to_word (one pair per line, tab or space
separated). Lines starting with # or ; are treated as
comments. Lookups are case-insensitive.
Behavior
For each utterance, the transform:
- Serializes the original main tier content for preservation.
- Applies dictionary-based word substitutions on the main tier.
- If any words were modified, inserts a
%ort:dependent tier containing the original (pre-conversion) main-tier text.
Differences from CLAN
- Operates on AST rather than raw text.
- Uses the framework transform pipeline (parse -> transform -> serialize -> write).