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Babel - Multilingual Alphabet Converter

A powerful Qt-based desktop application for converting text between various writing systems and alphabets. Inspired by the Tower of Babel, this tool enables seamless translation between different scripts and writing systems.

Features

🎯 Core Functionality

  • Multi-alphabet Conversion: Convert text between 30+ different writing systems
  • Bidirectional Conversion: Convert from any alphabet to any other alphabet
  • Real-time Preview: See conversion results instantly as you type
  • Phonetic Chart: Visual reference for all supported alphabets and their mappings

🌐 Supported Writing Systems

  • Latin (English, European languages)
  • Cyrillic (Russian, Slavic languages)
  • Greek (Modern Greek)
  • Arabic (Arabic script)
  • Persian (Farsi)
  • Hebrew (Hebrew script)
  • Devanagari (Hindi, Sanskrit)
  • Tibetan (Tibetan script)
  • Khmer (Cambodian)
  • Syriac (Aramaic)
  • Hangul (Korean)
  • Kana (Japanese)
  • Zhuyin (Chinese Bopomofo)
  • And many more (30+ systems total)

🌍 Internationalization

  • Multi-language UI: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
  • Persistent Language Settings: Remembers your preferred language
  • Locale-aware: Automatically detects system language

🎨 User Experience

  • Clean Interface: Modern Qt-based GUI
  • Font Adaptation: Automatically adjusts fonts for different scripts
  • Progress Indicators: Visual feedback for large conversions
  • Cross-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS

Installation

Prerequisites

  • Qt 5.15+ or Qt 6.x
  • C++17 compatible compiler
  • CMake or qmake

Building from Source

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone <repository-url>
cd Babel

  2. Build with qmake

    qmake Babel.pro
make
# or on Windows with MinGW
mingw32-make

  3. Build with CMake (alternative)

    mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

  4. Run the application

    ./Babel  # Linux/macOS
Babel.exe  # Windows

Pre-built Binaries

Check the Releases page for pre-compiled binaries for your platform.

Usage

Basic Conversion

  1. Select Source Alphabet: Choose the writing system of your input text
  2. Select Target Alphabet: Choose the writing system you want to convert to
  3. Enter Text: Type or paste text in the input field
  4. View Results: The converted text appears instantly in the output field

Advanced Features

  • Phonetic Chart: Access the phonetic reference chart via the menu
  • Language Switching: Change UI language from the Settings menu
  • Font Adaptation: The app automatically selects appropriate fonts for each script

Example Conversions

  • English to Cyrillic: "Hello" → "Хелло"
  • Latin to Greek: "Alpha" → "Αλφα"
  • Arabic to Latin: "مرحبا" → "mrḥbā"

Project Structure

Babel/
├── include/           # Header files
│   ├── MainWindow.h           # Main application window
│   ├── LetterConverter.h      # Core conversion logic
│   ├── aboutdialog.h          # About dialog
│   └── phoneticchartdialog.h  # Phonetic chart dialog
├── src/               # Source files
│   ├── main.cpp               # Application entry point
│   ├── MainWindow.cpp         # Main window implementation
│   ├── LetterConverter.cpp    # Conversion implementation
│   ├── aboutdialog.cpp        # About dialog implementation
│   └── phoneticchartdialog.cpp # Phonetic chart implementation
├── ui/                # Qt Designer UI files
├── resources/         # Application resources
│   ├── mappings.json          # Alphabet conversion mappings
│   ├── app.ico               # Application icon
│   └── res.qrc               # Qt resource file
├── translations/      # Internationalization files
├── Babel.pro          # Qt project file
├── LICENSE            # GNU GPL v3 license
└── README.md          # This file

Technical Details

Architecture

  • Model-View-Controller: Clean separation of UI, logic, and data
  • Qt Framework: Cross-platform GUI development
  • JSON Configuration: Alphabet mappings stored in external JSON file
  • Plugin-ready: Designed for easy extension with new alphabets

Key Components

  • LetterConverter: Core conversion engine with 30+ alphabet systems
  • MainWindow: Primary user interface with conversion controls
  • PhoneticChartDialog: Visual reference for alphabet mappings
  • Internationalization: Multi-language support via Qt translation system

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details.

Adding New Alphabets

  1. Add the alphabet enum to LetterConverter.h
  2. Add mapping rules to resources/mappings.json
  3. Update the UI to support the new alphabet
  4. Submit a pull request

Translation Contributions

  1. Create new translation files in translations/
  2. Use Qt Linguist tool for translation
  3. Test the translation in the application
  4. Submit translation files

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

  • Qt Framework: For providing the excellent cross-platform development environment
  • Unicode Consortium: For comprehensive character set standards
  • Open Source Community: For inspiration and shared knowledge

Support

  • Issues: Report bugs and request features on our Issue Tracker
  • Documentation: Check the Wiki for detailed guides
  • Community: Join our Discussions for help and ideas