Natural way to command "call <someone>"


In English and most languages I understand, the natural way to tell your phone
to call someone (when using Bluetooth for example) is: Call .

I was told that in Japanese, it is more natural to say the contact name first.

\-- Is there a way to mimic in Japanese a similar format, in which the command
prefixes the contact name? I understand it might be less natural, but would it
be _natural enough_ ?

\-- Is there already a "standard" that people expect based on how different
devices already work in Japan? Are people expecting to interact with
"machines" in different language than with other humans?




I'm guessing from your question that what you are aspiring to do is create a
way for a Japanese user to make an audio command to their phone to initiate a
call in a way that a computer can parse it.

If I understand speech recognition issues, unlike the usual smartphone graphic
interface where one can start by selecting the contact name and _then_
choosing an action, like "email" or "phone", a voice command system usually
needs to start with the general and work toward the specific.

In a normal environment which may have competing sounds and other people
talking, it's way harder for a computer to listen for countless possible names
as a starting point. Instead, you want to have a limited set of commands like
"phone" or "email", which can prompt action. Thus, in English, "call Larry,"
where "call" initiates the phone's attentive listening.

Japanese always (insofar as you can make a claim like "always") ends sentences
with the verb. In Japanese, one says, for example, `「太郎{たろう}に電話{でんわ}をかける」
(Taro/to/phone/I call)`. If I'm right about your technical challenge, this is
not what you want.

To answer your second specific question first, no, there is no currently
accepted, or expected, manner of talking to machines. So, on the upside, you
have free reign to define your own standards.

The most direct and simple solution would be to say something like `電話{でんわ}`,
followed by the name. It's equivelent in English to saying "Phone. Name." But
that's clunky and no fun.

If the whole goal of your project is naturalness itself, I think you could do
this `「電話{でんわ}を太郎{たろう}に掛{か}けなさい」`. It means "By phone/Taro/call". The
`電話{でんわ}で` could function as the prompt for the machine to listen, as "call"
does in English.

If you wanted to initiate other commands besides calling, you could do similar
things like `「メールで太郎{たろう}に連絡{れんらく}しなさい」("By email/Taro/contact")`.

The key is to use `で`, "by", as identifying the vehicle for the action before
you give the name.

The `なさい` at the end makes the sentence a firm command, which I think is
appropriate given that this is a machine and they have to suck it up as our
servents until they inevitably become our sentient overlords.

Hope that helps.




It's interesting to note than in a lot of English-language phone user
interfaces (non-verbal interfaces at least), you first find the person in your
contact list and then specify that you want to call them. In this case, it
doesn't reflect that natural order of the English language.

Although, this doesn't completely answer the question, imagine using a verbal
phone interface in English. With this interface, you must first state the
person's name before saying that you want to call them. Is this natural? Not
really. Is this natural enough to use? Probably. Given the choice would I use
an interface that allows me to say the command first? Certainly.

