SYLLABARY-BASED AUDIO-DICTIONARY FUNCTIONALITY FOR DIGITAL READING CONTENT

1 . A computing device comprising:

a display assembly including a screen;

a housing that at least partially circumvents the screen so that the screen is viewable;

a set of touch sensors provided with the display assembly; and

a processor provided within the housing, the processor operating to:

display content pertaining to an e-book on the screen of the display assembly;

detect a first user interaction with the set of touch sensors;

interpret the first user interaction as a first user input corresponding with a selection of a first portion of an underlying word in the displayed content; and

display syllabary content for at least the first portion of the underlying word.

2 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the underlying word comprises a string of one or more characters or symbols.

3 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the first portion coincides with one or more syllables of the underlying word.

4 . The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the processor is to further:

play back audio content including a pronunciation of the one or more syllables of the underlying word.

5 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:

search a dictionary using the underlying word as a search term; and

determine a syllabary representation of the underlying word based on a result of the search.

6 . The computing device of claim 5 , wherein the dictionary is a syllable-based audio dictionary.

7 . The computing device of claim 5 , wherein the processor is to further:

parse the syllabary content for the first portion of the underlying word from the syllabary representation of the underlying word.

8 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:

detect a second user interaction with the set of touch sensors;

interpret the second user interaction as a second user input corresponding with a selection of a second portion of the underlying word that is different than the first portion; and

display syllabary content for the second portion of the underlying word with the syllabary content for the first portion.

9 . The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the first portion coincides with a first syllable of the underlying word, and wherein the second portion coincides with a second syllable of the underlying word.

10 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is to further:

play back audio content including a pronunciation of the first syllable and the second syllable, wherein the first and second syllables are pronounced in the order in which they appear in the underlying word.

11 . A method for operating a computing device, the method being implemented by one or more processors and comprising:

displaying content pertaining to an e-book on a screen of a display assembly of the computing device;

detecting a first user interaction with a set of touch sensors provided with the display assembly;

interpreting the first user interaction as a first user input corresponding with a selection of a first portion of an underlying word in the displayed content;

displaying syllabary content for at least the first portion of the underlying word.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first portion coincides with one or more syllables of the underlying word.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

playing back audio content including a pronunciation of the one or more syllables of the underlying word.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

searching a dictionary using the underlying word as a search term; and

determining a syllabary representation of the underlying word based on a result of the search.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the dictionary is a syllable-based audio dictionary.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

parsing the syllabary content for the first portion of the underlying word from the syllabary representation of the underlying word.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

detecting a second user interaction with the set of touch sensors;

interpreting the second user interaction as a second user input corresponding with a selection of a second portion of the underlying word that is different than the first portion; and

displaying syllabary content for the second portion of the underlying word with the syllbary content for the first portion.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the first portion coincides with a first syllable of the underlying word, and wherein the second portion coincides with a second syllable of the underlying word.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

playing back audio content including a pronunciation of the first syllable and the second syllable, wherein the first and second syllables are pronounced in the order in which they appear in the underlying word.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations that include:

displaying content pertaining to an e-book on a screen of a display assembly of the computing device;

detecting a first user interaction with a set of touch sensors provided with the display assembly;

interpreting the first user interaction as a first user input corresponding with a selection of a first portion of an underlying word in the displayed content;

displaying syllabary content for at least the first portion of the underlying word.