If you're looking to convert non-Latin or special characters into their Latin equivalents, a helpful library called latinize is available for installation:
npm install latinize
If you're using typescript, you can also install its typing for better support:
npm install @types/latinize
To use the library, here's an example:
var latinize = require('latinize');
latinize('ỆᶍǍᶆṔƚÉ áéíóúýčďěňřšťžů'); // => 'ExAmPlE aeiouycdenrstzu'
The core function of the library replaces each non-Latin or Arabic character using a regex and callback method.
function latinize(str) {
if (typeof str === 'string') {
return str.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9]/g, function(x) {
return latinize.characters[x] || x;
});
} else {
return str;
}
}
For mapping characters to their Latin counterparts, a predefined lookup table is used internally.
Please note that this conversion process is based on search and replace. While automated solutions for character discovery may not be feasible due to the arbitrary nature of symbol identification in computer systems.
Computers perceive characters merely as random numbers, devoid of design or meaning. Therefore, any association between characters must be manually established or through a library like latinize.
Despite visual similarities, such as Α U+0391 and A U+0041, the computer interprets them purely as numeric values without inherent semantic connection.
In conclusion, accurate mapping from extended characters to their Latin equivalents requires manual intervention rather than relying solely on computational analysis.