unidic-lite

library1.0.8pypypi✓ verified 86d ago

unidic-lite is a small version of UniDic, a Japanese morphological analysis dictionary, packaged for Python. It is designed to be installable directly via pip without requiring additional downloads, unlike the larger 'unidic' package. It uses UniDic 2.1.2 from 2013 and occupies approximately 250MB of disk space after installation. The current version is 1.0.8, released in January 2021, and its release cadence is infrequent as it primarily serves as a static dictionary resource.

data

pip install unidic-lite

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · UNIDIC-LITE

unidic-lite

datapythonv1.0.8

Install

10.9s avg

Import

—

Disk

265MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v1.0.8 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.920 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.000s · 267.6MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.920 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 10.9s · import 0.000s · 268MB

265MB installed

● package 265MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

DICDIR

✓ import unidic_lite; print(unidic_lite.DICDIR)

unidic-lite exposes the dictionary directory path via DICDIR. It does not provide classes for direct morphological analysis.

This quickstart demonstrates how to use `unidic-lite` with the `fugashi` library, a common MeCab wrapper. `unidic-lite.DICDIR` provides the path to the installed dictionary, which must be passed to the `Tagger` initialization.

import unidic_lite from fugashi import Tagger # unidic-lite needs to be explicitly passed to the Tagger tagger = Tagger(f'-d "{unidic_lite.DICDIR}"') text = "すもももももももものうち" # Analyze the text words = [] for word in tagger(text): words.append(f'{word.surface}\t{word.feature.pos1}\t{word.feature.lemma}') print('\n'.join(words))

Debug

Known issues

gotchaunidic-lite is solely a dictionary resource. To perform Japanese morphological analysis, a separate MeCab wrapper library like `fugashi` or `mecab-python3` must be installed and used in conjunction with unidic-lite.

fix

Install a MeCab wrapper (e.g., `pip install fugashi`) and pass `unidic_lite.DICDIR` to its Tagger constructor.

affects: All

gotchaDespite 'lite' in its name, unidic-lite requires approximately 250MB of disk space for the dictionary data after installation.

fix

Ensure sufficient disk space is available before installation. Consider using `unidic-lite-imitator` for significantly smaller footprint if suitable.

affects: All

gotchaunidic-lite is based on UniDic 2.1.2 from 2013. This older version may lack vocabulary for modern terms and phrases compared to the full `unidic` package (which uses UniDic 3.1.0 and is much larger).

fix

For the most up-to-date dictionary, consider using the `unidic` package (requires a separate download step and more disk space) or explore alternatives.

affects: All

gotchaThe unidic-lite dictionary has minor modifications from the official UniDic release, including added entries for '令和', removal of single-character numeric and alphabetic words, and changes to `unk.def`. These might lead to slightly different tokenization results compared to an unmodified UniDic.

fix

Be aware of these differences; if strict adherence to official UniDic behavior is required, review the specific changes or use an unmodified UniDic distribution.

affects: All

gotchaUsers frequently encounter 'Failed initializing MeCab' errors when using MeCab wrappers with unidic-lite. This often stems from the wrapper failing to locate the dictionary or underlying MeCab installation issues (e.g., missing C++ redistributables on Windows).

fix

Always explicitly pass `unidic_lite.DICDIR` to the MeCab Tagger constructor (as shown in quickstart). For persistent issues, consult the MeCab wrapper's documentation, ensure MeCab is correctly installed on your system, and check system-specific dependencies.

affects: All

Errors

Common errors & fixes

fugashi.fugashi.MeCabError: Tagger new error: failed to load dictionary.

The `fugashi` library, which relies on MeCab, failed to find or load the `unidic-lite` dictionary files required for tagger initialization.

fix

Ensure `unidic-lite` is installed and explicitly provide the dictionary path to `fugashi.Tagger`: `import fugashi; import unidic_lite; tagger = fugashi.Tagger(unidic_lite.DICDIR)`

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'unidic_lite'

The `unidic-lite` package is not installed in the current Python environment or is not accessible from where the code is being executed.

fix

Install the package using pip: `pip install unidic-lite`

FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '.../site-packages/unidic_lite/dic/sys.dic'

A program attempting to use `unidic-lite` cannot locate specific dictionary files due to an incomplete installation, a corrupted virtual environment, or an incorrect path assumption by a dependent library.

fix

Reinstall `unidic-lite` in a clean Python environment to ensure all dictionary files are correctly placed. If using a library that allows specifying the dictionary path, provide `unidic_lite.DICDIR`.

Upgrade

Version history

1.0.8latest on PyPI · released Jan 25, 2021

Audit

Dependencies

fugashirequiredRequired to use the UniDic dictionary for Japanese morphological analysis; unidic-lite only provides the dictionary data.

mecab-python3requiredAlternative to fugashi; a Python wrapper for MeCab, necessary to perform morphological analysis using the unidic-lite dictionary.

Agent activity

63 hits · last 30 days

node

Amazon

OpenAI (training)

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/polm/unidic-lite ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/unidic-lite/ ↗