Tinci

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Cantonese lyric writing (粵語填詞), providing pronunciation lookup, tonal pattern analysis, and rhyme lookup.

Features

• Jyutping Romanization: Convert Cantonese text to Jyutping pronunciation using ToJyutping
• Tonal Pattern Analysis: Analyze lyrics using the 1056/0243 classification systems for matching syllables to melody
• Rhyme Lookup: Find rhyming characters based on Jyutping finals (韻母), with tone filtering options. Data sourced from Mr. Pinyin's Rhyme Table

Installation

Requires Python 3.10+ and uv.

# Clone or navigate to the project directory
cd tinci-mcp

# Install dependencies
uv sync

Usage

Running the Server

uv run tinci-mcp

Configuring with Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "tinci-mcp": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/tinci-mcp", "run", "tinci-mcp"]
        }
    }
}

Configuring with Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP settings:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "tinci-mcp": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/tinci-mcp", "run", "tinci-mcp"]
        }
    }
}

Tools

get_jyutping

Convert Cantonese text to Jyutping romanization.

Input:

• text: Cantonese text (Traditional or Simplified Chinese)

Output:

{
    "text": "你好",
    "jyutping": [
        ["你", "nei5"],
        ["好", "hou2"]
    ],
    "romanization": "nei5 hou2"
}

get_tone_pattern

Analyze tonal patterns for lyric writing using the 1056 or 0243 system.

Input:

• text: Cantonese text to analyze
• system: Either "1056" or "0243" (default: "0243")

Output:

{
    "text": "你好",
    "system": "0243",
    "pattern": "43",
    "breakdown": [
        { "character": "你", "jyutping": "nei5", "tone": 5, "mapped": "4" },
        { "character": "好", "jyutping": "hou2", "tone": 2, "mapped": "3" }
    ]
}

get_rhyming_characters

Find characters that rhyme with the input character (same Jyutping final/韻母).

Input:

• character: A single Chinese character to find rhymes for
• tone_filter: How to filter by tone (default: "all")
  • "all": Return all rhyming characters regardless of tone
  • "same": Only return characters with the exact same tone
  • "group": Return characters in the same tone group (1056/0243)
• system: Tonal classification system ("1056" or "0243", default: "0243")
• limit: Maximum number of results (default: 50)
• target_tone: Find rhymes with a specific tone (1-9), overrides tone_filter
• target_group: Find rhymes in a specific tone group, overrides tone_filter

Example 1: Basic rhyme lookup

// Input: character="來"
{
    "input": {
        "character": "來",
        "jyutping": "loi4",
        "tone": 4,
        "tone_group": "0"
    },
    "final": "oi",
    "rhymes": [
        { "character": "愛", "jyutping": "oi3", "tone": 3, "tone_group": "4" },
        {
            "character": "外",
            "jyutping": "ngoi6",
            "tone": 6,
            "tone_group": "2"
        },
        { "character": "改", "jyutping": "goi2", "tone": 2, "tone_group": "3" }
    ],
    "total_count": 190
}

Example 2: Find rhymes with a different tone

// Input: character="泉", target_tone=1
// 泉 is cyun4 (tone 4), but we want rhymes with tone 1
{
    "input": {
        "character": "泉",
        "jyutping": "cyun4",
        "tone": 4,
        "tone_group": "0"
    },
    "final": "yun",
    "target_tone": 1,
    "rhymes": [
        {
            "character": "村",
            "jyutping": "cyun1",
            "tone": 1,
            "tone_group": "3"
        },
        {
            "character": "川",
            "jyutping": "cyun1",
            "tone": 1,
            "tone_group": "3"
        },
        { "character": "穿", "jyutping": "cyun1", "tone": 1, "tone_group": "3" }
    ],
    "total_count": 74
}

Example 3: Find rhymes in a different tone group

// Input: character="泉", target_group="3"
// 泉 is in group 0, but we want rhymes in group 3 (tones 1, 2, 7)
{
    "input": {
        "character": "泉",
        "jyutping": "cyun4",
        "tone": 4,
        "tone_group": "0"
    },
    "final": "yun",
    "target_group": "3",
    "rhymes": [
        {
            "character": "忖",
            "jyutping": "cyun2",
            "tone": 2,
            "tone_group": "3"
        },
        {
            "character": "村",
            "jyutping": "cyun1",
            "tone": 1,
            "tone_group": "3"
        },
        { "character": "川", "jyutping": "cyun1", "tone": 1, "tone_group": "3" }
    ],
    "total_count": 119
}

Tonal Systems

The 1056 and 0243 systems group Cantonese's 9 tones into 4 categories for matching with musical notes:

Tone Numbers	1056 Value	0243 Value	Description
1, 2, 7	1	3	High tones
4	0	0	Low falling
3, 5, 8	5	4	Mid tones
6, 9	6	2	Low tones

Reference: HK01 Article on Cantonese Lyric Writing

Data Sources

• Jyutping Data: ToJyutping - Cantonese romanization library
• Rhyme Data: Mr. Pinyin's Rhyme Table (押韻 Rhyme) - Curated rhyming characters organized by Jyutping finals (韻母), specifically designed for Cantonese lyric writing

License

MIT