IPA keyboard for Windows

[George Wilmes]

Thanks Bob! Another option in Word (especially for Mac users, who may
not be able to use the Windows keyboard) is to make the AutoCorrect
feature work for you instead of against you. For example, you can have
it change the sequence "o~" to "o" followed by Alt+0328 (ogonek
combining diacritic; requires a Unicode font such as Arial Unicode
MS). Better yet, you can just change the sequence "~~" to the ogonek,
so that you can apply it after any vowel. The same can be done for
other combining diacritics such as accents. Obviously, this approach
works only in Word and will not apply to other programs (unless they
happen to have their own AutoCorrect feature,which would have to be
configured separately).

On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 5:21 PM, Rankin, Robert L <rankin at ku.edu> wrote:
> Thanks to Bryan we have an IPA keyboard for Windows minus Word.  I have a complementary Siouan keyboard that works only with Word as far as I know and will attach it here.  The symbol set I'm attaching is non-IPA, but it's the one commonly used by Siouanists.
>
> This Siouan keyboard for Word takes advantage of the fact that Word uses two different sets of commands using the ALT key to send identical instructions to the program.  I have merely reduced these to a single set of ALT commands and then used the other set to send phonetic characters to the text.
>
> Specifically, if you hold down the ALT key while typing various letter keys, you get the various Word menus, e.g., ALT-i gives you the “insertion” menu, and ALT-o gives you the “formatting” menu, etc.  But pressing the ALT key and then pressing the “i” or “o” keys afterward gives exactly the same two menus.  But it turns out that Word is using two different code strings to send these identical commands.  So, for example, you can hold down ALT and press “o” to send an accented “ó” to your text, but pressing ALT and then pressing “o” will still display the formatting menu.  This discovery frees up all the ALT+alphanumeric characters for typing phonetic symbols and doesn’t hamper displaying the menus in Word at all.  I have programmed my keyboard to produce all the phonetic characters I need by holding down ALT and pressing mnemonic alphanumeric keys at the same time.  In short, using the attached normal.dot file:
> ALT-Vowel gives the accented vowel.
> ALT-SHIFT-vowel gives the nasal vowel
> ALT-consonant gives the various modified consonants.
>
> I have attached a key to using my ALT combinations.
>
> I have also attached the normal.dot file that will program Word to produce the symbols.  It works with Windows XP and Vista, but I have not tested it with Windows 7 or any of the earlier operating systems.  I have no idea if it would work for Word running under Apple’s DOS.  What I recommend is that you locate your normal.dot file and rename it xnormal.dot.  Then copy the attached normal.dot to the same directory on your own PC.  This will allow you to try out my keyboard program while retaining the ability to delete it if you don’t like it and go back to your own normal.dot later.  You will most likely find normal.dot in the following directory:
> C:\Documents and Settings\your name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates.
>
> You can, of course, customize this file any way you like.
>
> I have stuck to standard Siouanist and Americanist symbols.  My feeling is that they have become standard for our discipline.  While I have nothing against IPA, it does not provide useful symbols for phonology as opposed to phonetics.  In my considerable experience with European languages, I have found that one has to learn a different phonetic alphabet for every language (and sometimes more than one).  We do not do students a favor by implying that they only need learn one phonetic alphabet.  However, using the ALT+i(nsert)+s(ymbol) command and menu, you can reprogram this normal.dot with whatever symbol set you like.
>
> I originally did this keyboard using the Gentium font, downloadable free from the SIL website.  You may want to add Gentium to your font collection.  However, within a given document, you should be able to just switch fonts to any other Unicode set that has all the necessary symbols if you want.  (Some, especially older, Unicode fonts lack a glottal stop, a j with a háček (ǰ) and an “o” with the ogonek beneath it (ǫ)).  If you choose not to install Gentium, you might try viewing these symbols in Times New Roman.  (I simply don’t know what happens if Word calls for a phonetic symbol in a font that isn’t installed.)
>
> Bob
>
>