How to type Greek, Greek Polytonic in Linux
There is a new guide on how to write Greek and Greek Polytonic in Linux, and in particular using the latest versions of Linux distributions.
https://docs.google.com/View?docID=dccdrjqk_4cqjn9zcj (LATEST VERSION)
The guide shows in detail how to add the Greek keyboard layout to your Linux desktop, and how to write Greek, Greek Polytonic and other Ancient Greek characters.
The guide is also available in both ODT and PDF format. (both files are somewhat obsolete. use google docs URL from above instead)
For a Greek version of the guide, please see http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dccdrjqk_3gx3bq5f9
We attach the HTML version of the guide in this post.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dccdrjqk_4cqjn9zcj
This document is the translation from Greek of
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dccdrjqk_3gx3bq5f9
Updates
2009-05-11: Fixed Polytonic instructions; AltGr+] is for ypogegrammeni (instead of the wrong AltGr+}). (Thanks Christos Nouskas)
2009-05-11: Fixed Polytonic instructions; Psili and Daseia require AltGr+: and AltGr+” respectively (not vice versa). (Thanks Christos Nouskas)
Writing Greek, Greek Polytonic (Ancient Greek) on Linux (X.Org 1.6+)
Summary
In Linux distributions that first appear from spring 2009, it is possible to write Greek and Greek Polytonic (Ancient Greek) simply by adding the Greek keyboard layout. In this document we show in detail how to add the Greek keyboard layout and how to write in Greek. In previous versions of distributions, one had to enable a specialised Greek Polytonic layout, which was awkward to use.
Adding the Greek layout
We show how to add the Greek keyboard layout in GNOME. Instructions for KDE, XFCE and other environments are very much welcome.
1. Right-Click on the panel and select Add to Panel…
2. From the list of applets, select Keyboard Indicator and click on Add. Then, click on Close.
3. On my system, the default layout GBr (Great Britain) is shown. In your case you might see US, or something similar (such as Fr, Es or De).
4. Right-click on the layout name (on GBr in my case) so that you get the Keyboard Preferences option, and open it.
5. These are the default settings when you install your distribution. In my case, the default is Great Britain. Notice the + button. This button allows to add additional layouts. Click on +.
6. Select Greece for both Country and Variant. This is the new default layout that includes support for Greek, Greek Polytonic and Ancient Greek characters. Finally, click on Add.
7. The new layout is enabled. We did not finish yet; we need to configure the keyboard shortcut to switch between our native layout and Greek. The default keyboard shortcut is Alt+AltGr, which many users may not find convenient. In addition, it may not even work in some cases due to a bug in the X.Org. We click on Other Options… in order to configure the keyboard shortcut.
8. Under the heading Layout switching, locate and enable the option Alt+Shift change layout. Untick any other option. I think that Alt+Shift is one of the most common shortcuts for switching layouts. (My personal preference however is Both Shift keys together change layout). Then, click on Close.
9. Notice the two layouts. In the Type to test settings you can test both Greek and your original layout. Use the shortcut to switch between layouts. You can also switch by simply clicking on the Keyboard Indicator applet. Finally click on Close.
New basic Greek layout
The following table shows how to write modern Greek. The subsequent table shows how to write additional characters for Greek Polytonic.
|
Result |
Key combination |
Works for… |
|
Tonos/Acute ΄ |
Dead key (;) + vowel |
All vowels: ά έ ή ί ύ ό ώ |
|
Dialytika ¨ |
Dead key (:) + vowel |
These vowels: ϊ ϋ |
| Dialytika with Tonos | Dead key (;) + Dead key (:) + vowel | These vowels: ΐ ΰ |
| Dialytika with Tonos | Dead key (:) + Dead key (;) + vowel | These vowels ΐ ΰ |
|
Ano Teleia · |
AltGr + (>) |
|
| Greek brackets « » | Key produces « Key | produces » | |
| Greek brackets « » | AltGr + , produces « AltGr + . produces » |
Table 1 How to type modern Greek
| Result |
Key combination |
Works for… |
|
Περισπωμένη ῀ |
AltGr + Dead key ([) + vowel |
ᾶ ῆ ῖ ῦ ῶ |
|
Υπογεγραμμένη ͺ |
AltGr + Dead key (]) + vowel |
ᾳ ῃ ῳ |
|
Ψιλή ᾿ |
AltGr+ Dead key (:) + vowel or the letter ρ |
ἀ ἐ ἠ ἰ ὐ ὀ ὠ ῤ |
|
Δασεία ῾ |
AltGr+ Dead key (“) + vowel or the letter ρ |
ἁ ἑ ἡ ἱ ὑ ὁ ὡ ῥ |
|
Βαρεία ` |
AltGr+ Dead key (‘) + vowel |
ὰ ὲ ὴ ὶ ὺ ὸ ὼ |
|
Μακρόν ¯ |
AltGr+ Dead key ({) + vowel |
ᾱ ῑ ῡ |
|
Βραχύ ˘ |
AltGr+ Dead key (}) + vowel |
ᾰ ῐ ῠ |
Table 2 How to type Greek Polytonic
Note: You can stack together multiple dead keys in order to produce any allowed combination (such as ᾧ).
|
Αποτέλεσμα |
Συνδυασμός πλήκτρων |
Αποτέλεσμα |
|
Sampi Ϡ ϡ |
AltGr + Ππ (pP) |
ϡ Ϡ |
|
Koppa Ϟ ϟ |
AltGr + Κκ (kK) |
ϟ Ϟ |
|
Digamma Ϝϝ |
AltGr + Γγ (gG) |
ϝ Ϝ |
|
Stigma Ϛ ϛ |
AltGr + ςΣ (wW) |
ϛ Ϛ |
|
Theta ϑ ϴ |
AltGr + θΘ (uU) |
ϑ ϴ |
|
Yot ϳ |
AltGr + ι (i) |
ϳ |
|
Numeral sign ʹ |
AltGr + ν (n) |
ʹ |
|
Lower numeral sign ͵ |
AltGr + Ν (N) |
͵ |
Table 3 How to type other Ancient characters
Available Greek Polytonic fonts
Most Linux distributions come with Greek Polytonic fonts which allows to start working as soon as you enable the Greek keyboard layout. If you wish to add additional Greek Polytonic fonts, please select a Unicode font.
There is an issue with OpenType fonts and OpenOffice.org. If you encounter a problem, it is recommended to use the default fonts of your distribution (such as DejaVu, shipped by default in Ubuntu Linux; works great with OpenOffice.org).
If you would like to explore additional polytonic fonts, we suggest to try the fonts produced by the Greek Font Society. Your distribution probably has those fonts in the repositories, thus you simply need to open your package manager and install. For Ubuntu, the packages are
- ttf-gfs-artemisia – Greek font (Times Greek-like)
- ttf-gfs-baskerville – Ancient Greek font revival
- ttf-gfs-bodoni-classic – Smart Greek typeface revival
- ttf-gfs-complutum – ancient Greek font revival from the University of Alcalá, Spain
- ttf-gfs-didot-classic – Greek font family (Classic Didot revival)
- ttf-gfs-gazis – ancient Greek font (Byzantine cursive hand style)
- ttf-gfs-neohellenic – new Greek font family with matching Latin
- ttf-gfs-solomos – ancient Greek oblique font
- ttf-gfs-theokritos – decorative Greek font
The default font in Fedora, Liberation, does not include Greek Polytonic support. If you would like to help, please see the following bug report https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=473842
Technical information
The current Greek keyboard layout is located at
http://gitweb.freedesktop.org/?p=xkeyboard-config.git;a=blob;f=symbols/gr
This is the upstream location of the layout.
The Greek layout file in your Linux installation is at /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/gr
Contact
The author of this document is Simos Xenitellis <simos.lists@googlemail.com>.
See blog posts on Greek Polytonic at
http://simos.info/blog/archives/category/i18n/polytonic
Thanks
I would like to thank the following contributors for their work on the Greek keyboard layout (since the first version) Βασίλης Βασαΐτης, Αλέξανδρος Διαμαντίδης, and Κωνσταντίνος Πιστιόλης. If your name is not listed, feel free to contact me.
How to easily modify a program in Ubuntu (updated)?
Some time ago we talked about how to modify easily a program in Ubuntu. We gave as an example the modification of gucharmap; we got the deb source package, made the change, compiled, created new .deb files and installed them.
We go the same (well, similar) route here, by modifying the gtk+ library (!!!). The purpose of the modification is to allow us to type, by default, all sort of interesting Unicode characters, including ⓣⓗⓘⓢ , ᾅᾷ, ṩ, and many more.
The result of this exercise is to create replacement .deb packages for the gtk+ library that we are going to install in place of the system libraries. Because these new libraries will not be original Ubuntu packages, the update manager will be pestering us to rollback to the official gtk+ packages. This is actually good in case you want to switch back; you will have the enhanced functionality for as long as you postpone that update.
There is a chance we might screw up our system, so please make backups, or have a few drinks first and come back. I take no responsibility if something bad happens on your system. If you are having any second thoughts, do not follow the next steps; use the safer alternative procedure. You may try however this guide just for the kicks; up to the dpkg command below, no changes are being made to your system.
We use Ubuntu 7.10 here. This should work in other versions, though your mileage may vary.
The compilation procedure takes time (about 30 minutes) and space. Make sure you use a partition with >2GB of free space. We are not going to use up 2GB (a bit less than 1GB), but it’s nice not to fill up partitions.
We are going to use the generic instructions on how to recompile a debian package by ducea.
First of all, install the development packages,
sudo apt-get install devscripts build-essential
Next, we use the apt-get source command to get the source code of the GTK+ 2 library,
cd /home/ubuntu/bigpartition_over2GB/apt-get source libgtk2.0-0
We then pull in any dependencies that GTK+ may require. They are normally about a dozen packages, but we do not have to worry for the details.
apt-get build-deplibgtk2.0-0
At this stage we need to touch up the source code of GTK+ before we go into the compilation phase. Visit the bug report #321896 – Synch gdkkeysyms.h/gtkimcontextsimple.c with X.org 6.9/7.0 and download the patch (look under the Attachment section). You should get a file named gtk-compose-update.patch. If you have a look at the patch, you will notice that it expects to find the source of gtk+ in a directory called gtk+. Making a link solves the problem,
ln -s libgtk2.0-0 gtk+
We then attempt to apply the patch (perform a dry run), just in case.
patch -p0 --dry-run < /tmp/gtk-compose-update.patch
If this does not show an error message, you can the command again without the –dry-run.
patch -p0 < /tmp/gtk-compose-update.patch
Finally, we are ready to build our fresh GTK+ library.
cd libgtk2.0-0debuild -us -uc
This will take time to complete, so go and do some healthy cooking.
At the end of the compilation, if all went OK, you should have about a dozen .deb files created. These are one directory higher (do a “cd ..“). To install, use dpkg,
dpkg -i *.deb
If you have any other deb files in this directory, it’s good to move them away before running the command. If all went ok, the .deb files should install without a hitch.
The final step is to restart your system. To test the new support, see the last section at this post. Use Firefox and OpenOffice.org to type those Unicode characters.
If you managed to wade through all these steps, I would appreciate it if you could post a comment.
Good luck!
Typing squiggles and dots in GNOME and GTK+ applications
Garrett asks how to type squiggles and dots in GNOME; that is, how to type characters such as á à ä ã â ą ȩ ę ő ǰ ǩ ǒ ġ ṅ ȯ ṁ ė.
There are several ways, and one can choose depending on how frequently they need to type them or how much time they need to invest learning.
① One option is to start the Character Map (Applications/Accessories/Character Map), pick the character, copy and paste it. This is good for rare characters and weird situations such as
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
⟁⟁⟁⟁♥♀★★▶◀☆♀░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓▙▚▛▙▙▙▞
The Unicode standard, apart from defining characters for languages, it also defines symbols, dingbats and all sort of things. If your distribution is based on the DejaVu fonts (such as Ubuntu), then you are probably covered for many of these symbols. If you do not have a suitable font, or you use Windows, you will be wondering what the hell I am talking about.
② Another option is to use the Character Palette applet which shows an applet on the panel with a configurable small repertoire of characters such as áàéíñó½©ث€. You select one of the characters with the mouse, and wherever you middle-click, this character is typed. This is an improvement over ①, and good when you want to type often rare characters. It is not convenient to type characters found normally on a keyboard layout.
③ To type characters normally found in a specific language(s), it is good to setup a suitable keyboard layout. For this, it is good to add the Keyboard Indicator applet; right click on the panel, click Add to panel… and choose the Keyboard Indicator from the Utilities section. The US English keyboard layout (Default variant) does not provide any interesting characters apart from those shown printed on the keys of a US Keyboard.
The US English International (with dead keys) variant might be a better option,
Or the United Kingdom layout.
You can get a similar image for your layout when you right-click on the Keyboard Indicator applet, then click Show Current Layout.
Each key in the images contain up to four letters. Starting from bottom-left and going clock-wise, these are the keys produced when
ⓐ you press the key
ⓑ you press the key with Shift (or Caps Lock)
ⓒ you press the key with AltGr and Shift (or Caps Lock)
ⓓ you press the key with AltGr
For example, with the UK keyboard layout, the key G produces g, G, Ŋ, ŋ.
If AltGr + Shift + letter does not work for you, see the FDO Bug #2871 Different results for shift-altgr and altgr-shift.
Using the appropriate keyboard layout is the way to go when writing text that require squiggles. You can either choose a layout with dead keys (meaning that some keys lose their normal functionality), or you can pick a layout that still allows you to have dead keys but are available when you press AltGr + key. For example, in the UK Keyboard layout – Default variant, AltGr + ; + a produces á, or AltGr+Shift+]+e produces ē.
The OLPC uses those four level for the keyboard layout. You can see the all the variations printed on the keyboard. Click on the image, choose Large size for the details.
④ Another option to produce more characters on the keyboard is to enable the compose key, and use compose sequences. A compose sequence looks similar to what we described above (i.e. AltGr+Shift+]+e to ē) but the idea is that we use it for characters we want to be available across different keyboard layouts that you may have enabled.
The compose key is very powerful functionality, thus it is not enabled by default, and lays hidden in the Layout Options tab. I prefer to set it to Menu, but every person has their own preference.
For example,
- Compose key + – + a produces ã,
- Compose key + < + c produces č
- Compose key + 1 + s produces ¹ (Superscript on 1. Try to replace 1 with 2.)
- Compose key + + + – procudes ±
Currently, GTK+ provides 640 such compose sequences involving the Compose key, and hopefully soon it will increase to over 3000.
The Compose key is known as Multi_key in the source code (Xorg, GTK+, etc).
The Compose key compose sequences offer the ability to define smart mnemonics on how to produce characters. It is much easier to type ComposeKey + 1 + s rather than remembering the codepoint value of ¹ (1 superscript). As with many things open-source, there are too many options, and with the Compose key there is the issue of which shall we pick as a sensible default, and how to make it prominent for those who might want to use it.
It appears to me that there should be more effort to promote the functionality that is provided with the standard keyboard layouts (choose a better keyboard layout, produce characters provided in the third and fourth levels, etc). In this respect, Compose key compose sequences should complement after the main discussion on keyboard layouts take place.
⑤ There is a last issue on switching keyboard layouts to cover in a separate post.
Improving input method support in GTK+-based apps
When a bug report gets long with many comments, it gets more difficult for someone to get the full picture of what is going on. I’ll attempt to summarise here what’s being said in Bug 321896, Synch gdkkeysyms.h / gtkimcontextsimple.c with X.org 6.9/7.0.
GTK+-based applications use by default the GTK+ Input Method in order to let users type in different languages. Some scripts are very complex (such as SE Asian scripts) and in this case SCIM is used, replacing the GTK+ Input Method. One can even disable GTK+ IM altogether and use the basic X Input Method (XIM) which is provided by the Xorg server, by setting GTK_IM_MODULE to xim. However, the majority of the users have GTK+ IM enabled.
Between GTK+ IM and XIM, the keyboard layouts are being managed by the xkeyboard-config project and Sergey Udaltsov. A keyboard layout is simply a mapping of keyboard keys to Unicode characters, but you can also have compose sequences for some characters using what we call dead keys. When you press a dead key nothing appears on screen but when you press a letter immediately afterwards, you can get an á. This functionality is common to add accents, and there is a big table for these compose sequences (1.3MB) and what Unicode characters they produce.
If you change your keyboard layout (System/Preferences/Keyboard/Layout) to something like U.S. English International (with dead keys), then the ‘ key on your keyboard becomes dead_acute, and the compose sequence
<dead_acute> <a> : "á" U00E1 # LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE
works when you press ‘ and then a.
There is an issue with compose sequences and input methods; XIM maintains the official upstream version of the compose sequences, and projects such as GTK+ and SCIM carry their own copies of that table.
The issue with GTK+ regarding the compose sequences is that it has a very old version compared to what is available upstream. This is what Bug 321896 is about.
The bug would be have been resolved much much earlier if it wasn’t for the insistence of the GTK+ maintainers to cut the fat and reduce the size of the table (~6000 entries) with clever optimisations.
Tor suggested a clever optimisation; a good number of compose sequences (which looks like <dead_acute> <a> : “á”) resemble the decomposed form (a la Unicode) of those characters. Thus, we can let the user type what she wants, and we can try Unicode normalisation to see if the sequence is composed to a single Unicode character. Lets demonstrate in Python,
$ python
>>> import unicodedata
>>> sequence=[65, 0x301] # That's 'a' and acute
>>> result = unicodedata.normalize('NFC',"".join(map(unichr, sequence)))
>>> result
u'\xc1'
>>> print len(result)
1
>>> print result
Á
That long line above takes the array, applies the unichr() function on each member so that they become Unicode characters and then joins them in a single string. Finally, it normalises the (decomposed) string to a single character. The fact that the resulting string has length 1 (single character) is key to this optimisation. Over 1000 compose sequences can be removed from the compose table through this optimisation. This includes a big chunk of the Latin Unicode blocks, about a few dozens of Cyrillic characters, all of modern Greek and Greek polytonic, some Indic languages (are they actually used?) and other misc sequences.
Matthias laid out the requirements for the optimisation of the remaining compose sequences; ① it has to be static const so a single copy is shared all over the place, ② the first column (out of six) is repeated too often, thus use subtables, and ③ each row ends with a varying number of zeroes, so cut on those zeroes as well. This also required the automatic generation of the optimised table using a script.
The work has not finished yet, and requires testing of the patch. The high priority testing is that keyboard layouts do not get any regressions (that is, compose sequences with dead keys must continue to work along with any new sequences).
With an updated compose table in GTK+, one can write things like ⒼⓃⓄⓂⒺ and all variations of accents on characters, in an easier way.
I’ld like to thank Matthias and Tor for their support in this work. And Jeff for adding this blog to Planet GNOME!
