Using Tyndale Greek & Hebrew

Unicode font keyboard layouts

 

The Tyndale Unicode Font Kit provides:

• Hebrew font and keyboard including full pointing with automatic positioning
• Greek font and keyboard including breathing and accents with automatic positioning
• Transliteration font and keyboards for Greek, Hebrew and manuscript markups
• Masoretic punctuation font and keyboard for punctuation in the Hebrew Old Testament

 

To start typing in Greek or Hebrew:

1)   Turn on the keyboard at "EN" on the taskbar or toggle through keyboards with Alt-Shift

2)   Change the font to Cardo

                

(On a Mac, click on the flag at top right)

 

 

Most word processors on a PC will work OK with Greek & right-to-left Hebrew.

A few word processors (eg Word Perfect) may never convert to Unicode.

On the Mac, Word does not cope with writing Hebrew right-to-left or pointing,

but NeoOffice (free) writes Hebrew well and Melel (cheap) does it perfectly.

However, at present, there are considerable problems with Hebrew on Macs. 

 

 

Keyboards:

 

This summary keyboard layout is useful to remind you where everything is.

But before you go there, follow the rest of these instructions so you know

which will show you how to touch-type in Hebrew & Greek will all Biblical accents etc.

 

 

 

Greek:

 

Turn on the  Greek keyboard by setting the Language bar to EL

For a high-quality font, switch to Cardo, especially for accents & breathing.

 

Most of the alphabet is mapped to phonetic equivalents (ie similar sounding letters), and others are mostly mapped to similar looking letters.

 

 

 

Most letters are on phonetic equivalents, with upper case on Shift eg:

	to get	α	type	a			to get	β	type	b
	to get	Γ	type	Shift G			to get	Δ	type	Shift D

 

There are a few non-phonetic letters are, ie:

	to get	θ	type	q		to get	ω	type	w
	to get	ψ	type	y		to get	η	type	h
	to get	ς	type	v		to get	ῳ	type	w `

 

Type accents and breathings BEFORE the letter.

 

Accents are on the keys with \  and  /  and ~ . They are typed before the letter.  Only valid accents are available.

	to get	ὰ	type	\ a		to get	ά	type	/ a
	to get	ᾶ	type	= a		to get	ί	type	/ i

Diaresis (dots) is shift-hyphen then υ or ι, or with shift plus  normal accents, eg:  

	to get	ῢ	type	Sh+\ u		to get	ΰ	type	Sh+/ i
	to get	ῧ	type	Sh+= u		to get	ῗ	type	Sh+= i
	to get	ϋ	type	Sh+- u		to get	ϊ	type	Sh+- i

 

 

Add breathings to accents by holding AltGr, and add Shift for harsh breathings.

(AltGk is the Alt on the right of the space bar. On a Mac, use the Alt Option key.)

 

Simple breathings are produced by holding AltGr with ' or ", eg:

 

	to get	ἀ	type	AltGr+' a			to get	ἁ	type	AltGr+" a
	to get	Ἀ	type	AltGr+' A			to get	Ἁ	type	AltGr+" A
	to get	ῥ	type	AltGr+" r			to get	Ῥ	type	AltGr+" R

 

Breathing combined with accents are produced by holding AltGr with those accents, eg:

 

	to get	ἂ	type	AltGr+\ a			to get	ἄ	type	AltGr+/ a
	to get	ἆ	type	AltGr+= a			to get	ἶ	type	AltGr+= i
	to get	ἃ	type	Sh-AltGr+\ a			to get	ἄ	type	Sh-AltGr+/ a
	to get	ἇ	type	Sh-AltGr+= a			to get	ἷ	type	Sh-AltGr+= i

Breathing & Accents Summary:
Accents are on  \  and /  and  =. Add Shift for dotted accents.
Breathing is AltGr with ' before a letter,
and AltGr with \ or / or = to combine with an accent.
Hold Shift with AltGr to get harsh breathing

 

Transliteration:

 

This is included in the Greek keyboard so set the Language bar to EL

To turn on the Transliteration font, turn on Caps Lock.

Switch to the font Cardo to ensure all the symbols are available.

 

The letters are now in normal Roman font while the numbers are symbols, ie:

 

Type transliteration symbols AFTER the letter. Press numbers to put symbols above letters, and Shift-number to put them above letters (on a Mac, use Option-number), eg:

	to get	s̮	type	s 4		to get	s̆	type	s $
	to get	s̬	type	s 7		to get	š	type	s &
	to get	s͔	type	s 9		to get	ś	type	s (
	to get	s̱	type	s -		to get	s̄	type	s _
	to get	s̥	type	s 2		to get	s̊	type	s @
	to get	ṣ	type	s 8		to get	ṡ	type	s *

 

 

Hebrew:

 

Turn on the  Hebrew keyboard by setting the Language bar to HE

For a high-quality font, switch to Cardo, especially for pointing & punctuation.

 

Most of the alphabet is mapped to phonetic equivalents (ie similar sounding letters), and others are mostly mapped to similar looking letters.

 

 

 

Most letters are on phonetic equivalents, with final forms on Shift eg:

	to get	כ	type	k			to get	מ	type	m
	to get	ך	type	Shift K			to get	ם	type	Shift M

 

There are a few non-phonetic letters are, ie:

	to get	א	type	x		to get	ע	type	y
	to get	ט	type	f		to get	י	type	j
	to get	ח	type	H		to get	ש	type	w `
	to get	שׂ	type	Q		to get	שׁ	type	W

 

Vowels are on normal vowels, with strong vowels on Shift vowels, ie:

	to get	ַ	type	a		to get	ָ	type	A
	to get	ֶ	type	e		to get	ֵ	type	E
	to get	ִ	type	i		to get	ִי	type	I
	to get	ֹ	type	o		to get	וֹ	type	O
	to get	ֻ	type	u		to get	וּ	type	U

 

Right-to-left is automatic, and vowels are AFTER the letter, just like in English, so to get מֶלֶך type meleK.

 

 

Shewa and dagesh can be added after letters by using " ; " and " = ".

Or add them to letters by holding  AltGr.

(AltGk is the Alt on the right of the space bar. On a Mac, use the Alt Option key.)

 

So AltGk with a vowel makes a composite shewa.

	to get	בּ	type	b =	or type AltGk+ b
	to get	ְ	type	;			to get	ֲ	type	AltGr+ a
	to get	ֱ	type	AltGr+ e			to get	ֳ	type	AltGr+A

 

Shewa, dagesh and other pointing are correctly positioned automatically, eg:            

	to get	בְ	type	b ;		to get	ךְ	type	K ;
	to get	בִ	type	b i		to get	דִ	type	d i
	to get	פּ	type	p =		to get	יּ	type	j =
	to get	יֹ	type	j o		to get	לֹ	type	l o

           

Simple punctuation is on the main keyboard, ie   

	to get	בֽ	type	b `		to get	־	type	-
	to get	׃	type	:		to get	ב֯	type	b ~
	to get	׳	type	'		to get	״	type	"

 

 

 

Masoretic punctuation

 

The Masoretes tried to eliminate ambiguity in the Hebrew Old Testament by indicating which words form phrases together and which words did or did not act on each other. In order to do this they created a complex system of punctuation.

·         English has five or six ways to provide internal structure to sentences, while Masoretic Hebrew has fourteen common ways and several more rarer ones.

·         English has only one way to make a compound word (using a hyphen) while Masoretic Hebrew has eight major and several rarer ways of conjoining words.

An explanation of this system is installed with the Tyndale Kit.

To see the significance of these divisions see the TanakhML structure analysis,

eg at http://tanakhml2.alacartejava.net/cocoon/tanakhml/d21.php2xml?sfr=1&prq=1&psq=1&lvl=99

 

 

Masoretic punctuation is on the number line when Caps Lock is turned on, eg:

	to get	בֽ	type	b 1		to get	ב֔	type	b !
	to get	ב֩	type	b 2		to get	ב֯	type	b @
	to get	ב֪	type	b -		to get	בֿ	type	b _
	to get	ב֤	type	b 9		to get	ב֚	type	b 0

 

This punctuation is normally omitted when quoting the Hebrew OT.

 

 

 

Problems:

 

I can't remember all this!

Don't worry – use it for a little, and you'll soon be touch-typing.

Print the summary page and pin it up in front of you.

 

How do I copy and paste Bible texts without typing them?

You can do this in various ways, eg:

1) copy and paste from Crosswire.org
2) download the InsertBible tool
3) tell your Bible program (Accordance, Logos or BibleWorks) to export in Unicode

 For example, in BibleWorks:
 - click on Tools: Options: Fonts and select "Export Fonts" 
 -  for Greek & Hebrew tick "Unicode" a choose a Unicode font such as Cardo

 

 

Right-to-left does not work in Windows XP:

Open the Control Panel for "Regional and Language Options"

(click on "Start", "Control Panels")

Click on tab "Languages"

- if there is no tick on "Install files for... right to left languages", tick it and restart the computer (you may be asked for your Windows installation discs).

 

 

 

Hebrew accents are not working correctly.

• Perhaps you have not turned on the Cardo font?

Cardo contains positioning data which is not available in Times New Roman and most other Unicode fonts containing Hebrew. Other good academic fonts include SIL Hebrew, SBL Hebrew, Code 2000 and TITUS.

• Perhaps you are trying to write Hebrew in Word on a Mac?

Unfortunately Word on the Mac is years behind the PC for Unicode.

Fortunately NeoOffice is as just as good (if not better), and is fairly good at Hebrew, and it is free!  For flawless Hebrew use Melel.

• Perhaps you are using a non-standard keyboard (Croatian or whatever)?

Keys such as single quote may not be indicated the same - try the key at the bottom left of the Enter key.

Other keys may also need to be found by hunting round!  

 

How do I write macros in Word to change fonts?

In Word 2003 (other versions are similar):

First make a copy of your "normal.dot" file which contains all the Word settings (just in case).

It is usually at C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR ID\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\
Then:

- click on menu "Tools", "Macro", "Record New Macro..."
- name the macro "TypeHebrew" and click on "Keyboard"
- press a shortcut keystroke, eg Alt+H and click on "Assign" then "Close"
- change the font in Word to "Cardo"
- change the keyboard by changing "EN" to "HE" (in the bottom-right language bar)
- click on menu "Tools", "Macro", "Stop recording"

 

Make a similar macro for Greek (Alt+G - select "EL" and Cardo)
and for Normal (ie English)  (Alt+N - select "EN" and Times New Roman, or whatever you use).

 

Now, when you are in Word and press Arl+H you should be writing Hebrew from Right to Left,
and when you press Alt+N you go back to English. 

The macros should look something like this:
Sub TypeHebrew()
    Application.Keyboard (1037)
    Selection.Font.Name = "Cardo"
End Sub
Sub TypeGreek()
    Application.Keyboard (1032)
    Selection.Font.Name = "Cardo"
End Sub
Sub TypeEnglish()
    Application.Keyboard (2057)
    Selection.Font.Name = "Times New Roman"
End Sub

How do I insert the rare accents missing from the keyboard?

The Hebrew keyboard can’t contain all the Masoretic punctuation,

though the common punctuation is available on the top number line

when you turn on Caps Lock – use Shift to put the mark above a letter.

Punctuation which isn’t there has to be inserted manually,

- ie click on menu “Insert”, then “Symbol”, find the character and click “Insert”.

For example, the Hebrew Accent Zarqa' or ‘sinnor’ is code 05AE.

 

How do I move a furtive patach and other accents left or right?

The furtive patach and a few other accents should not be central, eg:

This is a little fiddly to do. First, highlight just the accent (ie the left half of the character),

then press Ctrl-D (to edit the font), click on “Character Spacing”, and set Scale at 130%.

 

 

Hebrew and Greek on my Mac insists on being Times New Roman or a Logos font!

I don't know why this happens, but if you reinstall Cardo it seems to cure it.

 

How do I write a diaresis?

To get a simple diaresis, type shift-hyphen before the letter.

To type a diaresis combined with an accent, type the same as you would for the accent by itself, plus shift

eg type shift with forward slash then u to get a lightly quizzical smiley.

 

How do I stop line spacing from growing when I write Hebrew?

Set the Line Spacing to an "Exact" (ie a fixed) amount.
You can do this for individual paragraphs or styles, but if you set the "Normal" style, this should mean that everything else inherits it,
though you may wish to set footnotes to a smaller Line Spacing. 
To set fixed line spacing for "Normal": 

 - Click on menu "Format", "Styles",
- right-click on "Normal", "Modify", 
- click on "Format", "Paragraph", and set "Line spacing" to "Exactly"
- 12pt or 14pt should look good - try it and see

This setting will also fix a common problem with footnotes which sometimes don't appear on the same page as the footnote marker without setting "Exact" line spacing. I don't know why this should fix it, but it does. 
 

How do I stop sigma turning into stigma before an accent?

If you type "προσώπον" in Word, you will get "προςώπον"

This is a Word problem. Wordpad and Open Office don't do it.

The clever guys at  Tavultesoft posted a solution