Mobile Phone Keyboard

Letters

When the GFF Amharic Classic QWERTY mobile keyboard starts, the key layout appears as shown in the following image. The layout follows the Latin QWERTY style of typing as used in desktop and laptop computers. Note the Latin letters in the top right corner of the keys (called a “hint”):

Tapping a key once, the vowel keys (አ, ኡ, ኢ, ኣ, ኤ, and ኦ) will change to show what related letter will come next when typed. For example, tapping ግ the vowel keys change to ገ, ጉ, ጊ, ጋ, ጌ, and ጎ . If the updated vowel keys is tapped, ግ will be updated on screen.

Shifting

As with typing Amharic on computers with Latin keyboards, the shift, ⇧, key is used to type related letters. Notice that the “hint” on some keys will show which letter is available on that key when shifted. For example, the ‘ት’ key appears with 2 hints, ት^ጥT, ‘T’ is the usual Latin keyboard letter, and ‘ጥ’ becomes the Amharic letter on the key after pressing ⇧. The shift layout is shown below:

Long Presses

Another way to type a letter, that does not change the vowel keys, is to hold a key down for a few moments (called a “longpress”) a pop-up menu appears where you can tap the letter desired. The pop-up menu for ግ is shown below:

The punctuation keys, ። and ? will also have longpress pop-ups help type more punctuation easily. The punctuation for a longpress of ።:

The punctuation for a longpress of ?:

For additional letters that would be typed with a shift on a laptop keyboard, tap the 123 key to shift to the next layer:

Tapping

By default, the keyboard keys enter the 6^th order (ሳድስ) letter because the are the most frequent in Amharic vocabulary. Tapping a key quickly twice, a “Double-Tap”, will enter the 1^st order (ግዕዝ) letter (the next most frequently occurring). When a letter has a hint, a “Triple-Tap” is also possible where the third tap will enter the hint letter in the first order. For example, the ‘ን’ key has the hint ‘ኝN’, appearing as ን^ኝN, tapping the key produces:

ን^ኝN 1 tap: ን

ን^ኝN 2 taps: ነ

ን^ኝN 3 taps: ኝ

In other cases, such as for punctuation or numerals, multiple-taps can be used in addition to a flick to type the symbol shown in the hint. For example, the ‘2’ key has the hint ‘፪’, appearing as 2^፪, tapping the key produces:

2^፪ 1 tap: 2

2^፪ 2 taps: ፪

2^፪ 3 taps: ፳

Flicking

Key “flicking” is widely supported throughout the keyboard. A flick is a quick stroke (like a swipe) made on the key usually in the downward direction, but also upward, and side to side. Flicks are very convenient since they can save you from having to shift to the next keyboard view to access a letter, or avoid additional typing motions that become fatiguing. Most every key will support a flick in some way.

Flicks on letter keys

Keys with hints can be “flicked” to type the symbol shown in the hint.

↓ flicking the ብ^B key will type ‘ብ’ without changing the vowels.

→ flicking the ብ^B key will type ‘በ’

← flicking the ብ^B key will type ‘ባ’

↑ flicking the ስ^ሥ key will type ‘ሥ ’ instead of ‘ስ’ (and change the vowels).

Flicks on other keys

On other keys, such as punctuation and number keys, a downward flick will will enter the symbol shown in the hint. For example, ↓-flicking the $^€ key will type ‘€’ instead of ‘$’. The flick options will mirror those on iPhone and iPad keyboards. On the number keys after pressing the 123 key, downward and upward flicks work to enter the Geʾez numbers following:

2^፪ ↑-flick: ፪

2^፪ ↓-flick: ፳

Return flicks

Any of the special keys, such as ⇧, space, ⌫, return, and others on the bottom row of the keyboard, can be flicked in any direction to return to the starting keyboard position. For example, from any keyboard view on the screen, flicking ← , → or ↓ on the space key will bring the keyboard back to its starting point.

A special return flick is also provided on a key after typing it. For example, after typing the ግ key and seeing the vowel letters change, a ↓ on ግ will bring the keyboard back to the start (instead of entering ‘ግ’ as a ↓ flick normally would).

Punctuation

For additional punctuation and numerals, tap the 123 key to shift to the next layer:

For additional punctuation and numerals, tap the #+= key to shift to the next layer:

Note that numerals on the punctuation layer use the longpress feature to make Geʾez numerals available:

A tap of the ፩፪፫ key will go to the final layer where Geʾez numbers and some less used symbols can be accessed.

Numerals

The last layer to shift to presents the Geʾez numbers, all Geʾez punctuation, letters of related languages, and a few lesser used letters that did not fit conveniently on the initial letters layer.

Simply tap the ሀለሐ key to return to the starting letters layers.

Tablet Keyboard

Letters

When the GFF Amharic Classic QWERTY mobile keyboard starts, the key layout appears as shown in the following image. The layout follows the Latin QWERTY style of typing as used in desktop and laptop computers. Note the Latin letters in the top right corner of the keys (called a “hint”):

Tapping a key once, the vowel keys (አ, ኡ, ኢ, ኣ, ኤ, and ኦ) will change to show what related letter will come next when typed. For example, tapping ግ the vowel keys change to ገ, ጉ, ጊ, ጋ, ጌ, and ጎ . If the updated vowel keys is tapped, ግ will be updated on screen.

Observe that some keys have a small “hint” letter in the upper right corner. The hint letters can be typed by making a quick, light, downward “flick” on the key. These letters can also be typed using the “lonpgress” approach explained in a following example.

Shifting

As with typing Amharic on computers with Latin keyboards, the shift, ⇧, key is used to type related letters. Notice that the “hint” on some keys will show which letter is available on that key when shifted. For example, the ‘ት’ key appears with 2 hints, ት^ጥT, ‘T’ is the usual Latin keyboard letter, and ‘ጥ’ becomes the Amharic letter on the key after pressing ⇧. The shift layout is shown below:

Long Presses

Another way to type a letter, that does not change the vowel keys, is to hold a key down for a few moments (called a “longpress”) a pop-up menu appears where you can tap the letter desired. The pop-up menu for ግ is shown below:

The punctuation keys, ። and ? will also have longpress pop-ups help type more punctuation easily. The punctuation for a longpress of ።:

The punctuation for a longpress of ?:

For additional letters that would be typed with a shift on a laptop keyboard, tap the .?123 key to shift to the next layer:

Tapping

By default, the keyboard keys enter the 6^th order (ሳድስ) letter because the are the most frequent in Amharic vocabulary. Tapping a key quickly twice, a “Double-Tap”, will enter the 1^st order (ግዕዝ) letter (the next most frequently occurring). When a letter has a hint, a “Triple-Tap” is also possible where the third tap will enter the hint letter in the first order. For example, the ‘ን’ key has the hint ‘ኝN’, appearing as ን^ኝN, tapping the key produces:

ን^ኝN 1 tap: ን

ን^ኝN 2 taps: ነ

ን^ኝN 3 taps: ኝ

In other cases, such as for punctuation or numerals, multiple-taps can be used in addition to a flick to type the symbol shown in the hint. For example, the ‘2’ key has the hint ‘፪’, appearing as 2^፪, tapping the key produces:

2^፪ 1 tap: 2

2^፪ 2 taps: ፪

2^፪ 3 taps: ፳

Flicking

Key “flicking” is widely supported throughout the keyboard. A flick is a quick stroke (like a swipe) made on the key usually in the downward direction, but also upward, and side to side. Flicks are very convenient since they can save you from having to shift to the next keyboard view to access a letter, or avoid additional typing motions that become fatiguing. Most every key will support a flick in some way.

Flicks on letter keys

Keys with hints can be “flicked” to type the symbol shown in the hint.

↓ flicking the ብ^B key will type ‘ብ’ without changing the vowels.

→ flicking the ብ^B key will type ‘በ’

← flicking the ብ^B key will type ‘ባ’

↑ flicking the ስ^ሥ key will type ‘ሥ ’ instead of ‘ስ’ (and change the vowels).

Flicks on other keys

On other keys, such as punctuation and number keys, a downward flick will will enter the symbol shown in the hint. For example, ↓-flicking the $^€ key will type ‘€’ instead of ‘$’. The flick options will mirror those on iPhone and iPad keyboards. On the number keys after pressing the .?123 key, downward and upward flicks work to enter the Geʾez numbers following:

2^፪ ↑-flick: ፪

2^፪ ↓-flick: ፳

Return flicks

Any of the special keys, such as ⇧, space, ⌫, return, and others on the bottom row of the keyboard, can be flicked in any direction to return to the starting keyboard position. For example, from any keyboard view on the screen, flicking ← , → or ↓ on the space key will bring the keyboard back to its starting point.

A special return flick is also provided on a key after typing it. For example, after typing the ግ key and seeing the vowel letters change, a ↓ on ግ will bring the keyboard back to the start (instead of entering ‘ግ’ as a ↓ flick normally would).

Punctuation

When typing letters, the ? and ። keys are available for entering the most common punctuation without shifting to another “layer”. The following image shows the punctuation for a longpress of ?:

The punctuation for a longpress of ።:

For additional punctuation and numerals, tap the .?123 key to shift to the next layer:

For additional punctuation and numerals, tap the #+= key to shift to the next layer:

A tap of the ፩፪፫ key will go to the final layer where Geʾez numbers and some less used symbols can be accessed.

Numerals

The last layer to shift to presents the Geʾez numbers, all Geʾez punctuation, letters of related languages, and a few lesser used letters that did not fit conveniently on the initial letters layer.

Simply tap the ሀለሐ key to return to the starting letters layers.