Blin (GFF) (deprecated) Keyboard Help
Keyboard © 2009 Ge'ez Frontier Foundation.
Overview
Using this Keyboard
Keyboard Layout
Quickstart
Examples
Keyboard Details
Complete Typing Chart
Troubleshooting
Further Resources
Related Keyboard Layouts
Technical Information
Authorship
Overview
This keyboard is designed for use with the Blin language (also known as Bilen or Bilin) of Eritrea in Africa. Typing follows a consonant-vowel pattern. It is designed for use with a standard (QWERTY) keyboard.
Most computers will automatically download a special font to display this keyboard correctly. However, if the layout or the charts below do not display correctly, please read the troubleshooting guide.
Click here to see keyboard layouts for other Ethiopic languages, like Amharic, Awngi, Bench, Dizi, Ge'ez, Me'en, Mursi, Sebatbeit, Suri and Tigrigna.
Using this Keyboard
Keyboard Layout
Quickstart
This keyboard is designed to work intuitively with a standard (QWERTY) keyboard. This means that the Blin sounds in this keyboard can be found by thinking of the most similar English letters. For example, you can type selam to get ሰላም.
As you can see, each Blin character is typed with the base consonant first and then the vowel. For example, ጘ is typed G then e.
Examples
| Language | Phrase | Meaning | Type the following keys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilen | ብሊና | Name of language |  blina |
Keyboard Details
The Blin keyboard uses an intuitive phonetic system where the Blin sounds are matched to the nearest English letters. You can think of how a word sounds in Blin and then type it out with English.
Example: typing selam produces ሰላም
Because Blin has more sounds than English, we sometimes have to adjust this rule. For example, English does not have ጘ and the closest similar letter would be g. In this case you should type G, for capital G:
Example: typing xGKuulen produces ሽጝዅለን
Notice that we used capital K also for ዅ and we needed both uu together to make the 9th ኽ letter, ዅ. When the letter you want to type does not appear when you hit the similar sounding key in English, try using the capital next.
Next, when you need to type the extra letters of Blin like ሏ,ሟ,ኵ you can do so by typing an extra vowel after a u:
Example: typing mua produces ሟ
Example: typing Kuu produces ዅ
Finally, we must introduce a special rule for ' (apostrophe). Some words are spelt with a ሳድስ (6th) letter followed by a vowel, like ርኤ in ገብርኤል. We use the apostrophe here to type gebr'iel to make sure we get ርኤ instead of ሬ.
Example: typing mel'ak produces መልአክ
Example: typing m'eeraf becomes ምዕራፍ
We also use the apostrophe for Ethiopic numbers, so '1 becomes ፩ and so on. If an English apostrophe ' is needed in your document, type it twice: ''. This works for other punctuation as well, so typing ; once makes ፤ and a second time gives English semi-colon ;.
See Typing in Blin for full details on how to type all Blin letters, numbers and punctuation.
Troubleshooting
If the characters you type or those on the On Screen Keyboard do not appear to display correctly, please read the KeymanWeb troubleshooting guide.
For any other questions, contact us.
Further Resources
Technical Information
System Requirements
It is recommended that you use an English QWERTY hardware keyboard with this keyboard.
Unicode Version
This keyboard complies with Unicode 5.1
Keyboard Authorship
This keyboard was created by the Ge'ez Frontier Foundation. Tavultesoft graciously acknowledges the contribution made by the authors in developing this keyboard and making it freely available for use with Keyman Desktop and KeymanWeb. Their effort assists in enabling people to communicate in their own language.
Copyright and Terms of Use
The Blin keyboard layout for Keyman Desktop and KeymanWeb is Copyright 2009 Ge'ez Frontier Foundation and Tavultesoft. It may be freely distributed and used, but must not be modified or adapted in any way without written permission from Tavultesoft.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY TAVULTESOFT PTY LTD "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL TAVULTESOFT PTY LTD BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
