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ISIS Malayalam Keyboard Help

Keyboard © 2008 Gautam Sengupta


Overview
Using this Keyboard
Keyboard Layout
Quickstart
Examples
Keyboard Details
Complete Keyboard Reference Chart
Troubleshooting
Further Resources
Related Keyboard Layouts
Technical Information
Authorship

Download this documentation in PDF format.

Overview

This keyboard lets you type in Malayalam. It is one of the ISIS set of keyboards, which allow typing in all Indian languages. The keyboard is phonetic, which means it follows the English (QWERTY) layout. This makes it easy for people who are learning Malayalam to use, as well as for Malayalam speakers.

If a special font is needed for this language, most computers will download it automatically.

Click here to see other keyboard layouts for Malayalam.

Using this Keyboard

Keyboard Layout

Quickstart

Anybody who is familiary with a normal English keyboard can used this keyboard to type Malayalam. If you press an English letter, the closest Malayalam character will be displayed. You can type long vowels by pressing the vowel key twice. Malayalam includes some consonants and vowels which are not in English, so these are typed with spare keys or with [S*].

Most Malayalam characters have both consonant and vowel parts, and each part should be typed separately. The consonant part is always typed before the vowel, no matter where the vowel part is written. For example, typing i will produce the vowel . If this vowel is typed after a consonant has been typed, it will be combined with a consonant, such as കി (ki). If you press Backspace once, only the vowel part will be erased, and you can type a different vowel.

Examples

Keyboard Details

The On Screen Keyboard shows the standalone vowels അ ആ ഇ ഈ ഉ ഊ ഋ എ ഏ ഐ ഒ ഓ ഔ, and many of the normal consonants: ക ഖ ഗ ഘ ങ ച ഛ ജ ഝ ട ഠ ഡ ഢ ണ ത ഥ ദ ധ ന പ ഫ ബ ഭ മ യ ര ല ശ ഷ സ ഹ ള ഴ റ. Other consonants are typed using more than one key. The keyboard also includes Malayalam numbers, as well as punctuation and special characters.

Malayalam vowels and consonants are usually combined, so when you type a consonant and a vowel part, they will be joined into one character. If you use the arrow keys to move through the text, you only need to press an arrow key once to move past each character. If you press Delete before (on the left of) a combined consonant and vowel, it will be erased completely, but if you press Backspace after a character, only the vowel part will be erased (even if the vowel part appears before the consonant).

Vowels and Consonants

When you type consonants and vowel parts, you should always type the consonant part first, even when the vowel part appears on the left of the consonant. If you type any of the independent vowels, they will not be combined with consonants.

All the consonants naturally include the vowel sound , so if you want to produce a consonant with no vowel, you need to add the mark. You can do this by typing \ right after typing a consonant. After you have typed the mark, you cannot type a vowel to combine with that consonant.

Malayalam includes many combined consonants, and these are not shown on the keyboard. To type a combined consonant, type the first consonant, then the mark, then the second consonant. The computer will then combine the two consonants into a single combined character. For example, typing k\k produces the combined consonant ക്ക.

Keystroke Examples

In the following table you can see examples of how to type the different vowels with the consonant . For a table of all the normal Malayalam characters and how to type them, click here.


ConsonantVowelCombinedKeystrokes
ക്k\
k
കാka
കിki
കീkii
കുku
കൂkuu
കൃ
കെke
കേkee
കൈkE
കൊko
കോkoo
കൌkO

Troubleshooting

Fonts

If you see squares when you type, or the Malayalam characters do not appear correctly, please read the KeymanWeb troubleshooting guide.

Problem Solving

If a vowel does not combine with a consonant, make sure you have typed the consonant first. Also check that you have not typed another vowel already, or the mark.

Further Resources

Other Internet Resources

Download ISIS Malayalam for Keyman Desktop

Malayalam Alphabet at Omniglot.com
Malayalam Language at Wikipedia.org
Malayalam Script at Wikipedia.org

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 as part of the Indian Script Input System package by Professor Gautam Sengupta of the Center for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies, University of Hyderabad. Tavultesoft gratefully acknowledges the contribution made by the author in developing this keyboard and making it freely available for use with Keyman Desktop and KeymanWeb. His effort assists in enabling people to communicate in their own language.

Copyright and Terms of Use

The ISIS Malayalam Keyboard for Keyman Desktop and KeymanWeb is Copyright Gautam Sengupta. It may be freely distributed and used, but must not be modified or adapted in any way without written permission from the author.

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.

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