Nigeria Odd Vowels (SIL) Keyboard Help

Overview

This keyboard pairs with two other keyboards to cover the expected needs of most of Nigeria's languages. The three keyboards are identical except that the vowels are treated differently. The vowels on this keyboard are non-standard shapes as well as the standard tone markings. The keyboard also includes standard "hook" (implosives), nasality, tone, and the Naira sign.

Basic Function

This keyboard supports basic Latin characters on the standard keyboard. Other special keys are accessed through "deadkeys". These deadkeys are ; ' - ` ^ & ~ !.

If a deadkey is typed twice, it will produce its original value (if you type a semicolon two times you will get a semicolon). Type ' three times in order to get an apostrophe.

Deadkeys may be combined to get tone on the "odd" vowels. The ; must be typed first. For example:

In order to achieve nasalization with tone, the following sequences must be typed in order:

~' followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ṍ

~- followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ȭ

~` followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give õ̀

~^ followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give õ̂

~& followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give õ̌

~! followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give õ̋

In order to achieve nasalization with tone on "odd" vowels, the following sequences must be typed in order:

;~' followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ɔ̃́

;~- followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ɔ̃̄

;~` followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ɔ̃̀

;~^ followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ɔ̃̂

;~& followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ɔ̃̌

;~! followed by the vowel (such as "o") will give ɔ̃̋

There are other keyboards available for under dotted and underlined vowels.

On Screen Keyboard

This keyboard includes an On Screen Keyboard view for easy reference. The On Screen Keyboard works best when associated with a QWERTY US layout.

Fonts

This is a Unicode keyboard and works with any Unicode font which has support for extended Latin characters. To find fonts on your computer which support the keyboard, use the Keyman Desktop Font Helper.