Uganda-Tanzania Bantu (SIL) Keyboard Help
Overview
This keyboard is intended to support all the Bantu languages of Uganda and Tanzania.
(Note that if alternate key strokes exist, they are indicated with ‘or’ in the Keying column)
Consonants
| Description | Type | lc | Unicode | Type | UC | Unicode |
| eng | ŋ | nnn or ;n | U+014B | Ŋ | NNN or ;N | U+014A |
| palatal nasal | ɲ | nnnn | U+0272 | Ɲ | NNNN | U+019D |
| s with circumflex | ŝ | sss or ;s | U+015D | Ŝ | SSS or ;S | U+015C |
| z with circumflex | ẑ | zzz or ;z | U+1E91 | Ẑ | ZZZ or ;Z | U+1E90 |
| glottal | ꞌ | ;' | U+A78C | |||
| inverted breve below b | b̯ | bbb or ;b | U+0062 U+032F | B̯ | BBB or ;B | U+0042 U+032F |
| modifier letter apostrophe | ʼ | ''' or ;` | U+02BC |
Modified vowels
| Description | Type | lc | Unicode | Type | UC | Unicode |
| bar i | ɨ | ;i | U+0268 | Ɨ | ;I | U+0197 |
| bar u | ʉ | ;u | U+0289 | Ʉ | ;U | U+0244 |
| open e | ɛ | ;e | U+025B | Ɛ | ;E | U+0190 |
| open o | ɔ | ;o | U+254 | Ɔ | ;O | U+0186 |
| inverted e | ǝ | ;a | U+01DD | Ǝ | ;A | U+018E |
Diacritics
The vowels may have diacritics above and/or below, e.g., á, ì̱, û̱, ʉ̀.
The consonant b may have a diacritic below, b̯.
Diacritics above may also be found on n, m and ŋ.
Diacritics above vowels and nasals
| Description | Type | lc | UC | Unicode |
| acute (High tone) | ' | áéíóú ńŋ́ḿ | ÁÉÍÓÚ ŃŊ́Ḿ | U+0301 |
| grave (Low tone) | ` | àèìòù ǹŋ̀m̀ | ÀÈÌÒÙ ǸŊ̀M̀ | U+0300 |
| macron (Mid tone) | = | āēīōū n̄ŋ̄m̄ | ĀĒĪŌŪ N̄Ŋ̄M̄ | U+0304 |
| circumflex (High-Low tone) | [ | âêîôû n̂ŋ̂m̂ | ÂÊÎÔÛ N̂Ŋ̂M̂ | U+0302 |
| wedge (Low-High tone) | ] | ǎěǐǒǔ ňŋ̌m̌ | ǍĚǏǑǓ ŇŊ̌M̌ | U+030C |
| tilde | ~ | ãẽĩõũ ñŋ̃m̃ | ÃẼĨÕŨ ÑŊ̃M̃ | U+0303 |
| dieresis | : | äëïöü n̈ŋ̈m̈ | ÄËÏÖÜ N̈Ŋ̈M̈ | U+0308 |
Diacritics below vowels
| Description | Type | lc | Type | UC | Unicode |
| macron | iii uuu or _i _u | i̱u̱ | III UUU or _I _U | I̱U̱ | U+0331 |
Simple method for Uganda hard vowels
Other vowels
Diacritics below indicate a vowel modification (and can be combined with diacritics above).
| Description | Type | lc | UC | Unicode |
| macron | _ | a̱e̱i̱o̱u̱̱ | A̱E̱I̱O̱U̱̱ | U+0331 |
| dot | . | ạẹịọụ | ẠẸỊỌỤ | U+0323 |
| tilde | } | a̰ḛḭo̰ṵ | A̰ḚḬO̰Ṵ | U+0330 |
| inverted breve | , | a̯e̯i̯o̯u̯ | A̯E̯I̯O̯U̯ | U+032F |
| cedilla | % | a̧ȩi̧o̧u̧ | A̧ȨI̧O̧U̧ | U+0327 |
For multiple diacritics, use keying for modified vowel diacritics last before the vowel itself. E.g.,
to obtain ù̱ type `_u
to obtain ʉ̰̀ type `};u
Punctuation
| Description | Type | lc | Unicode |
| single opening quote | < or ;, | ‘ | U+2018 |
| single closing quote | > or ;. | ’ | U+2019 |
| double opening quote | << or ;< | “ | U+201C |
| double closing quote | >> or ;> | ” | U+201D |
| Left wedge | <<< | < | U+003C |
| Right wedge | >>> | > | U+003E |
| Copyright symbol | ;@ | © | U+00A9 |
| Null | ;# | ∅ | U+2205 |
Note: Do not use punctuation characters in the middle of a word. E.g., do not use the single closing quote (U+2019) to indicate pronunciation -- rather use the modifier letter apostrophe (U+02BC).
All Documentation Versions
- Uganda-Tanzania Bantu (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.1.2
- Uganda-Tanzania Bantu (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.1.1
- Uganda-Tanzania Bantu (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.1
- Uganda-Tanzania Bantu (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.0
