Hindi Devanagari Font --- How To Use It In This Forum --- And More: Sending Hindi Emails, Devnagari Search Engine...

Home | Classroom | Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Words | Phrases | Countries | Languages

Phrasebase Archive

Yoak Friday 28th of July 2006 01:51:31 AM
Devanagari font - I noticed that I am not the only one who wondered how people manage to write in Devnagari in this forum. I accomplished some research about this matter and finally found a way:

With online keyboards, you can use the mouse for typing, which is time-consuming, okay, but it works. You can copy your Devanagari text and paste it here. Until now, I discovered the following online keyboards on the internet:

---> http://girish.co.in/projects/dev/dev_search.html

This is actually a search engine for Devnagari sites, but it works as an online keyboard as well (for single words and short phrases at least). And it\'s very beautifully styled. However, it does not seem to be able to write half letters.

---> http://girish.co.in/projects/dev/dboard.html

The same site, the same keyboard. But there ist much more space for your text, and you can send Devnagari emails (without signing up or something)

---> http://utopianvision.co.uk/services/hindimessage/

…talking about devnagari emails: on this site you can post one as well. The online keyboard is okay, offering even half letters. Unfortunately the text cannot be copied and pasted.

---> http://hindikeyboard.indiapress.org/

Here\'s the same shortcoming again concerning half letters, and in addition ु (short \"u\") and प (P) are on the same key and always appear together - which makes the use of them both impossible.

--->
http://www.hungamamasti.com/hindi.htm

This one is my favourite. It is not only an online keyboard but an online text editor. You use your own keyboard, not the mouse, and the keyboard layout is very near to the english one. Below the input area, there\'s a keyboard reference for all letters. In my opinion, this editor leaves nothing to be desired.

So much about online resources. I know that MS Word can also be adapted to typing Devnagari, but as yet I have not had the occasion to try that out.

One last hint about pasting Devnagari text to this forum: the letters become a lot more readable when they appear somewhat bigger. In order to do that, you may use HTML tags (font size)--> See PB\'s FAQ...

Yoak Friday 28th of July 2006 02:01:31 AM
supplement: hungamamasti link - After having posted the preceding, I noticed that the link to the hungamamasti online text editor does not work. So here it is again for immediate access:

http://www.hungamamasti.com/hindi.htm

gaby24 Friday 11th of August 2006 09:35:53 PM
- नमस्ते Yoak....
The online devanagari keyboard that i use is at:
[colour=red]http://www.gate2home.com/?language=dev&sec=2[/colour]
It´s good, and i´ve been using it so far, it allows you to copy and paste what you write , although you have to use the mouse to type.

Yoak Sunday 10th of September 2006 03:14:07 AM
experiences with Unicode - The above mentioned online keyboards run with Unicode, and only Unicode Devanagari fonts will appear correctly on this site. Now that I know a bit more about that, I found out that Unicode builds half letters and conjuncts automatically:

conjuncts are formed by adding a halant* to the first consonant (the \"dead consonant\") before typing the second consonant, for example:
क + halant + ल = क्ल

(*halant: Devanagari sign - a small stroke appearing beneath a consonant - indicating that the inherent vowel of the consonant is silenced)

Unicode is \"intelligent\": it \"knows\" how to form the various conjunctions between the respective consonants:
ज् + ञ = ज्ञ / र् + श = र्श / श् + र = श्र ....

If the need occurs to type a single half letter without forming the conjunction automatically, one has to type the consonant plus the halant plus a special sign called \"Zero Width Joiner\" (ZWJ). If you want the consonant to appear with the halant without forming a conjunction with the next letter, you have to add a \"Zero Width Non Joiner\" (ZWNJ).

The halant is found on the above mentioned \"girish\" and \"indiapress.org\" online keyboards, as well as with the \"hungamamasti\" online text editor.

The ZWNJ and the ZWJ, which are not frequently needed in my opinion, are found on some Unicode keyboard layouts which can be installed on PC, working for example with the Keyman program by Tavultesoft.

Unfortunately Unicode will not work correctly with a Windows version below XP, and I think MS Office users will as well have to update to Office 2003. Please correct me if I\'m wrong about that - for during my research about these matters I found out that there are many users of Windows 95, 98 and ME who are desperately looking for a way to make Unicode run correctly on their PCs!

Superhai Sunday 15th of October 2006 03:27:14 AM
- Unicode works in XP/2000, but for proper devanagari you have to tick \"Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages\" in \"Regional and Language Options\" in control panel. If not you will not get like the long i in front of the consonant.

A recommended resource for windows user is microsofts indic language web.

http://bhashaindia.com/

Phrasebase Archive
	Yoak	Friday 28th of July 2006 01:51:31 AM
	Devanagari font - I noticed that I am not the only one who wondered how people manage to write in Devnagari in this forum. I accomplished some research about this matter and finally found a way: With online keyboards, you can use the mouse for typing, which is time-consuming, okay, but it works. You can copy your Devanagari text and paste it here. Until now, I discovered the following online keyboards on the internet: ---> http://girish.co.in/projects/dev/dev_search.html This is actually a search engine for Devnagari sites, but it works as an online keyboard as well (for single words and short phrases at least). And it\'s very beautifully styled. However, it does not seem to be able to write half letters. ---> http://girish.co.in/projects/dev/dboard.html The same site, the same keyboard. But there ist much more space for your text, and you can send Devnagari emails* (without signing up or something)* ---> http://utopianvision.co.uk/services/hindimessage/ …talking about devnagari emails: on this site you can post one as well. The online keyboard is okay, offering even half letters. Unfortunately the text cannot be copied and pasted. ---> http://hindikeyboard.indiapress.org/ Here\'s the same shortcoming again concerning half letters, and in addition ु (short \"u\") and प (P) are on the same key and always appear together - which makes the use of them both impossible. ---> http://www.hungamamasti.com/hindi.htm This one is my favourite. It is not only an online keyboard but an online text editor. You use your own keyboard, not the mouse, and the keyboard layout is very near to the english one. Below the input area, there\'s a keyboard reference for all letters. In my opinion, this editor leaves nothing to be desired. So much about online resources. I know that MS Word can also be adapted to typing Devnagari, but as yet I have not had the occasion to try that out. One last hint about pasting Devnagari text to this forum: the letters become a lot more readable when they appear somewhat bigger. In order to do that, you may use HTML tags (font size)--> See PB\'s FAQ...
	Yoak	Friday 28th of July 2006 02:01:31 AM
	supplement: hungamamasti link - After having posted the preceding, I noticed that the link to the hungamamasti online text editor does not work. So here it is again for immediate access: http://www.hungamamasti.com/hindi.htm
	gaby24	Friday 11th of August 2006 09:35:53 PM
	- नमस्ते Yoak.... The online devanagari keyboard that i use is at: [colour=red]http://www.gate2home.com/?language=dev&sec=2[/colour] It´s good, and i´ve been using it so far, it allows you to copy and paste what you write , although you have to use the mouse to type.
	Yoak	Sunday 10th of September 2006 03:14:07 AM
	experiences with Unicode - The above mentioned online keyboards run with Unicode, and only Unicode Devanagari fonts will appear correctly on this site. Now that I know a bit more about that, I found out that Unicode builds half letters and conjuncts automatically: conjuncts are formed by adding a halant* to the first consonant (the \"dead consonant\") before typing the second consonant, for example: क + halant + ल = क्ल (halant: Devanagari sign - a small stroke appearing beneath a consonant - indicating that the inherent vowel of the consonant is silenced)* Unicode is \"intelligent\": it \"knows\" how to form the various conjunctions between the respective consonants: ज् + ञ = ज्ञ / र् + श = र्श / श् + र = श्र .... If the need occurs to type a single half letter without forming the conjunction automatically, one has to type the consonant plus the halant plus a special sign called \"Zero Width Joiner\" (ZWJ). If you want the consonant to appear with the halant without forming a conjunction with the next letter, you have to add a \"Zero Width Non Joiner\" (ZWNJ). The halant is found on the above mentioned \"girish\" and \"indiapress.org\" online keyboards, as well as with the \"hungamamasti\" online text editor. The ZWNJ and the ZWJ, which are not frequently needed in my opinion, are found on some Unicode keyboard layouts which can be installed on PC, working for example with the Keyman program by Tavultesoft. Unfortunately Unicode will not work correctly with a Windows version below XP, and I think MS Office users will as well have to update to Office 2003. Please correct me if I\'m wrong about that - for during my research about these matters I found out that there are many users of Windows 95, 98 and ME who are desperately looking for a way to make Unicode run correctly on their PCs!
	Superhai	Sunday 15th of October 2006 03:27:14 AM
	- Unicode works in XP/2000, but for proper devanagari you have to tick \"Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages\" in \"Regional and Language Options\" in control panel. If not you will not get like the long i in front of the consonant. A recommended resource for windows user is microsofts indic language web. http://bhashaindia.com/