5 th-11 th century CE) was first proposed in 2016, and later developed by as e-Vatteluttu by Elmar Kniprath. The idea of creating a Unicode font for Vaṭṭeḻuttu script (c. Up until quite recently, there were no computer fonts for representing the earlier versions of Tamil script. The Google Fonts catalog also features a handful of Unicode Tamil fonts. Akshar, Latha, and Bamini are all popular Unicode fonts that can be used for Tamil. In Azhagi, toggling between Tamil phonetic transliteration and English is as simple as pressing “Alt+3”, and characters like ஞ் (ñ) ஷ் (ṣ) and consonant conjuncts like க்ஷ் (kṣ) pop up instantly when n-y, s-h, and k-s-h are typed in quick succession.įonts for representing modern Tamil and early Tamil scriptsįor representing Tamil script, there are a variety of Unicode and Tscii (Tamil Script Code for Information Interchange) fonts. In my own work, I find using the Anjal phonetic keyboard the easiest for typing quickly, as it is relatively intuitive with each key corresponding to its Tamil equivalent, where applicable, and long vowels and retroflex letters created by using the Shift key. The Anjal Paangu or Anjal phonetic keyboard layout was developed in the 1990s in association with the Murasu Anjal software for Tamil typing on QWERTY keyboards. Here, vowels are distributed across the bottom row and the consonant-u conjuncts are accessed via the Shift key. The Bamini keyboard is based on the layout of Tamil characters on old Tamil typewriters. The Tamil99 keyboard was approved by the Tamil Nadu state government in 1999 and like its predecessor, the Indian InScript keyboard, has all of the vowels clustered on the left-hand side and the consonants on the right. All of of these programs include Tamil99, Anjal phonetic, and Bamini keyboard options. eKalappai and NHM Writer work exclusively on Windows, whereas Azhagi works on Mac, Linux, and Android mobile devices as well. eKalappai focuses exclusively on Tamil, and its latest version on GitHub is dated 2015. Both Azhagi and NHM Writer have been kept up to date and include the ability to type in languages other than Tamil. These include, but are not limited to Azhagi (which also supports typing in fifteen other Indian scripts), eKalappai, and NHM Writer. For modern Tamil scripts there are a number of free downloadable software programs that allow you to easily toggle between your native keyboard and one with Tamil script without having to download specialized keyboards or font packages. However, having downloaded various keyboards and built my own using the Microsoft Keyboard Layout creator, I also know that this deceptively simple process can lead to a host of other issues. Typing in Tamil can be as simple as downloading and installing a Tamil keyboard of your choice and toggling on and off between this and your native keyboard. Here, I’ll discuss software that I regularly use for typing in Tamil on a QWERTY keyboard, as well as some new fonts and online resources that have been developed for representing Tamil in Tamil-Brahmi and Vaṭṭeḻuttu scripts. Like other languages which use non-Roman scripts, downloading or crafting a keyboard to facilitate typing can often present its own set of challenges. Tamil is one of the twenty-two official languages spoken in India and its representation in writing dates back to the early centuries BCE. Digital Orientalist’s 2022 Conference “Infrastructures”.The Digital Orientalist’s Virtual Workshop and Conference 2021.If you find 'User Defined Phonetics' scheme easier and more convenient for you, for one reason or other, kindly type in Azhagi+ availing the same. (*) While 'Phonetic Transliteration' corresponds to Azhagi's phonetic transliteration scheme ( it's very easy, natural, intuitive and flexible), 'User Defined Phonetics' corresponds to the phonetic scheme of softwares like 'NHM Writer', 'eKalappai', etc. Otherwise, Azhagi+ is extendable to type in "ANY language, ANY font, ANY font encoding, ANY keyboard layout" - by the user himself/herself - by creating an XML file or a small text file, as the case may be. These are the LFKs included/supported by default. Languages, Fonts, Keyboard layouts ( LFKs, as such) supported in Azhagi+, as of Nov 2015, hereunder.
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