Notes:
- One of the features of this keyboard is that it accomodates different writing traditions, namely: eastern vs. western finals, and right-side and left-side w-dot placement. The finals are organised in such a way that all of the western finals are shifted-versions of the i-series, and the eastern finals are shifted-versions of the e-series. For example, the Cree word for ‘dog’, /atim/, is ᐊᑎᒼ (western final) or ᐊᑎᒻ (eastern final). To produce the western Cree word, type ‘r d shift-h’. The eastern Cree word is typed ‘r d shift-n’.
- This keyboard allows you to choose either the right-side and left-side w-dot style. When the ‘Caps Lock’ key is off, w-dots will combine on the right; when the ‘Caps Lock’ key is on, w-dots will combine on the left. For example the syllabic for /cwa/ can be either ᒝ or ᒜ. To type the former, with Caps Lock off type the keys ‘w-apostrophe’, these two keys will combine to make the single character ᒝ. To type the latter, with Caps Lock on, type the keys ‘apostrophe-w’. Basically you type the w-dot in the order in which it appears. However, please remember that your computer treats ᒝ and ᒜ as single characters, so the correct Caps Lock status is very important. An example of mis-use of the Caps Lock is as follows. A Moose Cree speaker (w-dots on the left side) wishes to type ᐊᐗ ‘this’. With Caps Lock on, the correct two characters are produced, ᐊ ᐗ. If the same sequence were typed with Caps Lock off, the result would be incorrect: ᐘ ᐊ. Try highlighting the examples above with your mouse, and you will see that the w-dot in inseparable from the main syllabic.
- There are several series of syllabics and finals which are only used by one or two dialects, or for borrowed words. These can be accessed by using the RIGHT-ALT/OPTION key to modify a standard series.
- The v-series ᕓᕕᕗᕙᕝ is treated as a modified p-series. ᕙ is RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+q.
- The r-series ᕃᕆᕈᕋᙆᕐ is treated as a modified c-series. ᕋ is RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+w.
- The th-series ᕞᕠᕤᕦᕪ is treated as a modified t-series. ᕦ is RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+e.
- The th-series ᖧᖨᖪᖬᖮ is treated as a modified y-series. ᖬ is RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+t.
- The l-series ᕃᕄᕊᕍᔆ is treated as a modified k-series. ᕍ is RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+u.
- The l-series ᓓᓕᓗᓚᐪᓪ is treated as a modified n-series. ᓚ is RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+i.
- Finals which are accessed with the SHIFT+RIGHT-ALT/OPTION key are:
- ᒽ (RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+n)
- ᒄ (RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+m)
- ᔉ (RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+period.)
- ᓫ (RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+backslash)
- ᕑ (Shift+RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+backslash)
- Combining ᓫ (RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+square bracket ])
- Combining ᕑ (Shift+RIGHT-ALT/OPTION+square bracket })
- Ojibwe dialects using i-finals () type these as RIGHT-ALT/OPTION plus the number at the top of the series on the keyboard. For example: is Ctrl-1, is Ctrl-2 etc. The w-final is typed Ctrl-quote.
- Long vowel dots (e.g. ᐲᒌᑏ) are typed using the left-square-bracket [ key after the syllabic. ᐲ is a+[.
- The Moose Cree y-ring final (e.g. ᐰᒊᑍ) are typed using the
left-curly-bracket { key after
the syllabic. ᐰ is a-{. Note that many of the syllabics with the
y-ring are not included in Unicode, so one of the languagegeek.com
fonts is required to type in Moose Cree properly. A non-combining
small ring can be found on the shift-hyphen key.
-
The Naskapi modifier ᔋ is typed grave-period ( ` + .) (with Caps Lock
on). The grave key is located on the top left of the standard US
keyboard. When the syllabics ᐸ, ᒐ, ᑕ, ᑲ are typed after ᔋ, the two
glyphs merge together to form a single character.
-
The grave key also functions as a ‘two-dot’ accent. If Caps Lock is
on, it will produce the Naskapi ‘waa’ syllabics. For example, `-i
(:-ᓇ) makes ᓏ. If Caps Lock is off, it well produce a dialect of
Plains Cree’s ‘oo’. For example, `-shift-i (:-ᓄ) makes ᓆ.
-
The shift-grave key temporarily changes the syllabics keyboard to the
standard us. It will
stay in us mode until the space
bar is typed. This is convenient for inserting non-Syllabic words into
text without changing keyboards.
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