Cherokee Language Technology Program - Education Services

Transcription

1 Cherokee Language Technology Program - Education Services Cherokee Language Fonts and Keyboard Layouts Cherokee Font (Cherokee.ttf) The Cherokee language is compatible across many different platforms and devices. This is made possible by the inclusion of the syllabary in Unicode starting with version 3.0 in the year The Cherokee Cultural Resource Center and Information Services created a font in the late 1990s called Cherokee (Cherokee.ttf) which was used for many, many years. It was important because without it many Cherokee documents would not have been made without it such as Cherokee Phoenix articles, the Cherokee Immersion School curriculum materials, Translation department files, etc. Many people that work with the Cherokee language still often need access to the old Cherokee font because so many older documents were created with it, but that scenario is becoming less common. Since that font is not Unicode compatible, however, it is not recommended to be used to create new Cherokee language documents. Cherokee.ttf is a legacy font, and the old documents are legacy documents. If the legacy font is used to create new documents, there will be usability issues, especially if the user is trying to use Cherokee.ttf on the web or trying to communicate by texting, , etc. Cherokee Unicode Compatible Fonts Since the syllabary is now part of the Unicode standard, the Cherokee language is accessible on many different operating systems. To enable the ability to type in Cherokee, a user needs to have a Unicode compatible font and s/he needs to install / enable a Cherokee keyboard layout. There are many Unicode compatible Cherokee fonts, including Plantagenet Cherokee which is a system font on Windows Vista and higher and Mac OS 10.3 and higher. Windows 8 additionally has a sans-serif styled Cherokee font called Gadugi. The Digohweli font is the font that has been adopted by Cherokee Nation Communications and is used on most of its signage, press releases, posters, etc. It is the recommended font for installation since older versions of the Plantagenet Cherokee font on Windows has an upside down syllable in it. A list of available Unicode compatible Cherokee fonts can be found at cherokee.org/languagetech/ under the Font menu. If a user says s/he see a series of empty boxes instead of Cherokee syllabary, this indicates that a Unicode compatible Cherokee font is not installed or enabled on their system. Sometimes, a compatible font may be installed, but a particular piece of software may require the settings be changed to display the language. This often occurs in web browsers such as Internet Explorer and programs like Outlook. Just like other languages, for example, Chinese and Hebrew, there is no single font called Chinese or Hebrew that a user selects and then types users who wish to type in these languages will change the keyboard layout. The same holds true for Cherokee now. If a user is going to the font menu and selecting Cherokee, that user is using the

2 legacy font and as stated previously, use of the legacy font for new documents is highly discouraged. Cherokee Keyboard Layouts Cherokee has two main keyboard layouts: The Cherokee Nation layout keys mimics the placement of the syllables on the legacy Cherokee font in which syllables are located on lowercase letters and the rest were accessible by using the shift key. So if a user wanted to type osiyo, s/he would have to type ory which will display as ᎣᏏᏲ. The other Cherokee keyboard goes by various names such as CherokeeQWERTY, Cherokee Nation Phonetics, Cherokee Language Geek, etc. These layouts let users type in English phonetics that then switches to the syllabary equivalent. For example, typing osiyo results in ᎣᏏᏲ. (NOTE: Additionally, there is another lesser-used Cherokee keyboard layout called Cherokee Linguistics. It is a specialized keyboard layout that gives easy access to diacritical marks that aid in marking tone and vowel length in the language. Most users do not request this keyboard as it is used mainly for highly specialized linguistic analysis and study of the language. There is also another phonetic keyboard layout which requires the use of the Keyman software. The creator of this layout has deprecated the Cherokee Keyman layout, and it is no longer supported.) Installation Notes On Windows, most users will only need the Windows-Phonetic keyboard layout and the Digohweli font installed. On Macintosh, two Cherokee keyboard layouts are included on the operating system by default: CherokeeQWERTY and Cherokee Nation. It is highly recommended not to enable the CherokeeQWERTY layout for Mac users because it follows phonetic conventions that are not commonly known and used (for example, typing ra instead of tla for Ꮭ). Install CN-phonetics for the Mac instead as it follows the normal phonetic conventions. Also install the Digohweli font.

3 Instructions on how to install the keyboard layouts in Windows: 1. After unzipping the file, navigate to the Setup.exe file and double click it. 2. A message will appear informing you that the process is complete. For Vista, 7, and 8 users, you re ready to go. For XP users, you ll have to restart your system. 3. After installation is complete, in the System Tray at the bottom of your Windows screen, you will see an icon of a keyboard. On some computers, this icon may be at the top of your screen or at the top of your active window instead. 4. Click on the keyboard icon to see the list of keyboard layouts that are installed. By default, if the user presses the left CTRL and Shift Key simultaneously, it will toggle between the layouts without having to manually go down and click on the icon and switch in the menu 5..

4 Instructions on How to Install for Apple Macintosh: 1. After unzipping the file, double click the installer. 2. After installation is finished, open System Preferences. Click on Language & Text.

5 3. Click the Language tab. In this section, add ᏣᎳᎩ to the list. It is located near the bottom of the list. 4. Then click Input Sources. Scroll through the list until you see Cherokee Nation. Click the check box next to Cherokee Nation and Cherokee Nation Phonetics. This will enable both the Cherokee Nation Layout and the Cherokee Nation Phonetic layout. 5. After enabling the keyboards, there will be a flag icon in the upper right of your screen. Click on this flag to switch between the layouts.