User:Shenme/el-betacode

(Documentation for the proposed Ancient Greek IME for ULS.)

This input method provides a simple readily understood method for entering ancient Greek characters and diacritics, without having to memorize complicated keyboarding rules or remember mysterious dead key combinations. Only the most basic keyboard keys are used - no control or Alt keys needed.

The basics for Beta Code are described in article Beta Code. The elaborate system of diacritics needed for ancient Greek transcription are described in Ancient Greek diacritics. This input method makes the difficult easy much easier.

Quick take aways:

• only the keys A-Z a-z are needed to enter the base Greek characters
• diacritics are added using the keys ( ) + \ / = | & '
• first enter the base key then any diacritics, thus   w ( = |   gives you   ᾧ
• diacritics can be removed, replaced, even exchanged if typoed
• you continually see the result of the latest input - no guessing needed

Beta Code is just plain alphabetic keys translated to Greek letters, plus a small number of other keys that add accents and breathing marks to the Greek letters.

Three quick examples - you would enter these keys to get Greek with diacritics:

o(/ti	to get	ὅτι	(ὅτι)
oi( polloi/	to get	οἱ πολλοί	(Hoi polloi)
I)orda/nh| potamw=|	to get	Ἰορδάνῃ ποταμῷ	(Jordan river)

Beta Code Keyboard

Diacritics and Accents

These little marks are a big deal.

Input Key		Greek Diacritic	Used for	Diacritic Name	Beta Code	Output
)	->	̓	smooth breathing	psili	e)n	ἐν
(	->	̔	rough breathing	dasia	o(, oi(	ὁ , οἱ
/	->	́	acute accent	oxia	pro/s	πρός
=	->	͂	circumflex accent	perispomeni	tw=n	τῶν
\	->	̀	grave accent	varia	pro\s	πρὸς
|	->	ͅ	iota subscript	ypogegrammeni	tw=|	τῷ
+	->	̈	diaeresis	dialytika	proi+e/nai	προϊέναι
&	->	̄	macron	macron	maxai/ra&s	μαχαίρᾱς
'	->	̆	breve	breve	ma/xaira'	μάχαιρᾰ

Most of the time you will only need to use the first six diacritics above. Very occasionally you will need the diaresis in a word such as Ἠσαΐου.

Only some combinations of diacritics are possible. You can have only one of rough or smooth breathing marks. And only one of the accents acute, grave and circumflex.

Most of the time only vowels can have diacritics. One special case is rho which might have rough or smooth breathing marks.

Input Key			Greek Letter		Greek Letter Name
A	a	->	Α	α	ALPHA
B	b	->	Β	β	BETA
G	g	->	Γ	γ	GAMMA
D	d	->	Δ	δ	DELTA
E	e	->	Ε	ε	EPSILON
V	v	->	Ϝ	ϝ	DIGAMMA
Z	z	->	Ζ	ζ	ZETA
H	h	->	Η	η	ETA
Q	q	->	Θ	θ	THETA
I	i	->	Ι	ι	IOTA
K	k	->	Κ	κ	KAPPA
L	l	->	Λ	λ	LAMDA
M	m	->	Μ	μ	MU
N	n	->	Ν	ν	NU
C	c	->	Ξ	ξ	XI
O	o	->	Ο	ο	OMICRON
P	p	->	Π	π	PI
R	r	->	Ρ	ρ	RHO
S	s	->	Σ	σ	SIGMA, MEDIAL SIGMA
	s	->		ς	FINAL SIGMA
T	t	->	Τ	τ	TAU
U	u	->	Υ	υ	UPSILON
F	f	->	Φ	φ	PHI
X	x	->	Χ	χ	CHI
Y	y	->	Ψ	ψ	PSI
W	w	->	Ω	ω	OMEGA

• a small number of Greek punctuation - en-dash, middot, apostrophe, kereia