What I think is missing from this list is an ordinary Tamil keyboard such as
you can find a description of at
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/keyboards.aspx

Indeed on Windows you can now create your own keyboard using the Microsoft
Keyboard Layout Creator http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/msklc.mspx

The above keyboards allow you to type in phonetic order and use Uniscribe
and font technology to render the visual combinations automatically. Seems
like the simplest approach to me.

RI


============
Richard Ishida
W3C

contact info:
http://www.w3.org/People/Ishida/

W3C Internationalization:
http://www.w3.org/International/

> -----Original Message-----
> From: suzmccarth [mailto:suzmccarth@...]
> Sent: 09 June 2004 18:30
> To: qalam@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: functional classification of writing systems //
> Korean; Turkish F-type kbd.
>
> --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Ishida" <ishida@...> wrote:
> > I have to say my first reaction was to think exactly the same
> things as Marco.
> >
> > I think the transliterated input method can be useful for non-Tamil
> speakers, and I agree that this is a nice little application of such.
> >
> > But I think that Tamil speakers would be much better off directly
> using a Tamil keyboard. Why go through another script?
>
> Well, now that I have seen this I will go to the Tamil community and
> say what are you using and why?
>
> 1. There is a site which offers preset syllables, in Madras, I posted
> that. But it is not unicode.
>
> 2. There is the old 'linear Tamil' inherited from typewriter days and
> truetype fonts.
>
> 3. And there is this method "typing in plain English". and it does
> use unicode. It appears on my computer in the Tamil unicode font. Of
> course I have to test it and it won't work on win98 but it feels
> right to me. Now for what Tamil computing groups say, well I have to
> learn the name of this method, download it and so on. Don't ask me
> why it works, let's ask someone else.
>
> > RI
> >
> >
> > ============
> > Richard Ishida
> > W3C
> >
> > contact info:
> > http://www.w3.org/People/Ishida/
> >
> > W3C Internationalization:
> > http://www.w3.org/International/
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Marco Cimarosti [mailto:marco.cimarosti@...]
> > > Sent: 09 June 2004 11:31
> > > To: 'qalam@yahoogroups.com'
> > > Subject: RE: functional classification of writing systems //
> > > Korean; Turkish F-type kbd.
> > >
> > > suzmccarth wrote:
> > > > http://www.jaffnalibrary.com/tools/
> > > >
> > > > This site uses a transliteration system. 'Insert your
> > > phrase in plain
> > > > English' means use the English alphabet. Then the Tamil
> appears in
> > > > the other box, if you have the unicode Tamil font
> > > installed. So you
> > > > can see the display of the English alphabet as you type and
> > > the Tamil
> > > > happens in the other box with all the reshaping, reordering and
> > > > ligatures. Once you know the rules it really works.
> > >
> > > Gulp! This is NOT what you had in mind when you talked abut a
> > > Tamil "syllabic" input, is it? Else, it would probably be
> > > most the Euro-centric thing I've seen in years...
> > >
> > > Would you be happy if someone proposed you to enter English
> > > by typing Arabic characters on the upper box and having
> > > English automatically "happening in the other box with all
> > > that barbaric clumsy spelling of yours"?
> > >
> > > Would you really be happy if the only way to write the above
> > > sentence on a computer was typing it in a stranger script, like
> this:
> > >
> > > ??? ?? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ???
> > > ??????? ??????
> > > ???????? ?? ? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ????????????
> > > "??????? ??? ? ???
> > > ???? ??? ?? ??? ???????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????"?
> > >
> > > _ Marco
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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