How to type བོད་ཡིག་
(bod-yig)
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Reading Tibetan: any Unicode Tibetan font
Unicode fonts in the TrueType format (.ttf)
will display on any system.
Some TrueType Unicode fonts are: MS Himalaya, Monlam BodYig, Tibetan Machine Uni, TCRC YoutsoWeb.
You can read any document, that was typed in any
Unicode Tibetan font, as long as you have any Unicode Tibetan font
on your computer. It doesn't have to be the same font, as long as it is a Unicode font.
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Typing Tibetan: an input program (IME)
To type in Tibetan, you will need a separate keyboard program.
(This is nothing especially hard about Tibetan — it is true for any
language, that has different characters than the "roman" alphabet.)
Just like word processors or graphics programs,
different operating systems have different keyboard programs.
This program is also known as an IM - Input Method, or IME - Input Method Editor.
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Some fonts, like Monlam Bodyig, come bundled with an IME.
But really it is a separate thing. You can type any Unicode font with any
Unicode input program —
for example, i type the Monlam Bodyig font on Linux with the
iBus input program.
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Wait — say that again? What is an IME?
IM = IME = Input Method Editor = keyboard input program
It is a way to enter characters that are not on your physical computer keyboard.
It is a program that changes what your keyboard types.
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More explanation is at
DigitalTibetan.org
Typing Tibetan on Linux with iBus
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iBus: [updated 14 feb 2016]
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Fedora - built-in in Fedora 11 and above.
- Keyboard layouts: EWTS, Wylie, and ... TCRC!
- How to get it: If you have Fedora 11 or above, it should be there.
- How to install:
- Package Manager: search for iBus, and select "install"
- Or command-line with dnf:
$ sudo dnf install ibus
$ sudo dnf install ibus-m17n
- You may need to put these lines in your .bashrc
- export GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
- export [email protected]=ibus
- export QT_IM_MODULE=ibus
- You may need to log out and log back in again (just log out, don't have to restart whole system)
- Then go to System Tools → Settings → Region & Language
- In the "Input sources" box, click the "+", then click the bottom dots icon, and search for tibetan
- Click on the keyboard you want (TCRC is there!) and click the "Add" button at the top.
- Now close the Settings, go to your editor, and hit <super>-<spacebar>
- a small window should come up, where you can choose your keyboard input
- now type!
- More info:
- I18N/iBus at FedoraProject.org
- Configuring language and keybaord at FedoraProject.org
- How to start iBus at FedoraForum.org
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Ubuntu - built-in in Ubuntu ....
- Keyboard layout:
EWTS, Wylie, TCRC?
- How to get it: It should be there.
- How to install ...
If not, go to your Package Manager and search for iBus, and select "install"
- How to use ...
- More info:
- iBus on Ubuntu
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General info about iBus
- iBus home at GitHub
- iBus at ArchLinux
Typing Tibetan on Macintosh
Typing Tibetan on Windows
Windows Vista and Windows 7
Windows XP, Vista and 7
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Monlam IME
- Keyboard layout:
???
- How to get it ...
- The Monlam keyboard comes packaged with the
Monlam fonts.
- How to install ...
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Install the Monlam package to install the keyboard (IME).
- How to use ...
- More info:
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Lobsang Monlam font website
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TCRC Unicode Keyboard
- Keyboard layout:
TCRC
- How to get it ...
- How to install ...
- How to use ...
- More info ...
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...
Windows XP
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Tise keyboard
- Keyboard layout:
EWTS
- How to get it:
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at THLib
- How to install
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Tise doesn't have an "installation" as such.
Just unzip the tise.zip file.
Place tise.exe and thookuni.dll into any directory you choose.
- How to use
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Double-click the tise.exe icon to run Tise.
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Open the program where you wish to type, and choose a Unicode Tibetan font.
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The "readme.txt" file that comes with Tise, explains everything.
- More info:
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The Tise how-to file
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Tise
At Wikipedia
Know more
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About Tibetan font:
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General info:
Thanks to all those who type Tibetan every day —
who tried the different methods, explained, corrected errors,
and made this page what it is!
The result you see here, is just a transcription of their work by James Walker,
and any errors are his alone.
Please contact
with your suggestions to make it better!
All content not copyright by anyone else is
copyright © 2003–2020 James Walker.
License for use is the GNU Free Documentation License.
Find it:
here in the
License directory
or
at the Free Software Foundation,
fsf.org
It would be great to have Tibetan and Chinese translations of this page.
Can you help?