Normal Keyboard (Burmese-QWERTY)
Typing Burmese Characters
Typing Burmese characters with the Burmese Language Kit for OS X is pretty straightforward — the kit will automatically take care of forming the necessary ligatures, subscript consonants and graphic transposition for you.
In general, the kit makes no assumptions about possible valid sequences so it is possible to create sequences that do not occur in the language. For this reason, you will need to have an understanding of the language and the script to use the kit effectively. However, some general guidelines are offered here:
Keyboard Driver
This version of the Burmese Language Kit for OS X includes one keyboard layout — the Burmese-QWERTY layout. It is a pseudo-phonetic arrangement aimed at English speakers or other users familiar with the standard QWERTY keyboard.
The Key Caps utility provided in OS X can be used to view this keyboard layout at any time but we have provided screen captures of the layout here.
Subscript Consonants
Below are the common subscripts:
The Burmese script makes frequent use of subscript consonants to express a sequence of two or more consonants without an intervening vowel. The correct display of Burmese text requires these subscripts and the Burmese Language Kit for OS X supports all of the common combinations.
There are a few other subscripts which only occur in specific combinations, i.e., they form ligatures with a base consonant. Where necessary, the Burmese Language Kit for OS X will form these automatically and they are typed as expected.
You should note that several Burmese elements (YA, RA, WA and HA) are classified as subscripts even though they are traditionally not considered as such by most Burmese (this decision was made by the Unicode committee). Many typists may be accustomed to accessing these elements with a single keystroke but this keyboard driver currently requires you to type them with two keystrokes, like all other subscripts.
KINZI (subscript NGA) is also illustrated here with subscripts even though it's technically a superscript. We include it here because it is typed exactly like a subscript — the kit will take care of forming any necessary ligatures and moving KINZI to the proper location within a syllable. Once again, typists who are familiar with a separate key for this element will need to adapt their habits accordingly.
The correct way to type any subscripted consonant (even if it only occurs as a ligature) is by using the Burmese virama or "killer". If you’re familiar with the implementation of any other Indic script, you’ll have no trouble with this. The virama can be found on the F key of the Burmese-QWERTY keyboard and must be typed between every sequence of two or more consonants to be displayed without a vowel.
For example:
Because the Burmese virama or killer serves another distinct purpose, it's important to distinguish between its uses. During the formation of subscripts, the virama and the following consonant are transformed into the corresponding subscript which removes the virama from the text stream. However, the virama is also used to "kill" a consonant (and remove its inherent vowel) — a usage which requires that it be displayed over the corresponding killed consonant.
In order to achieve this second, equally important usage, it is necessary to inhibit the default formation of subscripts. The proper way to do this is by inserting a ZERO WIDTH NONJOINER immediately after the killer. Although the ZERO WIDTH NONJOINER can be typed directly from our Burmese keyboard layout (OPTION+=), we've simplified this by adding the combination of killer plus ZERO WIDTH NONJOINER on the SHIFT+F key. You should use this anytime you want to display the killer over a consonant.
Compound Subscripts
This section was updated as of Version 1.1 of the Burmese Language Kit in October of 2004 to reflect changes in the way these subscripts are created. Users of Version 1.0 will need to re-key certain combinations to reflect the correct display.
There are several possible combinations of subscripts that can and do frequently occur and some of these result in ligatures which provide an accurate visual display. Because the kit requires a specific sequence (based on Unicode principles), it is especially important that multiple subscripts be typed in the proper order before the kit can make the appropriate transformations.
Many Burmese solutions in prior years have relied on different methods which frequently required typing items in a non-traditional sequence even though the underlying sequence was not valid. These old habits will have to be modified in order to create "well-formed" Unicode Burmese text.
To that end, the most common subscript combinations should be typed as follows:
DOTTED CIRCLE
The dotted circle is included in many fonts already but we’ve supplied our own version because it fits well with our font’s structure. The most popular use for this glyph is to illustrate the placement of diacritics and other non-spacing marks. We have placed it on the OPTION+` (ACCENT GRAVE) key. It appears in the samples above.