Help:Sinhala Font Guide: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:21, 26 May 2006

Latest revision as of 10:00, 10 January 2020

(38 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Contains special characters}}

=Sinhala Font Guide=

[[Sinhala script]] is a [[writing system]] used in Sri Lanka to write the official language [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] and also sometimes the liturgical languages [[Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]].

==How to read Sinhala==

This site uses '''Sinhala Unicode''' fonts. To see them displayed correctly, follow the steps below. We recommend that you use '''[httphttps://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.52.0.3]''' or later versions instead of '''Internet Explorer''' , '''Google Chrome''' or '''Opera''', which seem to have some rendering issues.

*If you have '''Microsoft Internet Explorer 6''' or a later version running on '''Windows''', simply install the [http://fonts.lk/download/SinhalaIE.html Sinhala Pack] and restart your computer.

*Right click on your '''Desktop''', choose '''Properties''', go to '''Advanced/Appearance''' tab, click on '''Effects''' and choose '''CleartypeClearType''' as the ''method to smooth edges of screen fonts''.

*Change '''Character Encoding''' to '''UTF-8''' Unicode in your browser ('''VIEW-->ENCODINGVIEW→ENCODING''' in most browsers).

*Go to '''Tools'''--> '''Options''', click on '''Fonts''', choose '''Malithi Web''' as the default font.

::::or

*If you use a '''MozilaMozilla Firefox''', '''Opera''', '''Netscape''' or an olderany version of '''Internet Explorer''', please download the '''[http://www.mrt.ac.lk/sinhala/short-word-list/FM-MalithiUW46.ttf Malithi Web]''' Sinhala Unicode font by clicking '''[http://www.mrt.ac.lk/sinhala/short-word-list/FM-MalithiUW46.ttf here]'''.

*Install it in your computer. For Windows, simply copy the font to your ''Windows\Fonts'' folder. Refer to system documentation for other operating systems.

*Restart your computer (not necessary on Windows XP).

*In Windows, right click on your '''Desktop''', choose '''Properties''', go to '''Advanced''' tab, click on '''Effects''' and choose '''Cleartype''' as the ''method to smooth edges of screen fonts''.

*Change '''Character Encoding''' to '''UTF-8''' Unicode in your browser ('''VIEW-->ENCODING''' in most browsers).

*Go to '''Tools'''--> '''Options''', (--> '''Content''' in Firefox 1.5) click on '''Fonts''', choose '''Malithi Web''' as the default font.

==How to write Sinhala==

Line 25:

::::or

*If you have '''[http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx Windows XP Service Pack 2]''', install the Sinhala Enabling Pack for XP by clicking '''[http://www.mrt.ac.lk/sinhala/SinhalaXP0.4.zip here]''' (this has been developed by Microsoft and endorsed by the Sri Lankan government).

*This has been developed by Microsoft and endorsed by the Sri Lankan government.

*Read the instructions before you install it.

*It lets you toggle seamlessly between typing English and Sinhala using the language button on the task bar. This is, by far, the best solution. It uses the standard ''Wijesekera'' layout.

Line 34 ⟶ 33:

*If you don't have Windows XP SP2 but have an older version of Windows and Microsoft '''Office XP''', you can download the Sinhala Pack for Office XP '''[http://fonts.lk/download/skoff.html here]'''.

*This lets you type Sinhala documents in MSMicrosoft Word. You can copy and paste what you write in Wikipedia. YouNote: you will need to have your XP CD handy.

::::or

*If you are using a version of Windows other than XP SP2, you can use the [https://web.archive.org/web/20070320194110/http://www.sinhalasp.com/keyboard_driver.htm| FutureSinhala keyboard driver] to type in Sinhala unicode.

*It's a small background program that intercepts what you type and converts it to the Sinhala unicode format.

*You can type in phonetics, Wijeysekara layout or Singlish (ea kiyanne mehema type karana eka) and the program will type it in Sinhala on any open window (MS Word etc.).

::::or

*If you want to type in Sinhala using your Android smartphone, you can download the Helakuru Keyboard from the '''[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lk.bhasha.helakuru&hl=en Google Playstore]'''. If you don't have Google Playstore installed, then you can download the '''[https://everexstore.com/helakuru-sinhala-keyboard-apk/ Helakuru APK version]'''.

*Helakuru is a mostly used Keyboard app among Sri Lankans in 2020.

==Still having problems==

*[[Wikipedia talk:Sinhala Font Guide|Inform the other users]] about the problems you're having. Sinhala Unicode is relatively new and it may take a while to have universal support.

*We have found '''[httphttps://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.52.0.3]''' on Windows XP Service Pack 2 to deliver the best results.

*If you cannot read any Sinhala letters in the main page, correct the character encoding in your browser as we have explained.

*If the letters appear rough, change to Cleartype as described above.

==Why Unicode?==

*And not Kaputa or Kandy or eKottu? Unicode is the international standard for non-Latin scripts. It is Wikipedia's policy to use Unicode fonts in international sister sites. This is to ensure universal usability. You cannot use non Unicode fonts to search in Wikipedia. See other sister sites such as [http://ta.wikipedia.org Tamil Wikipedia] and [http://hi.wikipedia.org Hindi Wikipedia] to understand it'sits capabilities.

*Latest Linux distros come with Sinhala support by default(remember to select Sinhala while installing). Currently, Sinhala does not come built in with '''Windows XP''' unlike Tamil and Hindi. However, the beta versions of upcoming '''[http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx Windows Vista]''' comes with [http://jinath.weblogs.us/archives/031334.html Sinhala support] by default.

*There are also some complaints about the lack of ''pili''s in Sinhala Unicode. This is a misunderstanding due to the fact that some modifiers such as ''yansaya'' and ''repaya'' are not explicitly included in the Unicode code chart. However, these modifiers are included in the glyph tables and can be typed into documents using the appropriate combination of characters. The Sinhala keyboard layout recommended by [[Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka|ICTA]] include keys for both these modifiers.

*Feel free to discuss these issues [[Wikipedia talk:Sinhala Font Guide|herein the talk page]].

*Feel free to discuss these issues [[Wikipedia talk:Sinhala Font Guide|here]].

==Tips on Writing in Sinhala==

If you have Windows XP Service Pack 2, and you have installed the '''[http://www.mrt.ac.lk/sinhala/SinhalaXP0.4.zip Sinhala Enabling Pack for XP]''' (this has been developed by Microsoft and endorsed by the Sri Lankan government) then you can type Sinhala in the normal way(as if you are writing with hand). So, following tips does not apply for them. For example, if you need to type kolamba (කොළඹ) then you can type ''kombuwa + ka + aela pilla + la + mba''. No need to type as ''ka + kombuwa ha aela pilla + la + mba'' as shown below.

If you don't have it installed, please follow the following tips.

Following tips were formulated by looking at most common errors that has been done in writing using unicode sinhala. Please try to avoid the errors far as possible using the following tips. Feel free to add more tips on avoiding error as you find them (some of these are due to the lack of support for sinhala typing at the moment.)

* kombuwa (ෙ) should come after the consonant.

:ege.g.: gedara (ගෙදර) is written as: ga + kombuwa + da + ra but '''not''' as kombuwa + ga + da + ra.

* kombuwa haa aela pilla (ො) is a single composite modifier.

:ege.g.: kolamba (කොළඹ) is written as: ka + kombuwa ha aela pilla + la + mba but '''not''' as kombuwa + ka + aela pilla + la + mba.

* in the same lines all the modifiers ේ, ෛ, ො, ෝ, ෞ hashave their own single composites.

* rakaranshaya (්‍ර) is written as: hal kereema + zero width joiner(zwj) + ra

:ege.g.: prauda (ප්‍රෞඪ) is written as: pa + hal kereema + zwj + ra + kombuwa haa gayanukitta + ddha

* yansaya (්‍ය) is written as: hal kereema + zwj + ya

:ege.g.: udyoga (උද්‍යෝග) is written as: u + da + hal kereema + zwj + ya + kombuwa haa diga aela pilla + ga

* How to write binduwa?

=External links=

==External links==

*[http://www.info.lk/slword/ Kaputa Sinhahala Unicode Fonts for Windows, Linux and Mac]

*[http://sinhala.sourceforge.net/ Enabling Unicode Sinhala in Linux (Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu)]

*[http://sinhala.sourceforge.net/files/lklug.ttf LKLUG Unicode Sinhala font]

*[http://www.mrt.ac.lk/sinhala/short-word-list/FM-MalithiUW46.ttf Malithi Unicode font]

*[http://fonts.lk/download/SinhalaIE.html Sinhala plugin for Internet Explorer 6]

*[http://www.mrt.ac.lk/sinhala/SinhalaXP0.4.zip Sinhala Pack for Windows XP Service Pack 2]

*[http://sinhala-fonts.lk/download/skoff.htmlcom Sinhala Add-on for MS Office XPFonts]

*[https://sinhalafonts.lk Sinhala Fonts 2]

*[http://www.sinhalasp.com/keyboard_driver.htm SinhalaSP key board drver]

*[httphttps://www.unicode.org Unicode organisation]

*[http://groups.google.lk/group/Sinhala-Unicode?lnk=srgg&hl=si සිංහල යුනිකොඩ් සමූහය - Sinhala Unicode]

*[http://www.helabasa.com HelaBasa Sinhala Fonts with Wijesekara Keyboard for Windows 98, 2000, XP]

*[http://www.gnu.org/software/freefont/ GNU FreeFont] (FreeSerif has Sinhala range)

[[Category:Wikipedia multilingual support]]