8.4. How to write in Indic Languages

Most Indic languages have 3 types of keymaps, namely:

Inscript - This keymap is defined according to the Government standards.
Phonetic - A phonetic keymap has keys mapped according to the sound of the alphabet. For example, for Hindi, "क" is mapped to "k"
Itrans - An Itrans keymap is similar to phonetic - but has all the combined half characters (halants) mapped separately. There are no halants in Itrans.

Other keymaps are language dependant. For example, many languages have:

Typewriter - A keymap which functions like an actual typewriter
Language specific - Popular keymaps from the community - KGP for Kannada, Tamil99 for Tamil, etc.

To write in an Indic language perform the following:

Start the application you wish to write in and press CTRL and SPACE keys simultaneously to start SCIM. A SCIM toolbar will be displayed on the right corner of your screen from which you can select your desired language as illustrated in Figure 8.10, “SCIM Toolbar - Indic”. Please note that your default language may vary depending on your language settings. To stop SCIM, press the CTRL and SPACE keys simultaneously again.

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Figure 8.10. SCIM Toolbar - Indic
To change your language, click on the displayed language or keymap and select your language and type of keymap from the list of languages displayed as illustrated in figure Figure 7.2, “SCIM language menu”. You can now start typing in your selected language. Please note that your language menu may vary depending on your language settings.
To access help for a particular keymap, select the keymap and click on the Help icon on the SCIM toolbar. This will pop-up a dialog box, displaying the help associated with the current keymap.