Note on Legacy SIL Ethiopic Keyboard Compatibility

The original “SIL Ethiopic” used alternative capital letter keys to produce less frequently used characters. These alternative capital letter keys are still able to be used, but an alternative method for creating these less frequently used characters has been added.

The preferred method for creating these less frequently used characters is by using the “[” key after the letter key to produce the desired character.

For example, to create “ሥ” the chart shows “s [ or J”. To produce this character using the preferred method, first press the “s” key, and then press the “[” key. Alternatively, a capital “J” can be typed to produce the “ሥ” character.

As another example, to create “ፅ” the chart shows “T [ or Y”. To produce this character using the preferred method, first type a capital “T”, and then press the “[” key. Alternatively, a capital “Y” can be typed to produce the “ፅ” character.

Syllables (including diphthongs)

First type the keystrokes from the leftmost column, followed by the keystrokes at the top of the column. For example, to produce “ሀ” first press the “h” key, and then press the “v” key. To produce “ሄ” first press the “h” key, and then press the “e” key. The default form is the 6th form (you do not need to type the “-” key).

keys:

v

u

i

a

e

-

o

O

A

U

I

E

W

h

l

H

m

s [ or J

r

s

S

q

Q

b

B

t

c

h [ or L

n

N

x

k

H [ or K

w

X

z

Z

y

d

D

j

g

G

T

C

P

t [ or F

T [ or Y

f

p

S #

c #

Z #

C #

q #

k #

H [ # or K#

g #

C =

P =

s =

z =

D =

Ethiopic Numbers

The keystrokes are at the top of the column.

keys:

1 *

2 *

3 *

4 *

5 *

6 *

7 *

8 *

keys:

keys:

Punctuation

The keystrokes are at the top of the column.

keys:

:

: :

: -

: .

.

. .

. . .

. /

,

, ,

keys:

Diacritics

First create the desired syllable, then add the diacritic by typing the keystrokes at the top of the column.

keys:

. :

. '

. "

. 1

. 2

. 3

. 4

. 5

. 6

. 7

. 8

. 9

The MIT License (MIT)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.