Help:Multilingual support (Burmese)
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The Burmese script is used in Myanmar for the Burmese language and minority languages of Myanmar. Because of the underdevelopment of Myanmar and problems with the encoding system, support for this script is rare.
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[edit] Complex Text Support
Since the Burmese script derives from the Brahmi script, you need to enable complex text support to properly view Burmese script. To check whether you have enabled complex script support, you can use the following comparison. For instructions on how to enable complex text rendering, see Help:Multilingual support (Indic). Also, if you are a Windows user, you may need an updated Uniscribe version (XP SP2 and newer versions support Burmese) - for instructions on how to update Uniscribe, see this page.
(Note that this example uses the Unicode 5.1 model - for more information on the different models, see below.)
| Correct rendering | Your computer |
|---|---|
 |
ဃ + ြ → ဃြ |
[edit] Encoding models
In the history of Burmese on computers, there were many ways and problems to deal with the complex features required by this script.
In Unicode 1.0, the range the Burmese script is now using was used for Tibetan script. However, it was removed in Unicode 1.1, and readded in Unicode 2.0 in a different range. No Unicode fonts that assume the 1.0 encoding are known, so problems with this are not to be expected.
Burmese script was officially encoded in Unicode 3.0. It didn't get much use, and many websites continued to use images or propretiary fonts to support the Burmese script. The encoding was deemed inappropriate for minority scripts of Burma, and so a new model was introduced in Unicode 5.1. Because of this, Unicode Myanmar sites are split between these two and other propretiary encoding models, which makes proper viewing of the Burmese script even harder.
[edit] Fonts
There are various Unicode fonts which contain Burmese script.
- Code2000 contains Burmese based on the older 3.0 model, however because of a misnomer, it does not support complex text rendering and is not recommended for Burmese display.
- Myanmar1 is a Burmese font based on the older 3.0 model. It contains working OpenType layout tables.
- PadaukOT is a font developed by SIL International, based on the newer 5.1 model. It contains Graphite and OpenType layout tables to support the complex features of the Burmese script.
- MyMyanmar is a popular font too, however it uses its own propretiary encoding model and is not recommended for creating Burmese documents.
- Currently three Myanmar Fonts (Padauk, Parabaik and Myanmar3) competable with Unicode 5.1 are available under open license [1].
[edit] Keyboarding in Burmese
There is a Keyman keyboard layout available from ThanLwinSoft, and you can download a Windows keyboard file from the Myanmar Unicode research center. If you can't use either for some reason, you can use the character map to enter Burmese.
[edit] Myanmar Text Input
Instead of mapping keyboard layout character directly, phonetic input method use romanize word to represent Myanmar syllable. It is easier to input Myanmar script for beginer. [2] input system choose appropriate character and generally work for most Myanmar font in Unicode as well as in ASCII. [3] is portable Windows plugin (using some form of key remapping script) which enables input of Burmese syllables using an N-gram romanized input model. [4] is an ASP.NET server control that lets the user enter Myanmar character text phonetically or as in typewriter layout. The demo version of BurglishTextBox allow to enter Myanmar script online without installing any software.
[edit] External links
- Unicode Technical Notes on rendering the Burmese script - This is a detailed document which describes both the old and new rendering model.
- ThanLwinSoft downloads - This download pages contains just about anything related to Unicode Burmese.
- Myanmar Unicode research center
