CLASSICAL GREEK UNICODE

WELCOME TO THE CLASSICAL GREEK UNICODE WEBSITE

What is it?

A free keyboard to type classical Greek in any Unicode application, such as Notepad or Microsoft Word97 or later. (Works best in Windows 2000 or XP, but will also function in 98 or ME.) The keyboard allows you to use the new standard Unicode character set to type and edit ancient Greek easily--with the full polytonic character set. The keyboard is compatible with the old “BetaCode” Greek typing system. One of the main advantages of Unicode is the ability to exchange documents with others without their needing special proprietary translating software, something that was not possible for classical Greek before: all that's needed is a standard Unicode program. Any required fonts can be embedded with the document (Tools, Options, Save, Embed TrueType fonts). Unlike the old ANSI schemes for classical Greek and other non-Latin alphabets, the user can change the font without losing the underlying data. If you don't know what Unicode is, see some of the websites below, and the Unicode site:
http://www.unicode.org

The best introduction on the usefulness of Unicode for users of classical Greek is this review by Prof. Rusten:
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/classics/Faculty/Rusten/unicode/review.htm

For the Unicode charts, showing each character and its Unicode hex value, see
http://www.unicode.org/charts/

Quick summary of advantages over other Greek keyboards:

· The accents are entered after the vowels, so you can see the results as you type (e.g., see the addition of a smooth breathing mark to alpha, then a circumflex, then an iota subscript).

· Combine accents as you wish, and the result is always a fully precomposed Unicode Greek character (Unicode Normalization form “C”).

· You can change, add, or remove accents or breathing marks easily (and visually see the changes as you do them).

· Medial sigma is automatically converted to final sigma at the end of a word.

· Usable in any standard Unicode application (with Windows NT, 2000, or XP).

· Compatible with widely-used TLG/Perseus “Beta Code” key assignments. Alternate keyboard also provided.

· In Windows 2000 or XP, does not require macros or add-ins, but directly enters Unicode text into any application window, text box, field, dialog box, etc.

How can I download the program?

Click below to download the latest version (about 1.9 MB). This includes the Keyman program, a Greek font test Word document, and the free Greek keyboard.
http://members.aol.com/AtticGreek/GreekClassical.zip

If you have already installed the program Tavultesoft Keyman 6.x, you can right-click on the link below to save the keyboard file to your drive (about 10 KB), and then double-click the file to install.
http://members.aol.com/AtticGreek/GreekClassical.kmp

More information on Keyman, a powerful program for creating Unicode keyboards, is available at:
http://www.tavultesoft.com/keyman

To see the visual layout of the keyboard, click below:
http://members.aol.com/AtticGreek/GreekClassical.html

To read the installation directions, click below:
http://members.aol.com/AtticGreek/readme.txt

Here is a list of frequently asked questions:
http://members.aol.com/AtticGreek/faq.txt

Font information

Besides Palatino Linotype (bundled with Windows 2000 and XP), another good font is the free Cardo unicode font. Note that although the screen appearance of Cardo is not good, at least in version 0.71 of the font, it prints very well. You can download it here:
http://scholarsfonts.net/cardofnt.html