© 2012 by Edward H. Trager. All Rights Reserved. Released January 11, 2012.
Key Curry’s International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) input method allows you to type the full complement of IPA letters, diacritical marks, and symbols. In addition to the bona fide IPA characters, Key Curry’s IPA method also allows you to enter lower-case and upper-case Greek letters and a large selection of superscripted Latin and some superscripted Greek characters.
Key Curry’s IPA input method uses two concepts in order to simplify the input of IPA characters. First, to the extent possible, Key Curry uses accessory keys that “look like” the marks or additional strokes needed to complete a character:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| l ~ | ɫ |
| n ) | ŋ |
| i - | ɨ |
Secondly, Key Curry’s IPA input method uses a set of keys that behave like operators which perform specialized functions such as “flipping,” “reversing,” “superscripting,” or “converting to Greek.” For example:
| Operator | Function | Type | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| . | Turn upside down | . e | ə |
| , | Reverse left-to-right | , e | ɘ |
| ! | Convert to Greek equivalent | ! e | ε |
| # | Convert a capital to small capital | # R | ʀ |
| + | Put on top | e + v | ě |
| _ (underscore) | Put on bottom | t _ [ | t̪ |
| $ | Superscript | p $ h | pʰ |
| * | Remove dot (or something else) | i * | ɩ |
Moreover, these operators can be combined as you might expect:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| t $ . h | tᶣ |
| a $ . ? * | aˁ |
| o ) _ . c | ɔ̹ |
A high degree of consistency in the use of “look-alike” keys to complete diacritics and character strokes combined with the set of functional “operator” keys make Key Curry’s IPA method extremely easy to learn and use.
Finally, Key Curry’s IPA input method has been designed so that you can type ordinary Latin letters as easily as on a straight QWERTY keyboard layout, while still having the ability to type IPA phonetics as needed without having to constantly switch between different keyboard layout methods. This should make the method preferrable to other IPA input methods such as the “ASCII-IPA” keyboard layout method.
“Operator” keys transform characters from one form into another related form. Some operator keys are typed first and transform the character that is typed next. Other operator keys modify the previously-typed character. Here is a table of the operator keys with descriptions of operation and examples:
| Operator | Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ! | Convert subsequent Latin letter to Greek equivalent. | “ ! b ” → “β” “ ! u ” → “θ” “ ! g ” → “γ” |
| # | Convert subsequent capital letter to the small capital form | “ # G ” → “ɢ” “ # I ” → “ɪ” “ # O E ” → “ɶ” |
| . | Rotate subsequent character so that it is upside-down | “ . e ” → “ə” “ . k ” → “ʞ” “ . v ” → “ʌ” |
| , | Reverse or mirror subsequent character around the vertical axis | “ , e ” → “ɘ” |
| + | Put subsequent symbols or characters on top of previous character | “ # I + : ” → “ɪ̈” “ n ) + ' ' ” → “ŋ̋” “ . m + x ” → “ɯ̽” |
| _ | Put subsequent symbols or characters below the previous character | “ n _ % ” → “n̥” “ t _ m ” → “t̼” “ d _ [ ] ” → “d̻” |
| * | Remove a dot or possibly some other portion of the previous character | “ i * ” → “ɩ” “ ? * ” → “ʔ” “ r * ” → “ɾ” |
| $ | Convert subsequent character or symbols to a superscript form | “ p $ h ” → “pʰ” “ t $ . h ” → “tᶣ” “ a $ , ? * ” → “aˁ” |
| prefixed ( | (1) Adds a right-facing concave curved stroke
to the left side of the next character. or (2) Modifies the next character so that the left-side has a more curved or cursive appearance. |
“ ( a ” → “ɑ” “ ( e ” → “ɛ” “ ( h ” → “ɦ” |
| postfixed ( | Adds a right-facing concave curved stroke or hook to the right side of the just-entered character | “ n ( ” → “ɳ” “ r ( ” → “ɽ” “ . e ( ” → “ɚ” |
| prefixed ) | Adds a left-facing concave curved stroke to the left side of the subsequently-entered character. | “ ) n ” → “ɲ” “ ) . h ” → “ʮ” |
| postfixed ) | (1) Adds a left-facing concave curved stroke
or hook on the right side of the just-entered character
or (2) Modifies the just-entered character so that the right-side has a more cursive appearance |
“ n ) ” → “ŋ” “ ( h ) ” → “ɧ” “ g ) ” → “ɡ” |
| @ | Adds a loop or curl to the previous character. | “ j @ ” → “ʝ” “ d z @ ” → “ʥ” “ z ) @ ” → “ʓ” |
| ; | (1) Adds a cedilla or small hook to the previous character
or (2) Sometimes used to add a small hook to the previous character when the preferred “(” or “)” operator cannot be used (e.g., cf. “ɖ” vs. “ɗ ”) |
“ c ; ” → “ç” “ d ; ” → “ɖ” “ o $ t ; ” → “oᶵ” |
| postfixed | | Stretch or add a long stroke to the previous character | “ t | ” → “ʈ” “ t s | ” → “ʧ” “ . m | ” → “ɰ” |
| prefixed | | (1) Used to enter IPA click symbols (2) Also used to enter vertical up/down arrow symbols | “ | . ” → “ʘ” “ | + ” → “ǂ” “ | v ” → “↓” |
| prefixed > | Used to enter IPA vowel and consonant length symbols | “ a > < ” → “aː” (long) “ i > ” → “iˑ”(half long) “ o > u ” → “ŏ” (breve) |
| prefixed & | Used to enter IPA tone letters. | “ & t ” → “˥” “ & h ” → “˦” “ & m ” → “˧” |
Key Curry’s IPA input method also allows you to input the basic lower-case and upper-case Greek alphabet. As noted in the table in §2 above, the prefixed exclamation point operator “!” is used to convert a Latin letter into the corresponding Greek letter.
As the correspondance between the Latin and Greek alphabets on the keyboard is not entirely one-to-one, the following Greek layout (over a QWERTY keyboard) will help you memorize the key locations for Greek letters that don't have a direct mapping in Latin.
The following table shows key input sequences for a variety of punctuation marks and other symbols:
| Type | Result | Punctuation & Symbols |
|---|---|---|
| ` ` | “ | Typographic opening double quotation mark |
| ' ' | ” | Typographic closing double quotation mark |
| ' | ’ | Typographic apostrophe (right single quotation mark) |
| ' 0 | ' | ASCII apostrophe |
| . ! | ¡ | Inverted exclamation mark |
| . ? | ¿ | Inverted question mark |
| < < | ⟨ | Opening angle bracket |
| > > | ⟩ | Closing angle bracket |
| < < < | « | Opening guillemet |
| > > > | » | Closing guillemet |
| < | < | ASCII less-than sign |
| > 0 | > | ASCII greater-than sign |
| , P | | ¶ | Pilcrow |
| ( S S ) | § | Section symbol |
| ( ) | ◌ | Dotted circle |
| Type | Result | Arrow Symbols |
| -> | → | Right-pointing arrow |
| | v | ↓ | Downstep (longer symbol) |
| | v * | ꜜ | Downstep (shorter symbol) |
| | ^ | ↑ | Upstep (longer symbol) |
| | ^ * | ꜛ | Upstep (shorter symbol) |
| \ v | ↘ | Global fall |
| / ^ | ↗ | Global rise |
Most retroflex consonants are created by typing “(” after the base consonant:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| s ( | ʂ |
| z ( | ʐ |
| n ( | ɳ |
However, a few exceptions are necessary in order to avoid key entry conflicts with other characters, or were deemed more appropriate based on the visual appearance of the characters:
| Type | Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| d ; | ɖ | Key entry sequence required to avoid conflict with “ d ( ” sequence for “ ɗ ” |
| t | | ʈ | Looks like a “stretched t” |
A fairly intuitive two-key sequence can also be used to enter the independent IPA rhotic diacritic:
| Type | Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| - ( | ◌˞ | IPA rhotic diacritic |
The combining retroflex hook below “◌̢” is also entered as you might expect:
| Type | Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| _ ( | ◌̢ | Combining retroflex hook below |
Most IPA implosive consonants have a hook at the top, and are thus also created using “(”. If the hook occurs on the left side of the consonant, then “(” is typed before the base consonant, just as if you were writing the consonant by hand on paper; “ɓ” is an example. If the hook occurs on the right side of the consonant, then “(” is typed after the consonant, again just as if you were writing the consonant on paper:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| ( b | ɓ |
| d ( | ɗ |
| # G ( | ʛ |
The voiced palatal implosive is typographically a dotless lowercase letter “j” with a horizontal stroke. However because it also looks very much like a lowercase letter esh “ʃ” with a horizontal stroke, two methods of entry have been implemented:
| Type | Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| j * - ( | ʄ | Entry based on typographic derivation from lowercase letter “j” |
| s | ( | ʄ | Entry based on visual similarity to lowercase letter esh “ʃ” |
Should you ever need the voiced retroflex implosive, this can also be entered in two ways:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| d ( ( | ᶑ |
| d ; ( | ᶑ |
Key Curry’s IPA input method allows you to enter affricates using a tie bar. After entering the first consonant, type “ + { ” to place a tie bar “ ◌͡ ” and then enter the second consonant:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| t + { s | t͡s |
| d + { z ) | d͡ʒ |
| t + { c @ | t͡ɕ |
| n ) + { m | ŋ͡m |
Alternatively, you can enter ligatures. Key Curry will automatically construct affricate ligatures when these ligatures are available in Unicode:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| d z | ʣ |
| d z ) | ʤ |
| d z @ | ʥ |
| t c @ | ʨ |
| t s | ʦ |
| t s | | ʧ |
Most vowels are entered just as you would expect. Here are a few to take note of:
| Type | Result |
|---|---|
| ( u | ʊ |
| o / | ø |
| o - | ɵ |
| )( | ɤ |
| . ( e | ɜ |
| ( . ( e | ɞ |
| ( o | ɔ |
| . c | ɔ |
| ( a | ɑ |
| . ( a | ɒ |
IPA (Chao) tone letters are entered using the ampersand prefix operator, “&” followed by a single letter representing the tone as follows: “t” for “top” (extra high), “h” for “high”, “m” for “mid”, “l” for “low” and “b” for “bottom” (extra low):
| Type | Result | Description |
|---|---|---|
| & t | ˥ | Top (extra high) tone letter |
| & h | ˦ | High tone letter |
| & m | ˧ | Mid tone letter |
| & l | ˨ | Low tone letter |
| & b | ˩ | Bottom (extra low) tone letter |
Depending on your fonts and font software environment, IPA tone letters written in succession may combine to form tone contour symbols.