Writing On a Mac
- Go to Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Click Language & Text, and then click Input Sources.
- Select the checkbox(es) next to the input sources or keyboards you want to use.
- Be sure to check the “Keyboard and Character Viewer” box as well.
- At the bottom, select the “Show Input menu in menu bar” checkbox.
Writing on a PC
The Hebrew keyboard is provided by Logos Systems to make writing Hebrew intuitive for English speakers. Hebrew letters are mapped as nearly as possible to their phonetic English equivalents. Occasionally this is not possible due to lack of a phonetic equivalent (e.g. the Hebrew khet) or multiple letters with a somewhat similar sound (e.g. tau and tet). In these cases, a key whose English sound has no equivalent in the other language is used for one of the letters.
The link on this page allows you to download the keyboard and learn the key assignments. Additional information is provided about installing the keyboard and configuring your computer to provide you with spoken feedback regarding the characters while typing or reading by letter.
Download the Keyboard
Download the Hebrew keyboard by pressing enter on the link and choosing save. Do not run them from this site. These are executable files.
Logos Biblical Hebrew keyboard
Use the Hebrew Key Map to learn the keyboard layout.
After the download completes, click on the file you downloaded. It will run a program and extract the keyboard files to a folder on your computer. You will then need to go to this folder and select the installation program to run. This program will configure your computer for input in that language.
Enabling Greek Typing on a PC
To enable Greek typing on your PC:
- Go to settings.
- Go to region and language.
- If you don’t see Greek already available in language entry, click add a language. Uncheck the box that asks if you want to use this language for system display. Do not add a language pack.
- Choose Greek.
- Once Greek is showing in the language entry options, highlight it. Then:
- Click options and choose polytonic keyboard.
- Restart your computer.
To toggle between Greek and English keyboards, press alt+left shift key.
The keys on the Greek keyboard are primarily mapped to phonetic assignments. A few are not. Note the following keys:
η |
h |
θ |
u |
ξ |
j |
ς |
w |
υ |
y |
χ |
x |
ψ |
c |
ω |
v |
Breathings and accent marks are produced in Greek by entering the accent before the vowel. They will not show on the braille display until both the accent key and the vowel have been pressed. If you make a mistake and follow the accent key with a consonant or unsupported vowel, you will see the punctuation mark and the other key. The key assignments for these are as follows:
| Greek Accent or Symbol | Key Assignment | Examples | |
| smooth breathing on a vowel with no accent | ‘ apostrophe | ‘a ‘e ‘h ‘i ‘o ‘y ‘v = ἀ ἐ ἠ ἰ ὀ ὐ ὠ |
|
| rough breathing on a vowel with no accent | ” quote | “a “e “h “i “o “y “v = ἁ ἑ ἡ ἱ ὁ ὑ ὡ |
|
| acute | ; semicolon | ;a ;e ;h ;i ;o ;y ;v = ά έ ή ί ό ύ ώ |
|
| smooth breathing with acute | / slash | /a /e /h /i /o /y /v = ἄ ἔ ἤ ἴ ὄ ὔ ὤ |
|
| rough breathing with acute | ? question mark | ?a ?e ?h ?i ?o ?y ?v = ἅ ἕ ἥ ἵ ὅ ὕ ὥ |
|
| grave | ] right bracket | ]a ]e ]h ]i ]o ]y ]v = ὰ ὲ ὴ ὶ ὸ ὺ ὼ |
|
| smooth breathing with grave | \ backslash | \a \e \h \i \o \y \v = ἂ ἒ ἢ ἲ ὂ ὒ ὢ |
|
| rough breathing with grave | | vertical bar | |a |e |h |i |o |y |v = ἃ ἓ ἣ ἳ ὃ ὓ ὣ |
|
| circumflex | [ left bracket | [a [h [i [y [v =ᾶ ῆ ῖ ῦ ῶ |
|
| smooth breathing with circumflex | = equal | =a =h =i =y =v ἆ ἦ ἶ ὖ ὦ |
|
| rough breathing with circumflex | + plus | +a +h +i +y +v | ἇ ἧ ἷ ὗ ὧ |
| iota subscript with no accent | { = shift left bracket | {a {h {v = ᾳ ῃ ῳ |
|
| iota subscript with accents and breathing marks | add alt to key assignments (alt+semicolon, alt+right bracket, alt+equal, etc, followed by letter) | alt+’, a = ᾀ, alt+[, h = ῇ; alt+], h = ῂ; alt+shift+=, h = ᾗ; alt+=, v = ᾦ |
About language packs: Do not confuse language packs with necessities for language input. Language packs have a truly important place; but that place is not for the biblical scholar. These allow for converting the Windows interface (menus, help system, and all) into other language. Very useful for people who need it, but this has nothing to do with typing in Greek or Hebrew.