While braille does not use phonetic transcription in the representation of languages, symbols for use in languages are based to some degree on phonetic representation. This provides people some degree of consistency when learning to read in a new language. However, it presents problems when a symbol deviates from this practice. For example, the symbol traditionally used for the letter a in English and the letter alpha in Greek, which makes the sound “ah” across many other languages, represents aleph in Hebrew. The “ah” sound in Hebrew is generally represented by the qamets, which in braille is the same symbol that is used for the letter c in Romance languages. In Greek this symbol represents an epsilon with a circumflex accent, which makes the sound heard in the word “egg.”
There are numerous other examples of such letter-sound inconsistencies that a blind person may encounter as he/she learns multiple languages. While a sighted learner struggles to learn where to place diacritics, a blind learner may struggle to learn which symbol makes which sound. To further complicate matters, keyboard placement may not help at all. I have placed the keyboard layouts of the Logos biblical Greek keyboard and the Windows polytonic Greek keyboard below as examples. Note the comparison of the letter, the braille symbol, and the keyboard assignment. In some cases, the person must remember the correspondence of three separate symbols and sounds that have nothing to do with one another.
If you are assisting a person in choosing a keyboard, these things may be important to understand. Some people are ready to confront the challenge while others need the best phonetic support so that they can concentrate on learning the grammar and syntax–later they may choose to venture into new keyboard territory.
Note to blind users: The table on this page compares two keyboards. Please make use of your screen reader’s table navigation features to obtain the best information from it.
| Logos Key Assignment | Win 7 Key Assignment | Braille Symbol | Greek Letter | Letter Name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | a | α | alpha | |
| b | b | b | β | beta | |
| g | g | g | γ | gamma | d | d | d | δ | delta |
| e | e | e | ε | epsilon | |
| z | z | z | ζ | zeta | |
| q | u | ? (th blend symbol in English braille) | θ | theta | |
| h | h | : (wh blend in English braille) | η | eta | |
| i | i | i | ι | iota | |
| k | k | k | κ | kappa | |
| l | l | l | λ | lamda | |
| m | m | m | μ | mu | |
| n | n | ν | nu | ||
| o | o | o | ο | omicron | |
| p | p | p | π | pi | |
| r | r | r | ρ | rho | |
| s | s | s | σ | sigma | |
| v | w | s</td | ς | final sigma | final sigma |
| t | t | t | τ | tau | |
| y | u | y | u | υ | upsilon |
| f | f | f | φ | phi | |
| x | j | x | ξ | xi | |
| c | x | & (and symbol in English braille) | χ | chi | |
| w | v | w | ω | omega |
On the Logos keyboard:
- Letters are arranged phonetically as much as possible. The v key is assigned to the letter final sigma, which appears differently in print but is the same character in braille as regular sigma. The w key is assigned to the letter omega.
- To form accented letters, use the following key assignments:
- slash for acute
- backslash for grave
- shift+grave (tilde) for circumflex
- When adding breathing marks, type the letter followed by the breathing mark followed by any accent needed.
Letters on the Windows keyboard follow a visual rather than phonetic similarity, though phonetic correspondences have been maintained where possible. Diacritics are assigned to the punctuation keys on the right side of the keyboard. To enter them, type the diacritic key followed by the letter. I illustrate below using alpha. Substitute a different vowel and you will get the same results on that vowel.
‘a ἀ
“a ἁ
;a ά
/a ἄ
?a ἅ
[a ᾶ
=a ἆ
+a ἇ
]a ὰ
a ἂ
|a ἃ
{a ᾳ