How do I include greek characters in my document

[Matt]

I have a translation from English into Greek and I wish to document both
versions. How do i go about this?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Jay Freedman]

I have a translation from English into Greek and I wish to document both
versions. How do i go about this?

Thanks

Matt

The Symbol font (one of the core Windows fonts) includes the standard Greek
alphabet, at least the common letters used in mathematics, in the order that
corresponds to the English alphabet (a = alpha, b = beta, etc.).

Most common Unicode fonts, such as Arial, include a larger selection of Greek
characters, including ones with accents. But because they're in a section of the
font outside the normal keyboard characters, they're harder to use. See
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htm for help with this.

The best solution is to get an actual Greek font. Look at
http://www.google.de/search?q=greek+font+download&hl=en for a selection of sites
that offer such fonts.

 

[Klaus Linke]

The best solution is to get an actual Greek font.

Nitpicking: Arial and Times New Roman *are* "actual Greek fonts"...
You definitely don't want to use "Symbol" or some old Greek font with a
proprietary coding, but want to use Unicode, if you need actual Greek text,
rather than just a couple Greek symbols (say for math formulas).
There are some specialized (Unicode) fonts for polytonic Greek, but for
modern Greek, Arial/TNR will do fine.

If you need to type a lot of Greek text, install in Windows (Control Panel >
Regional and Language settings) Greek with a Greek keyboard layout.

Regards,
Klaus

 

[grammatim]

The Symbol font (one of the core Windows fonts) includes the standard Greek
alphabet, at least the common letters used in mathematics, in the order that
corresponds to the English alphabet (a = alpha, b = beta, etc.).

Most common Unicode fonts, such as Arial, include a larger selection of Greek
characters, including ones with accents. But because they're in a section of the
font outside the normal keyboard characters, they're harder to use. Seehttp://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htmfor help with this.

The best solution is to get an actual Greek font. Look athttp://www.google..de/search?q=greek+font+download&hl=enfor a selection of sites
that offer such fonts.

Symbol cannot be used for typing Greek, because it does not include
the final-sigma letter, and it does not include even the one accent-
mark used in Modern Greek.

If you have Arial and Tahoma and Times Roman, you don't need to get
any special fonts, but you need to activate the Greek IME and keyboard
in order to get at the Greek characters without typing your entire
file in the Insert Symbol tool.

To do that in Windows XP, go to Start > Control Panel > Regional and
Language Options > Language > Details > Add and choose Greek from the
dropdown list. then choose whichever keyboard you're used to. If
you're typing Classical Greek, you have to pick Polytonic Greek to get
all the accents.

Ok your way out, and you'll find you have a "Language Bar" down in
your status bar -- probably a little square that says EN. Click on
that and change it to EL Greek. You can also toggle between the
languages there by typing Alt-Shift.

To see the keyboard for typing Greek, go to Start > All Programs >
Accessories > Accessibility > On-Screen Keyboard. While you're in the
document where you want to type Greek, choose EL Greek as your input
language, and then when you move your cursor over the on-screen
keyboard, it changes to Greek. The accent for Modern Greek is on the Q
key. If you need all the Classical accents, it's a little more
complicated and you'll want the documentation from Microsoft's website.

 

[Matt]

Symbol cannot be used for typing Greek, because it does not include
the final-sigma letter, and it does not include even the one accent-
mark used in Modern Greek.

If you have Arial and Tahoma and Times Roman, you don't need to get
any special fonts, but you need to activate the Greek IME and keyboard
in order to get at the Greek characters without typing your entire
file in the Insert Symbol tool.

To do that in Windows XP, go to Start > Control Panel > Regional and
Language Options > Language > Details > Add and choose Greek from the
dropdown list. then choose whichever keyboard you're used to. If
you're typing Classical Greek, you have to pick Polytonic Greek to get
all the accents.

Ok your way out, and you'll find you have a "Language Bar" down in
your status bar -- probably a little square that says EN. Click on
that and change it to EL Greek. You can also toggle between the
languages there by typing Alt-Shift.

To see the keyboard for typing Greek, go to Start > All Programs >
Accessories > Accessibility > On-Screen Keyboard. While you're in the
document where you want to type Greek, choose EL Greek as your input
language, and then when you move your cursor over the on-screen
keyboard, it changes to Greek. The accent for Modern Greek is on the Q
key. If you need all the Classical accents, it's a little more
complicated and you'll want the documentation from Microsoft's website.

Could I just say thanks to everyone.

I have to start the transcription, using the extensive greek alphabet,
tomorrow.

I haven't tried any of the solutions yet but I will get back and let you
know which route was most appropriate for me.

Once again

Thanks

 

[StevenM]

To: Matt,

Of course, if you could find your passage online, you could simply cut and
paste the Greek text into Word.

-Steven Craig Miller

 

[Graham Mayor]

If you have a lot of Greek typing to do, you could buy a Greek pattern
keyboard or a Greek/English keyboard so that you can easily see the keyboard
layout, but a simple workaround until you become familiar with the layout is
to display the on-screen keyboard from Windows Start > All Programs >
Accessories > Accessibility, which will reflect the currently active
keyboard as described by Klaus.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Klaus Linke]

as described by Klaus.

.... done better by grammatim, who also described the on-screen keyboard.

Klaus

 

[grammatim]

If you have a lot of Greek typing to do, you could buy a Greek pattern
keyboard or a Greek/English keyboard so that you can easily see the keyboard
layout, but a simple workaround until you become familiar with the layout is
to display the on-screen keyboard from Windows Start > All Programs >
Accessories > Accessibility, which will reflect the currently active
keyboard as described by Klaus.

By whom?

 

[Graham Mayor]

By whom?

By both of you ... but if you are desparate for the credit, better by you

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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