Bengali input methods
Encyclopedia
Bengali input methods refer to different systems developed to type Bengali language
characters using a typewriter or a computer keyboard.
is designed in order to type all the indic scripts with a uniform layout on computer. This layout is officially accepted by Microsoft Corporation and is provided by default in their Windows
operating system
. This layout is mainly popular in India.
has support for Bornona, Avro Easy, National (Jatiyo), Munir, Probhat and UniBijoy fixed keyboard layout. Fixed keyboard layouts can be added & removed as plug-in.
. Akkhor implemented first Bangla transliteration system for Bengali
. The free Unicode/ANSI-based Akkhor Keyboard has support for Akkhor Phonetic, National (Jatiyo) fixed keyboard layouts. Akkhor also provided customization feature for designing fixed keyboard layouts. It provides Keyboard Manager which works system wide and also provide independent Akkhor Word processor.
, developed by Mehdi Hasan Khan, was first released on 26 March 2003 for free
. It facilitates both fixed and phonetic layouts. Avro phonetic allows a user to write Bengali
by typing the phonetic formation of the words in English language keyboards. It is the most popular and widely used Bangla input system especially by the diaspora who do not have access to a physical Bangla keyboard.
On April 2010, the Avro Keyboard faced a conflict with Bijoy.
by typing the phonetic formation of the words in English language keyboards. This is the first phonetic input method developed for Mac OS X.
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
characters using a typewriter or a computer keyboard.
Typewriter
In the 1960s, Munier Choudhury created the first scientifically analysed key layout for typewriters. The Remington typewriting company marketed a series of Bengali typewriters under the brand name "Munier Optima".Fixed computer layouts
With the advent of graphical user interfaces and word processing in the 1980s, a number of computer typing systems for Bengali were created. Most of these were originally based on Apple Macintosh systems.Bengali Inscript
This keyboard layoutKeyboard layout
A keyboard layout is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key–meaning associations of a computer, typewriter, or other typographic keyboard....
is designed in order to type all the indic scripts with a uniform layout on computer. This layout is officially accepted by Microsoft Corporation and is provided by default in their Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. This layout is mainly popular in India.
Shahidlipi
Saif Shahid initiated the development of the first computer Bengali keyboard layout for Apple Mac computers in 1983. A complete Mac-based system was marketed in 1985 from Beximco Computers.Probhat
A free Unicode-based bangla fixed layout. Probhat is included in almost Linux OS(s). Its key mapping is similar to Phonetic pattern but typing method is fully Fixed.| Probhat Layout Key Mapping | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual Roman Key | Probhat Mapped Key | ||
| Unshifted | Shifted | Unshifted | Shifted |
| ` (back quote) | ~ (tilde) | ZWJ (U+200D) | ~ (tilde) |
| 1 | ! | ১ (U+09E7) | ! |
| 2 | @ (at sign) | ২ (U+09E8) | @ (at sign) |
| 3 | # (hash/number) | ৩ (U+09E9) | # (hash/number) |
| 4 | $ (dollar) | ৪ (U+09EA) | ৳ (U+09F3) |
| 5 | % (percent) | ৫ (U+09EB) | % (percent) |
| 6 | ^ (caret) | ৬ (U+09EC) | ^ (caret) |
| 7 | & (ampersand) | ৭ (U+09ED) | ঞ (U+099E) |
| 8 | * (asterisk) | ৮ (U+09EE) | ৎ (U+09CE) |
| 9 | ( | ৯ (U+09EF) | ( |
| 0 | ) | ০ (U+09E6) | ) |
| Usual Roman Key | Probhat Mapped Key | ||
| Unshifted | Shifted | Unshifted | Shifted |
| q | Q | দ (U+09A6) | ধ (U+09A7) |
| w | W | ূ (U+09C2) | ঊ (U+098A) |
| e | E | ী (U+09C0) | ঈ (U+0988) |
| r | R | র (U+09B0) | ড় (U+09DC) |
| t | T | ট (U+099F) | ঠ (U+09A0) |
| y | Y | এ (U+098F) | ঐ (U+0990) |
| u | U | ু (U+09C1) | উ (U+0989) |
| i | I | ি (U+09BF) | ই (U+0987) |
| o | O | ও (U+0993) | ঔ (U+0994) |
| p | P | প (U+09AA) | ফ (U+09AB) |
| [ | { | ে (U+09C7) | ৈ (U+09C8) |
| ] | } | ো (U+09CB) | ৌ (U+09CC) |
| \ (backslash) | | (vertical bar) | ZWNJ (U+200C) | ॥ (U+0965) |
| Usual Roman Key | Probhat Mapped Key | ||
| Unshifted | Shifted | Unshifted | Shifted |
| a | A | া (U+09BE) | অ (U+0985) |
| s | S | স (U+09B8) | ষ (U+09B7) |
| d | D | ড (U+09A1) | ঢ (U+09A2) |
| f | F | ত (U+09A4) | থ (U+09A5) |
| g | G | গ (U+0997) | ঘ (U+0998) |
| h | H | হ (U+09B9) | ঃ (U+0983) |
| j | J | জ (U+099C) | ঝ (U+099D) |
| k | K | ক (U+0995) | খ (U+0996) |
| l | L | ল (U+09B2) | ং (U+0982) |
| Usual Roman Key | Probhat Mapped Key | ||
| Unshifted | Shifted | Unshifted | Shifted |
| z | Z | য় (U+09DF) | য (U+09AF) |
| x | X | শ (U+09B6) | ঢ়(U+09DD) |
| c | C | চ (U+099A) | ছ (U+099B) |
| v | V | আ (U+0986) | ঋ (U+098B) |
| b | B | ব (U+09AC) | ভ (U+09AD) |
| n | N | ন (U+09A8) | ণ (U+09A3) |
| m | M | ম (U+09AE) | ঙ (U+0999) |
| , (comma) | < (less) | , (comma) | ৃ (U+09C3) |
| . (period) | > (greater) | । (U+0964) | ঁ (U+0981) |
| / (slash) | ? (question) | ্ (U+09CD) | ? (question) |
Bijoy
Ananda Computers, owned by Mustafa Jabbar marketed the Bijoy keyboard layout in 1988. This was the most popular keyboard layout in Bangladesh in the 1990s. Bijoy is a proprietary, ASCII based Bangla input software and requires purchase of a license to use on every computer.Akkhor Bangla
The free Unicode/ANSI-based Akkhor Keyboard has support for Akkhor Phonetic, National (Jatiyo) fixed keyboard layout. It also has keyboard customization options.Avro
The free Unicode/ANSI-based Avro KeyboardAvro Keyboard
Avro Keyboard is a free and open source, graphical keyboard layout changer for the Microsoft Windows operating system, Ubuntu and other flavours of Linux. It is the first free Unicode and ANSI-compliant Bengali keyboard interface for Windows that was published on 26 March 2003...
has support for Bornona, Avro Easy, National (Jatiyo), Munir, Probhat and UniBijoy fixed keyboard layout. Fixed keyboard layouts can be added & removed as plug-in.
Shabdik
Support for National (Jatiyo), Munir, Probhat, Rupali, Incript and UniJoy fixed keyboard layouts is available in free Unicode/ANSI-based Shabdik software.Akkhor
Akkhor Bangla Software, developed by Khan Md. Anwarus Salam, was first released on 1 January 2003 for freeFreeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
. Akkhor implemented first Bangla transliteration system for Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
. The free Unicode/ANSI-based Akkhor Keyboard has support for Akkhor Phonetic, National (Jatiyo) fixed keyboard layouts. Akkhor also provided customization feature for designing fixed keyboard layouts. It provides Keyboard Manager which works system wide and also provide independent Akkhor Word processor.
Avro
Avro KeyboardAvro Keyboard
Avro Keyboard is a free and open source, graphical keyboard layout changer for the Microsoft Windows operating system, Ubuntu and other flavours of Linux. It is the first free Unicode and ANSI-compliant Bengali keyboard interface for Windows that was published on 26 March 2003...
, developed by Mehdi Hasan Khan, was first released on 26 March 2003 for free
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
. It facilitates both fixed and phonetic layouts. Avro phonetic allows a user to write Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
by typing the phonetic formation of the words in English language keyboards. It is the most popular and widely used Bangla input system especially by the diaspora who do not have access to a physical Bangla keyboard.
On April 2010, the Avro Keyboard faced a conflict with Bijoy.
Shabdik
Shabdik is a free software from IECB that has both fixed keyboard layout and phonetic support.Mayabi
Mayabi Bangla Keyboard is the first on screen Bengali/Bangla soft keyboard for Android platform with phonetic support released on March 18, 2011. This is first version of Mayabi Bangla Keyboard with phonetic input support only. Later on new version Mayabi Keyboard released on October 29, 2011 with both phonetic input support and fixed keyboard layout. The fixed keyboard layout was made after lot of analysis on frequency of character appearance in Bengali scripts. Most frequent characters are placed on normal(non-shifted) layout and remaining others placed on shifted key layout that people can write fast with less key presses. Bengali word dictionary with almost 250000 words of most frequent words from Bengali scripts included with the keyboard as well for word prediction. This keyboard is widely accepted by the android users and Internet community.Google Bengali Transliteration
There is a free transliteration web site and software package for Bengali scripts from google.Microsoft Bengali Transliteration
Along with other Indic languages, Microsoft has web based and desktop transliteration support for Bengali.Bangla-অঙ্কুর (onkur)
Bangla-অঙ্কুর (onkur), developed by S. M. Raiyan Kabir, was first released on 30 March 2011 as an open source software. It facilitates only phonetic typing in Macintosh platform. Bangla-onkur phonetic allows a user to write BengaliBengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
by typing the phonetic formation of the words in English language keyboards. This is the first phonetic input method developed for Mac OS X.
See also
- Chinese input methods for computersChinese input methods for computersHundreds of Chinese input methods are available for entry of Chinese characters into computers, but most keyboard-based methods rely on either pinyin phonetic readings or root shapes in Chinese characters...
- Japanese input methodsJapanese input methodsJapanese input methods are the methods used to input Japanese characters on a computer.There are two main methods of inputting Japanese on computers. One is via a romanized version of Japanese called rōmaji , and the other is via keyboard keys corresponding to the Japanese kana...