Miyako/Keyboard

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Existing Resources

There is an Android keyboard layout for Okinawan. I have not tried it, but based on the description and screenshots posted, it seems to be a standard Japanese flick keyboard with conversion to kanji with the Okinawan pronunciation. In creating this keyboard layout, I was working from the orthography found here

Layout

Miyako-keyboard-layout.jpg

Justification

In creating a keyboard layout for Miyako, my goals were as follows:

  • Not rely on knowledge of the Roman alphabet/the English keyboard layout
  • Not rely on knowledge of the Japanese keyboard layout
  • Minimise the number of keystrokes required to produce each character

Questions of particular concern included:

  • How to handle glides like きゃ
  • How to handle geminate consonants like っざ
  • How to handle ん
  • How to handle character combinations like ん゜な


The results of my design process are as follows:

  • The three vowels which can stand on their own (あ、い、う) are typed by pressing the single key associated with them.
  • Single kana are typed by pressing the key associated with the consonant followed by the appropriate vowel. (For example, た is typed by pressing the English keyboard y followed by a.)
  • Glides are typed by pressing the key associated with the consonant followed by the appropriate smaller character. (For example, ふぁ is typed with m and j.)
  • The character for a geminate consonant (っ) is typed by pressing ;.
  • Typing the key associated with n- (i) twice produces ん.
  • The character ゜is produced by pressing the \ key.

Installation Instructions

Installation instructions for the Miyako keyboard layout (found here)

1.) Install IBus: sudo apt-get install ibus-m17n

2.) Enable IBus: im-config -n ibus

3.) Restart X11

4.) Add Miyako to the list of languages: in /usr/share/m17n open en.lnm and add (mvi "Miayko)

5.) Right click on the language-switcher icon, and click on preferences. Go to the Input Methods tab, and click Add. Miyako will be in Other, at the bottom of the list

License

This keyboard layout is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0. The text of the license can be found here.