The Simplest Way to Type in Tamajaq

Use Keyman Web to Type in Tamajaq

With Keyman Web you can now type in Tamajaq, directly from your browser without downloading any special software. Keyman Web is an online tool that works in any browser including Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, as well as many others. Keyman Web is platform neutral, so it doesn’t matter whether you are operating from a desktop (Linux, ,Windows, or Mac) or a mobile device (iPhone or Android), all you have to do is navigate to Keyman Web to get started. Keyman web is by far the simplest way to get started typing in Tamajaq. And guess what? Its free!

Do I really need a virtual keyboard to type in Tamajaq?

Since Tawallammat Tamajaq Latin (ttq-Latn) is a romanized script, it shares many basic Latin characters with other languages such as English or French. However, Tamajaq has some sounds and corresponding letters that aren’t found in European languages. No special fonts are needed to type these characters since they are already included in the Unicode fonts on your computer. But how do you type these characters? They aren’t found on your English (QWERTY) or French (AZERTY) keyboard, so in order to type them, you either need to know how to enter Unicode Character Codes directly, or to have software that does it for you. That’s were Keyman Web comes in.

Keyman Web is far better than the typical Character Map utility that comes with most operating systems. In those utilities you have to search through a long chart of characters and insert them one-by-one. Keyman Web works much more like your physical keyboard, so it is quick and easy to enter the characters. So do you need Keyman Web to enter Tamajaq characters? No. But if you want to do it quick and easy, Keyman Web is the right tool for the job.

How does Keyman Web work?

Instead of installing software on your computer, you just navigate to the Tawallammat Latin virtual keyboard. In your browser, you will be presented with and edit box and a picture of a keyboard called an online keyboard layout. The keys on that virtual keyboard will be labeled with Tamajaq characters instead the characters you see on your normal keyboard.

When you click on one of the keys on the virtual keyboard, the character corresponding to that key will be entered into the edit box. If you are on your phone you just tap each character the same way you would on any other phone virtual keyboard. However, if you are on a computer with a physical keyboard, you don’t have to click on every character you want to type. That would be unnecessarily slow. It is much quicker to type most of the basic Latin characters into they edit box using your computer’s physical keyboard, and only go to the virtual keyboard when you get to a special character like Ǝ that is not on your computer’s keyboard. At that point, you just click on the character’s key on the virtual keyboard, it gets entered, and you return to normal typing with your physical keyboard.

When you have finished typing all the text you want to enter into the edit box, you have a few choices regarding outputting the text. The easiest thing to do is click the “copy” button. Then go to the program, webpage, or app that you need to enter text in and paste it. Keyman Web also has buttons to share directly to Twitter or search for the text in Google Search.

What Tamajaq Latin characters will I be able to type?

It is very easy to type the following Tawallammat Tamajaq Latin (ttq-Latn) characters directly from an online keyboard layout: ǝ and Ǝ, š and Š, ŋ and Ŋ.

Just like on a physical keyboard or other phone virtual keyboards, you have choices between the characters on the un-shifted keyboard layout, the shift key layout, and the numeric/symbol layout.

However, some characters are not pictured on any of the virtual layouts. Those characters will require typing a combination of keys. For example you won’t find the ɣ or the Ɣ on any of the layouts. To get the ɣ or the Ɣ you have type ,g or ,G . To get a consonant with a dot under it like ṃ you type a period then the consonant. To see all the characters that are possible to type with the Tawallammat Latin Keyboard check out the documentation mentioned below.

Full documentation on all of the layouts, key combinations, and resultant glyphs are found here: Tawallammat Latin Keyboard help page.

How do I get started typing in Tamajaq?

Simply click this link to go to the Tawallammat Latin Online Keyboard and start typing in Tamajaq today.