Telex (input method)
Telex is a convention for writing Vietnamese using ASCII characters commonly found on computer keyboard layouts. Unlike VISCII, Telex is not a character encoding; rather, it is a way to type out Vietnamese using plain ASCII text. The advantage of Telex over a character encoding like VISCII is that Telex does not need specialized software or hardware for input. However, as Unicode is becoming increasingly available on computers worldwide, it is usually desirable to use software that will convert Telex to Unicode as one types; thus, Telex would be used only as an input method.
Rules
Because the Vietnamese alphabet uses a complex system of diacritical marks, Telex requires the user to type in a base letter, followed by one or two characters that represent the diacritical marks:
| Character | Keys pressed | Sample input | Sample output |
|---|---|---|---|
| ă | aw | trawng | trăng |
| â | aa | caan | cân |
| đ | dd | ddaau | đâu |
| ê | ee | ddeem | đêm |
| ô | oo | nhoo | nhô |
| ơ | ow | mow | mơ |
| ư | uw | tuw | tư |
To write the pair of keys as two distinct characters, the second character has to be repeated. For example, "beeer" becomes "bêer".
| Tone | Keys added to syllable | Sample input | Sample output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ngang (level) | z or nothing | ngang | ngang |
| Huyền (falling) | f | huyeenf | huyền |
| Sắc (rising) | s | sawcs | sắc |
| Hỏi (dipping-rising) | r | hoir | hỏi |
| Ngã (rising glottalized) | x | ngax | ngã |
| Nặng (falling glottalized) | j | nawngj | nặng |
If more than one tone marking key is pressed, the last one will be used. For example, typing "asz" will return "a". To write a tone marking key as a normal character, one has to press it twice: "herr" becomes "hẻr".
History
The Telex input method, also known as Quốc ngữ điện tín (lit. "national language telex"), is based on a set of rules for transmitting accented Vietnamese text over telex (máy điện tín) first used in Vietnam during the 1920s and 1930s. Telex services at the time ran over infrastructure that was designed overseas to handle only a basic Latin alphabet, so a message reading "vỡ đê" ("the dam broke") could easily be misinterpreted as "vợ đẻ" ("the wife is giving birth"). Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh, a prominent journalist and translator, is credited with devising the original set of rules for telex systems.[1]
Later in 1980s and 1990s, Telex was adopted as a way to type Vietnamese on standard English keyboards. Bked editor was one of the first editors to use the Telex typing method.[citation needed]
See also
External links
- Guide to inputting Vietnamese text at the Vietnamese Wikipedia
- Learn To Type Vietnamese at YourVietnamese
References
- ^ Thu Hà (2010-09-12). "Nhớ "người Nam mới" đầu tiên". Tuổi Trẻ (in Vietnamese). Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Organization. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
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