Codes for Non-English Letters

[Stewart]

To enter a non-English character you can hold down the Alt key while entering a three digit number on your numeric keypad. Below is the list of characters available.

• ?, Alt + 131
• ?, Alt + 132
• ?, Alt + 133
• ?, Alt + 134
• ?, Alt + 145
• ?, Alt + 160
• ?, Alt + 198

• ?, Alt + 182
• ?, Alt + 142
• ?, Alt + 183
• ?, Alt + 143
• ?, Alt + 146
• ?, Alt + 181
• ?, Alt + 199

• ?, Alt + 135

• ?, Alt + 128

• ?, Alt + 130
• ?, Alt + 136
• ?, Alt + 137
• ?, Alt + 138

• ?, Alt + 144
• ?, Alt + 210
• ?, Alt + 211
• ?, Alt + 212

• ?, Alt + 139
• ?, Alt + 140
• ?, Alt + 141
• ?, Alt + 161

• ?, Alt + 216
• ?, Alt + 215
• ?, Alt + 222
• ?, Alt + 214

• ?, Alt + 164

• ?, Alt + 165

• ?, Alt + 147
• ?, Alt + 148
• ?, Alt + 149
• ?, Alt + 162
• ?, Alt + 228
• ?, Alt + 155

• ?, Alt + 226
• ?, Alt + 153
• ?, Alt + 227
• ?, Alt + 224
• ?, Alt + 229
• ?, Alt + 157

• ?, Alt + 225

• ?, Alt + 129
• ?, Alt + 150
• ?, Alt + 151
• ?, Alt + 163

• ?, Alt + 154
• ?, Alt + 234
• ?, Alt + 235
• ?, Alt + 233

• ?, Alt + 231
• ?, Alt + 232

• ?, Alt + 208
• ?, Alt + 209

• ?, Alt + 152
• ?, Alt + 236
• ?, Alt + 237

[John Self]

Ooh, very handy. Does this work on a Mac?

[Stewart]

Ooh, very handy. Does this work on a Mac?

I have no idea as I don't use them. On reflection, it probably only works for Windows with a UK setting. If anyone outwith the UK can let me know if it works, I'd be grateful.

Ideally, I'd like a little drop down pick-a-character box amongst the editing/posting options.

[LizzySiddal]

Brilliant. Thanks, Stewart.

[Beth]

For the US-International keyboard, it's a bit different. You have to first install the keyboard and designate it as your default. Tricky, but it's in the control panel under languages. Then,

Press this key- Then press this key- Resultant character
' - C - ?
' -e,y,u,i,o,a- ?,?,?,?,?,?
'' -e,u,i,o- ?,?,?,?,?
` (accent grave)- e,u,i,o- ?,?,?,?
~ (tilde) -o,n- ?,?
^ (caret) -e,u,i,o,a -?,?,?,?,?




There are also ways to enter ?€???????????????????? -all of these. I obtained the list from www.support.microsoft.com/kb/306560

Good luck,
Ms Umlaut

[obooki]

I just want to check out various entity reference codes:

ξ π é ñ

[obooki]

no, doesn't work then

[Eric]

I use the list that Stewart outlines at the beginning of this thread. On Word Perfect you can construct a keyboard to include the signs, but I tend to just do the Alt + thing, as I rarely need to write long texts using the accents.

I've found a few others, which work for me, and are useful for Eastern & Central Europe:

Alt +

? 0158
? 0142

? 0154
? 0138

and for French:

? 0156
? 0140

as in "?uvre" and similar words

Alt+ 228, the ?, is useful for me when I translate from Estonian. Unfortunately, I can't find any Alt + codes for Polish accents.

[Sybarite]

It's far easier for Macs.

? for instance, is alt e, e – just change the letter after the 'alt e' for any other letter that you want that accent for. An umlaut is an alt u then the letter. ^is alt i, then the letter. `is alt`and then your letter. If you want to put such a character above a capital letter, just use the shift key when typing the letter after your alt X bit.
? is alt c
? is shift alt ?
? is alt a. ? is alt shift a.
? is alt s
? is alt o
œ is alt q
∑ is alt w
π is alt p
∂ is alt d
ƒ is alt f
? is alt '
Ω is alt z
≈ is alt x

[Eric]

In my 15th April posting you can see how to get ? and ?, but does anyone know the alt + code for a c with the same accent on top? You need it to write Czech and former Yugoslav names properly, as in Karel Capek.

[Stewart]

In my 15th April posting you can see how to get ? and ?, but does anyone know the alt + code for a c with the same accent on top? You need it to write Czech and former Yugoslav names properly, as in Karel Capek.

Well, looking in Microsoft Word's Insert Symbol option, I can see that Č has a Unicode value of 010C (or a ASCII value of 0020) and this page says to Use Alt, plus + and then enter the code. I get the little square symbol that I usually get with Chinese/Japanese/Russian websites where Unicode isn't used, because the Č obviously isn't in my laptop's installed language packs.

[MichaelParisi]

Well, looking in Microsoft Word's Insert Symbol option, I can see that Č has a Unicode value of 010C (or a ASCII value of 0020) and this page says to Use Alt, plus + and then enter the code. I get the little square symbol that I usually get with Chinese/Japanese/Russian websites where Unicode isn't used, because the Č obviously isn't in my laptop's installed language packs.

That's because Unicode values are different from Alt Codes. I'm having the same problem myself...also with Czech letters! I have yet to find keyboard "Alt" codes for most of the special letters, but what I do recommend is bookmarking the page http://czech.typeit.org which allows you to compose your message and push buttons for special characters as needed, then you can copy and paste into another program when you are finished.

You can also just find yourself a webpage with the special characters on it and copy/paste as needed. It sucks, I know, but if anyone has a better way, please let us know!

Feel free to copy and paste from here:
?? Čč Ďď ?? Ěě ?? Ňň ?? Řř ?? Ťť ?? Ůů ?? ??

[Galatea92]

That's because Unicode values are different from Alt Codes. I'm having the same problem myself...also with Czech letters! I have yet to find keyboard "Alt" codes for most of the special letters, but what I do recommend is bookmarking the page http://czech.typeit.org which allows you to compose your message and push buttons for special characters as needed, then you can copy and paste into another program when you are finished.

You can also just find yourself a webpage with the special characters on it and copy/paste as needed. It sucks, I know, but if anyone has a better way, please let us know!

Feel free to copy and paste from here:
?? Čč Ďď ?? Ěě ?? Ňň ?? Řř Šš Ťť ?? Ůů ?? Žž

If you know the Unicode value of your character, you can use a Numeric Character Reference to define the character. You put '&#' then the decimal Unicode value, then a ';'. So the Č character is represented by a '&#' followed by 268, followed by ';'.

The advantage of doing it this way is that you're not limited to what your keyboard or operating system can handle, so you can enter chinese characters like this 台 as well.

[MichaelParisi]

If you know the Unicode value of your character, you can use a Numeric Character Reference to define the character. You put '&#' then the decimal Unicode value, then a ';'. So the Č character is represented by a '&#' followed by 268, followed by ';'.

Unless I'm mistaken, the only way to utilize that code is when you're writing HTML code, right? But what about typing a letter? Using MS Word the only way to get special characters is to copy and paste or use Alt Codes, right?

[Galatea92]

Unless I'm mistaken, the only way to utilize that code is when you're writing HTML code, right? But what about typing a letter? Using MS Word the only way to get special characters is to copy and paste or use Alt Codes, right?

Yes, that's true. But you can use the HTML character references when you're posting a reply here - that's how I entered the Č and the chinese character in my previous post.

[Eric]

I'm afraid that the earlier part of this accents discussion has been rendered useless by a technical flaw that has turned many copy & pasted accents into question marks.

If you are writing another language on an English keyboard it can be very frustrating if you have to copy & paste ever accented letter. Luckily with Estonian, I get off lightly, as I use a Swedish keyboard and only have to add the tilde by a kind of accent+letter keying movement. But it does mean that for every õ I want to write in a name in a translation, I have to key three times as opposed to once for a normal letter.

Many other East & Central European languages are badly catered for, as the dominant language of computer technology is English and those poor half-educated geeks cannot imagine that anyone would ever want to write a letter in Polish, Latvian, Romanian, Hungarian, etc., where unique accents are to be found.