How to write ancient Greek texts
Giuseppe Di Grande Updated the 10/31/2013 00:00
Biblos allows you to easily write Ancient Greek texts. For this purpose, in the menu Tools/Keyboards/ there is the Ancient Greek keyboard. By activating this keyboard map you can write in Greek characters, even using the many diacritics of this language.
Biblos' "Ancient Greek" keyboard map solves the problem of writing polytonic Greek with elegance and simplicity. This feature belongs to Biblos and there is no need to install or intervene in the operating system settings.
To deactivate the keyboard map just go back to the same menu and recycle the same item. Instead, to temporarily disable the map, alternating between normal writing and writing with Greek characters, simply press the key combination Ctrl+Space.
The keys and rules for using the Ancient Greek keyboard map are listed below. The keys indicated are those of the Italian physical keyboard. However, you can use the Ancient Greek keyboard map with any other physical keyboard by identifying the corresponding keys.
Keys and corresponding Greek characters
The letters in combination with the Shift type the respective Greek characters in upper case.
| Key | Greek letter | Name |
|---|---|---|
| A | α Α | Alpha |
| B | β Β | Beta |
| C | χ Χ | Chi |
| D | δ Δ | Delta |
| E | ε Ε | Epsilon |
| F | φ Φ | Phi |
| G | γ Γ | Gamma |
| H | η Η | Eta |
| I | ι Ι | Iota |
| J | ς Σ | Sigma (Finale di parola) |
| K | κ Κ | Kappa |
| L | λ Λ | Lamda |
| M | μ Μ | Mi |
| N | ν Ν | Ni |
| O | ο Ο | Omicron |
| P | π Π | Pi |
| Q | θ Θ | Theta |
| R | ρ Ρ | Rho |
| S | σ Σ | Sigma |
| T | τ Τ | Tau |
| U | υ Υ | Upsilon |
| V | ϝ Ϝ | Digamma |
| W | ω Ω | Omega |
| X | ξ Ξ | Xi |
| Y | ψ Ψ | Psi |
| Z | ζ Ζ | Zeta |
| È (E with grave) | ᾽ | Coronis |
| Ì (I con grave) | ϳ | Jod |
| ? (Punto interrogativo) | ; | Greek question mark |
| : (Due punti) | · | Ano Teleia, also called midpoint or top point |
Dead keys and letters with diacritic
Dead keys are keys or key combinations that do not write anything directly, but affect the writing of the key or the combination of keys that immediately follows them. In the Ancient Greek keyboard map there are several dead keys, which are used to write the many letters with diacritic of this language.
| Dead key | Description |
|---|---|
| Shift+È (Shift+E with grave) | Whenever possible, add the Greek psili to the character that follows. Followed by "È" (E with grave accent), type the diacritic Greek psili. Followed by an accent key (Ò - À - Ù) it writes the symbol of Greek psili plus the accent. |
| Ctrl+È (Control+E with grave) | Whenever possible, add the Greek dasia to the character that follows. Followed by "È" (E with grave accent), type the diacritical Greek dasia. Followed by an accent key (Ò - À - Ù) writes the symbol of Greek dasia plus the accent. |
| Alt+È (Alt+E with grave) | Whenever possible, add the Greek ypogegrammeni to the following character. Followed by "È" (E with grave accent), type the symbol "Greek ypogegrammeni". |
| Ctrl+Shift+È (Control+Shift+E with grave) | Whenever possible, add Greek dialytika to the following character. Followed by "È" (E with grave accent), type the symbol "Greek dialytika". Followed by an accent key (Ò
- À - Ù) type the symbol Greek dialytika + accent. |
| Ò (O with grave) | Whenever possible, add acute accent to the following character. Pressed twice he writes the acute accent symbol. If followed by Shift + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek psili with acute accent". If followed by Ctrl + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek dasia with acute accent". If followed by Ctrl + Shift + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek dialytika with acute accent". |
| À (A with grave) | Whenever possible, add grave accent to the following character. Pressed twice he writes the grave accent symbol. If followed by Shift + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek psili with grave accent". If followed by Ctrl + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek dasia with grave accent". If followed by Ctrl + Shift + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek dialytika with grave accent". |
| Ù (U with grave) | Whenever possible, add Greek perispomeni to the following character. Pressed twice he writes the Greek perispomeni symbol. If followed by Shift + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek psili with perispomeni". If followed by Ctrl + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek dasia with perispomeni". If followed by Ctrl + Shift + È (E with grave), type the symbol "Greek dialytika with perispomeni". |
| + (Plus) | Whenever possible, it adds the macron accent to the following character. |
| - (Minus) | Whenever possible, add an breve accent to the following character. |
Control keys
The Shift key held down together with an accent key (Ò - À - Ù) adds the diacritic Greek psili to the accent.
The Ctrl key pressed together with an accent key (Ò - À - Ù) adds the diacritic Greek dasia to the accent.
The Alt key pressed together with an accent key (Ò - À - Ù), adds the Greek ypogegrammeni to the accent.
The Shift + Ctrl keys pressed together with a key accentuation (Ò - À - Ù), add the Greek dialytika to the accent.
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