Telex (input method)
TelexorTELEX(Vietnamese:Quốc ngữđiện tín,lit. 'national languagetelex'), is a convention for encoding Vietnamese text in plainASCIIcharacters. Originally used for transmitting Vietnamese text over telex systems, it is one of the most usedinput methodon phones and touchscreens and also computers. Vietnamese Morse code uses the TELEX system. Other systems includeVNIandVIQR.
History
[edit]The Telex input method is based on a set of rules for transmitting accented Vietnamese text overtelex(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 basicLatin Alpha bet,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]
In later decades, common computer systems came with largely the same limitations as the telex infrastructure, namely inadequate support for the large number of characters in Vietnamese. Mnemonics like Telex andVietnamese Quoted-Readable(VIQR) were adapted for these systems. As avariable-width character encoding,Telex represents a single Vietnamese character as one, two, or three ASCII characters. By contrast, abyte-orientedcode pagelikeVISCIItakes up only one byte per Vietnamese character but requires specialized software or hardware for input.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Telex was adopted as a way to type Vietnamese on standard English keyboards. Specialized software converted Telex keystrokes to eitherprecomposedor decomposed Unicode text as the user typed.VietStarwas the first such software package to support this entry mode. TheBkededitor byQuách Tuấn Ngọcextended Telex with commands such asz,[for "ư", and]for "ơ".[citation needed]It was further popularized with the input method editorsVietKey,Vietres,andVPSKeys.In 1993, the use of Telex as an input method was standardized in Vietnam as part ofTCVN 5712.
In the 2000s,Unicodelargely supplanted language-specific encodings on modern computer systems and theInternet,limiting Telex's use in text storage and transmission. However, it remains the default input method for many input method editors, with VIQR andVNIoffered as alternatives. It also continues to supplementinternational Morse Codein Vietnamese telegraph transmissions.[2]
Starting withWindows 10version 1903, TELEX, along with theVNIinput method, are now natively supported.[3]
Rules
[edit]Because theVietnamese Alpha betuses a complex system ofdiacritical marks,Telex requires the user to type in a base letter, followed by one or two characters that represent the diacritical marks. Telex takes advantage of the quirks and limitations of Vietnamese orthography to insert diacritics. Since the lettersf,w,z,andjdo not exist in Vietnamese, Telex assigns diacritics to their corresponding keys, allowing users to typemànasmafn.Despiterandxbeing part of the Vietnamese Alpha bet, they cannot directly follow vowel letters in orthography. Nevertheless, Telex utilises these letters to input diacritics as well.
| Character | Keys pressed | Sample input | Sample output |
|---|---|---|---|
| ă | aw | trang-w | trăng |
| â | aa | can-a | cân |
| đ | dd | d-dau-a | đâu |
| ê | ee | d-dem-e | đêm |
| ô | oo | nho-o | nhô |
| ơ | ow or [ | mo-worm[ | mơ |
| ư | uworw or ] | tu-wortw or t] | tư |
To write the pair of keys as two distinct characters, the second character has to be repeated. For example, the Vietnamese wordcải xoongmust be entered ascari xooongrather thancari xoong(*cải xông).
| Tone | Keys added to syllable | Sample input | Sample output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ngang (level) | z or nothing | ta | ta |
| Huyền (falling) | f | taf | tà |
| Sắc (rising) | s | tas | tá |
| Hỏi (dipping-rising) | r | tar | tả |
| Ngã (rising glottalized) | x | tax | tã |
| Nặng (falling glottalized) | j | taj | tạ |
If more than one tone marking key is pressed, the last one will be used. For example, typingaszwill return "a". (Thuszcan also be used to delete diacritics when using an input method editor.) To write a tone marking key as a normal character, one has to press it twice:herbecomeshẻ,whileherrbecomesher.
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- Guide to inputting Vietnamese textat the Vietnamese Wikipedia
- Learn To Type Vietnameseat YourVietnamese
References
[edit]- ^Thu Hà (2010-09-12)."Nhớ" người Nam mới "đầu tiên"[Remembering the first "new Southerner" ].Tuổi Trẻ(in Vietnamese).Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.Retrieved2009-09-17.
- ^"Morse Code".Albuquerque, New Mexico: Our Lady of La Vang Eucharistic Youth Society. 2011. Archived fromthe originalon October 22, 2014.RetrievedOctober 12,2014.
- ^"Hãy thử gõ tiếng Việt với bộ gõ Telex và Number-key based mới nào!".2018-10-25.