Depending on the browser that you use, you may also need to manually adjust your browser settings.
Users who cannot use a Greek font in their browser (for example, users of Lynx) may instead use a Roman transliteration for their Greek. There are three transliteration schemes available:
The transliteration schemes are explained and demonstrated in the linked pages. The plain Latin Transliteration is that used by Perseus; the accented scheme is a variant on this, which allows all Greek diacritics to be displayed unambiguously.
The proper solution to the problem of displaying Greek text on the Web is Unicode, the standard for encoding the various scripts of the world on computer. Unicode support has been adopted by the computer industry; as of this writing, it is fully usable on Windows (but not Windows 3.1 or 95), Unix, and MacOSX.
We have a Unicode test page giving addresses from which to obtain Unicode fonts, and demonstrating possible problem characters.
Users will need to set the Unicode font of their browser to the polytonic Greek font they have obtained.
Set Edit --> Preferences --> Appearance --> Fonts --> Unicode --> Variable Width Font to the given font.
Greek extends only to monotonic
Greek, so it will not work for TLG texts, and users
will have to set either their Latin-based or User-Defined script to their polytonic
font (Tools --> Internet Options --> General --> Fonts --> Latin
based or User Defined --> Web page font).
Tools --> Internet Options --> General -->
Fonts --> Greek to your chosen Unicode font will work correctly.
You have to set the encoding of their page to Unicode to view text properly:
View --> Encoding --> Unicode (UTF-8) or View --> Encoding
--> User Defined).
Specify your polytonic Greek font in Mozilla --> Preferences
--> Appearance --> Fonts --> Unicode --> Serif.
OmniWeb only uses one font regardless of encoding; therefore you will
need to specify the appropriate font in OmniWeb --> Preferences
--> Font & Color --> Fonts --> Choose proportional font
--- bearing in mind that this font will be used for anything you view using
OmniWeb.
OmniWeb --> Preferences
--> Appearance & Standard Font.
Users may also have to set the encoding of their page to Unicode to view text
properly: in Netscape, View --> Character Set --> Unicode
(UTF-8), and in Internet Explorer, View --> Encoding
--> Unicode (UTF-8) or View --> Encoding --> User Defined).
Input in Greek is possible on most new browsers. For institutional users, the opening page will indicate whether you have a Unicode compliant browser. If your browser allows Unicode input you can follow the Unicode option.
If not, please follow the non-Unicode option (individual users may select they font from the user's settings). The Input in Greek menu presently offers 2 choices. Of these, we recommend:
Beta code. (Beta code is the default setting.) or
Transliteration with or without accents
Of the two, the safest option across browsers is Beta code, which only ever employs ASCII characters.
The following are the keyboard mappings of the various entry methods:
All browsers; All fonts
Accented Transliteration requires ability to enter standard Western European (French) diacritics: diaeresis, acute, grave, circumflex. If you wish to employ diacritics in accented transliteration, you should familiarize yourself with your operating system's conventions for entering diacritics.If you do not enter accents and breathings, use Roman characters with
^as the macron for long vowels.)
The transliteration switches automatically from unaccented to accented, depending on whether the user has entered a diacritic-sensititve search.
Exceptionally, iota after a long vowel is interpreted as iota subscript only if the search is sensitive to iota subscripts:
| String entered | Diacritic sensitivity | Converted to |
|---|---|---|
tro^ia | Insensitive | TRWIA |
trôia | Insensitive | TRWIA |
tro=ia | Accents Only | TRWIA |
tro=ia | Iota Subscripts Only | TRW|A |
tro=ia | All diacritics | TRW|A |
| Windows 98/2000/XP | MAC OSX (10.2) | Unicode Font | |
| Input | IE Explorer 5 and 6 Netscape 6 | Netscape7 Mozilla Omniweb Safari Camino | Any |
| Display | IE Explorer 5.x Netscape | Netscape 7 Omniweb Safari | Any See details below |
To type Unicode Greek on MacOSX as of Jaguar (system 10.2), one need only have a
Unicode font, and a Greek Unicode keyboard. The font
Lucida Grande, included by default with Jaguar, is the
Macintosh default font for Unicode, and covers Greek Polytonic. A Greek Monotonic
keyboard is included with the system (Apple Menu --> System Preferences -->
Intternational --> Input Menu --> Greek). For Polytonic Keyboards, users
will need to consult third-party tools; Donald Mastronarde has created a GreekKeys-compatible
keyboard as part of the American Philological Association-sponsored
GreekKeys Unicode
release.
On Windows, you will need to add a Greek polytonic Unicode keyboard to your preferences.
(Start Menu --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Keyboard --> Input
Locales --> Add --> Greek Polytonic). The keyboard mapping used in
based on Greek typewriters: Microsoft provides a
keyboard
map. (Select Greek Polytonic; you will need Java enabled on
your browser. Note that Unicode uses modern Greek names for diacritics:
oxia: acute, varia: grave, perispomeni:
circumflex, psili: smooth breathing, dasia: rough
breathing, ypogegrammeni: iota subscript, dialytika:
diaeresis.)
Outside Windows 2000, or as an alternative to the Microsoft keyboard, you can also use a program like Tavultesoft Keyman to create your own custom Unicode keyboard. There are three keyboards available for Keyman:
Data entry is most straightforward in these two browsers; with a Greek keyboard, one need merely click on the search entry field, switch the keyboard to Greek as required, and begin typing: the user will see Greek, accented as necessary, and typically in Lucida Grande. (The browser will remember the Greek keyboard as applying to anything typed in the browser; if you need to enter Roman script text --- particularly for URLs --- you will need to switch your keyboard back.)
Recent versions of these browsers (at least 2003 releases) allow data entry in Unicode, accented or unaccented. The problems of patchwork font display also extend to font input in these browsers, and there appears to be no way to force the input font to be Lucida Grande.
These browsers do not currently allow data entry in Unicode.
Internet Explorer accepts Greek polytonic text as Unicode input as of version 5.5.
To set the font for Greek Unicode text to be displayed in entry fields
in Internet Explorer for earlier versions (5.0), you will need to select the
appropriate Unicode font as its Greek display font (Tools --> Internet
Options --> General --> Fonts --> Language Script: Greek --> Web page
font: [Unicode font of your choosing].
Will accept Unicode input as of version 8.
tlg@ptolemy.tlg.uci.edu