greek acca

GREEK with GrkAcca

USING THE KEYBOARD

h h x xq q c cf f w wv v V Vj j

USING NUM LOCK + ALT + NUMBER

{ 0123 | 0124÷ 0247 ˜ 0152¡ 0161 ¢ 0162µ 0181 ¶ 0182Å 0197 Æ 0198ß 0223 à 0224Î 0206 Ï 0207

Š 0138 q 0113¬ 0172 õ 0501ê 0234 f 0102

j 0106 y 0121

LETTERS OBTAINABLE USING NUM LOCK + ALT + NUMBER

0100 d 0120 x 0140 Œ0101 e 0121 y 01410102 f 0122 z 0142 Ž0103 g 0123 { 01430104 h 0124 | 01440105 i 0125 } 0145 ‘0106 j 0126 ~ 0146 ’0107 k 0127 � 0147 “0108 l 0128 € 0148 ”0109 m 0129 0149 •0110 n 0130 ‚ 0150 –0111 o 0131 ƒ 0151 —0112 p 0132 „ 0152 ˜0113 q 0133 … 0153 ™0114 r 0134 † 0154 š0115 s 0135 ‡ 0155 ›0116 t 0136 ˆ 0156 œ0117 u 0137 ‰ 0157 �0118 v 0138 Š 0158 �0119 w 0139 ‹ 0159 Ÿ0160 0180 ´ 0200 È0161 ¡ 0181 µ 0201 É0162 ¢ 0182 ¶ 0202 Ê0163 £ 0183 · 0203 Ë0164 ¤ 0184 ¸ 0204 Ì0165 ¥ 0185 ¹ 0205 Í0166 ¦ 0186 º 0206 Î0167 § 0187 » 0207 Ï0168 ¨ 0188 ¼ 0208 Ð0169 © 0189 ½ 0209 Ñ0170 ª 0190 ¾ 0210 Ò0171 « 0191 ¿ 0211 Ó0172 ¬ 0192 À 0212 Ô0173 0193 Á 0213 Õ0174 ® 0194 Â 0214 Ö0175 ¯ 0195 Ã 0215 ×0176 ° 0196 Ä 0216 Ø0177 ± 0197 Å 0217 Ù0178 ² 0198 Æ 0218 Ú0179 ³ 0199 Ç 0219 Û

0220 Ü 0240 ð 0260 È0221 Ý 0241 ñ 0261 É0222 Þ 0242 ò 0262 Ê0223 ß 0243 ó 0263 Ë0224 à 0244 ô 0264 Ì0225 á 0245 õ 0265 Í0226 â 0246 ö 0266 Î0227 ã 0247 ÷ 0267 Ï0228 ä 0248 ø 0268 Ð0229 å 0249 ù 0269 Ñ0230 æ 0250 ú 0270 Ò0231 ç 0251 û 0271 Ó0232 è 0252 ü 0272 Ô0233 é 0253 ý 0273 Õ0234 ê 0254 þ 0274 Ö0235 ë 0255 ÿ 0275 ×0236 ì 0256 0276 Ø0237 í 0257 _ 0277 Ù0238 î 0258 Æ 0278 Ú0239 ï 0259 Ç 0279 Û0280 _ 0300 , 0320 @0281 _ 0301 - 0321 A0282 _ 0302 . 0322 B0283 “ 0303 / 0323 C0284 ” 0304 0 0324 D0285 ” 0305 1 0325 E0286 - 0306 2 0326 F0287 0307 3 0327 G0288 0308 4 0328 H0289 ! 0309 5 0329 I0290 " 0310 6 0330 J0291 # 0311 7 0331 K0292 $ 0312 8 0332 L0293 % 0313 9 0333 M0294 & 0314 : 0334 N0295 ' 0315 ; 0335 O0296 ( 0316 < 0336 P0297 ) 0317 = 0337 Q0298 + 0318 > 0338 R0299 0319 0339 S0340 T 0360 h 0380 |0341 U 0361 i 0381 }0342 V 0362 j 0382 ~0343 W 0363 k 0383 �

0344 X 0364 l 0384 €0345 Y 0365 m 03850346 Z 0366 n 0386 ‚0347 [ 0367 o 0387 ƒ0348 \ 0368 p 0388 „0349 ] 0369 q 0389 …0350 ^ 0370 r 0390 †0351 _ 0371 s 0391 ‡0352 ` 0372 t 0392 ˆ0353 a 0373 u 0393 ‰0354 b 0374 v 0394 Š0355 c 0375 w 0395 ‹0356 d 0376 x 0396 Œ0357 e 0377 y 03970358 f 0378 z 0398 Ž0359 g 0379 { 03990400 0420 ¤ 0440 ¸0401 ‘ 0421 ¥ 0441 ¹0402 ’ 0422 ¦ 0442 º0403 “ 0423 § 0443 »0404 ” 0424 ¨ 0444 ¼0405 • 0425 © 0445 ½0406 – 0426 ª 0446 ¾0407 — 0427 « 0447 ¿0408 ˜ 0428 ¬ 0448 À0409 ™ 0429 0449 Á0410 š 0430 ® 0450 Â0411 › 0431 ¯ 0451 Ã0412 œ 0432 ° 0452 Ä0413 � 0433 ± 0453 Å0414 � 0434 ² 0454 Æ0415 Ÿ 0435 ³ 0455 Ç0416 0436 ´ 0456 È0417 ¡ 0437 µ 0457 É0418 ¢ 0438 ¶ 0458 Ê0419 £ 0439 · 0459 Ë0460 Ì 0480 à 0500 ô0461 Í 0481 á 0501 õ0462 Î 0482 â 0502 ö0463 Ï 0483 ã 0503 ÷0464 Ð 0484 ä 0504 ø0465 Ñ 0485 å 0505 ù0466 Ò 0486 æ 0506 ú0467 Ó 0487 ç 0507 û

0468 Ô 0488 è 0508 ü0469 Õ 0489 é 0509 ý0470 Ö 0490 ê 0510 þ0471 × 0491 ë 0511 ÿ0472 Ø 0492 ì 05120473 Ù 0493 í 0513 _0474 Ú 0494 î 0514 _0475 Û 0495 ï 0515 _0476 Ü 0496 ð 0516 _0477 Ý 0497 ñ 0517 _0478 Þ 0498 ò 0518 _0479 ß 0499 ó 0519 _

GREEK WITHOUT TEARS

The problem with typing ancient Greek on a computer has been that, even using a special symbol font, classicists have been compelled to insert breathings, iota subscripts and accents by hand. We have long felt the need for a Greek font featuring these exotic letter combinations that will be legible on a computer screen and print out at any font size. However, the creation of such a font is only part of the solution. How, on the standard PC keyboard, does the user type an alpha which boasts a smooth breathing, an acute accent and an iota subscript? One method is to invoke the ANSI number of the symbol inside the special Greek font, but that is agonisingly slow and puts an unbearable strain on the user’s memory and patience. My solution to the problem has been to create a special set of macros inside Microsoft Word for Windows where we can insert any combination of letters and symbols using either shortcut keys or a special Accent Toolbar. These shortcuts, macros and Toolbar reside in what I have called the Greek Template which can be loaded in Word. This template makes typing classical Greek—if not exactly a pleasure—at least as speedy and convenient as it can be from the standard keyboard. Further, I have tried to make it especially simple to type common Greek words with their correct accentuation using Word’s powerful AutoText and AutoCorrect facilities.

Installing the Greek FontThe floppy disk features two files. The first is the TrueType font I have dubbed Grkacca. This may be installed in your system like any other font using Font in Control Panel.

For Windows 3.1 or 3.11 users:Start Windows and open the Main window in Program Manager.Double-click on the Fonts section.Click on the Add button.The Drives list appears. Select the a: floppy drive.Select Grkacca in the list that appears.Click OK , which allows the Fonts dialogue box to reappear.Click on Close.

For Windows ’95 users:Start Windows and click on the Start Button on the Task Bar.Click on Settings then select Control Panel.Double-click on Fonts.Click on File and select Install New Font...In the Drives list box select the a: drive. Select Grkacca in the List of Fonts.Make sure the box labelled Copy fonts to font folder is checked.Click OK.

Installing the Greek Template for Microsoft WordThe Greek Template allows you to use your new Greek font with minimum fuss because I have defined certain paragraph styles within the Template that automatically invoke the Grkacca font and set the kerning, spacing and leading appropriately. Of course, these can be altered later to suit the user’s individual preferences. To install the Greek Template, it must be copied to the folder (= directory) where Word looks for your document templates. This is probably in the Templates subfolder of your Winword folder. You will be able to recognise the right folder because you will find other templates there which have the .dot extension used by Word. The following instructions will probably be right for you, provided you have not altered the default location of your template files. If they are in a different location, you will have to scout around your hard disk looking for a folder packed with files with the .dot extension.

For Windows 3.1 or 3.11 users:Start Windows and open the Main in Program Manager.Start File Manager. Open two windows and position them side by side using View, Tile. One should show the contents of the a: drive and the other the contents of your hard disk, probably the c: drive.Drag and copy Greek.dot from the a: drive into your Templates directory on your hard disk, probably a subdirectory of the Winword directory, which may itself be a sub-directory of your Microsoft Office directory.Close File Manager.Open Word and go to the File menu. Click on New and scroll down until you locate the Greek template. Select Greek and click OK.

For Windows ’95 users:Start Windows ’95 and open Explorer.Drag and copy Greek.dot from the a: drive into your Templates folder on your hard disk, probably a subfolder of the Winword directory, which may itself be a subfolder of your Microsoft Office folder. [But see note for Word ’97 users below.]Close Explorer.Open Word and go to the File menu. Click on New and scroll down until you locate the Greek template. Select Greek and click OK.

Note for Word ’97 users: I wrote the macros inside the Greek template in Wordbasic, a special version of BASIC used by Word until very recently. However, the latest incarnation of Word (called Word ’97) now uses the macro language Visual Basic for Applications. Nevertheless, Word ’97 contains a facility for converting Wordbasic macros into a form which will function happily under Word ’97. I have included on the floppy disk a special version of the Greek Template which Word itself has converted for use in Word ’97 and I have called it Greek97.dot. If your copy of Word is a part of Office ’97, you will find that there is now a sub-folder called Templates which is common to all the

Office applications. When installing, obey the instruction above but drag Greek97.dot to your Templates sub-folder. If you find a file called normal.dot, copy Greek97.dot into the same sub-folder. If you have an independent copy of Word ’97, the instructions above will apply. Once again, look out for normal.dot and copy the Greek97.dot into the same sub-folder.

Note for Word 2 users: I’m afraid the Greek template will not run in Word 2. If you are still running Word 2, you should really upgrade at least to Word 6: the extent to which Word 6 can be customised with keyboard shortcuts and new toolbars make it a far more friendly word-processing environment. Word 2 does not have AutoCorrect or a facility for creating new toolbars, so much that is valuable in the Greek Template cannot be transferred to Word 2. Nevertheless, I am tinkering with a slimmed-down version of the Template for dyed-in-the-wool Word 2 users. If you want to hear more, please telephone me on the Help Line number provided near the end of this manual.

The Greek TemplateThe Greek Template is furnished with several styles, which are shown in the list box on the Formatting Toolbar probably near the top of your screen. When the new blank document comes up you will see that the Styles list box shows Greek12. If you click the down arrow, you will see other Paragraph Styles including Greek10, Greek14 and Normal.

The Greek12 Paragraph Style is a Style which features the Greek font in 12-point size with appropriate leading (i.e., the vertical space between the lines). The character spacing setting is for kerning to be on. The kerning adjusts the horizontal spacing between awkward pairs of characters which would not look pleasing with the letters’ standard width settings. The Greek10 and Greek14 style are for 10-point and 14-point settings, with appropriate adjustments to the leading. Of course, you can select any block of text and adjust the size to suit yourself. These Paragraph Styles are just useful default settings. The Normal Paragraph Style will set the usual Times New Roman default font if you wish to use English for headings and so on. You are not limited to the styles shown in the list box and can create your own. You can also use any of your favourite fonts which appear in the Fonts list box on the standard Formatting Toolbar.

To apply a style to a paragraph, simply click the cursor in that paragraph and choose the style desired from the Style list box on the Formatting Toolbar. Click on it and this alters the style of the paragraph where the insertion point is located. A quicker method is to use the keyboard shortcuts listed in the table below:

ShortcutAction

CTRL + 1Current paragraph acquires Greek10 style.



CTRL + SHIFT + qAny Normal text already selected is changed into the Greek font.

CTRL + ALT + qThe previous word in Normal is changed into the Greek font (without selecting).

CTRL + WSelects the previous word or words by keeping the CTRL key down and tapping w repeatedly.

CTRL + SPACEBARResets the font to the default for that paragraph style.

Perhaps the three last keyboard shortcuts require explanation. Sometimes, you will be typing an English question or explanation and want to insert the odd Greek word. It can be quite a palaver to select the text to be “greeked”, go to the Formatting Toolbar, find the GrkAcca font, click on it, return to your original place, continue typing, curse when you find that everything is now coming out Greek, go back to the Formatting Toolbar and so on. These shortcuts can help your typing and your blood-pressure:Type in English letters the Greek word or words you want to “greek”.If you need to “greek” one word only, hold down the CTRL key together with the ALT key and tap the q key. You can continue typing at once in English letters without having to “ungreek” the insertion point.If you need to “greek” several words, hold down CTRL and tap the w key repeatedly, so that the selection extends backwards. When all your words are selected, hold down CTRL + SHIFT and tap the q key. Now “ungreek” the insertion point ready for your next English word by holding down the CTRL key and tapping the spacebar.

Of course, you may still need to insert breathings, iota-subscripts and accents in ways I describe below.

Typing the basic Greek alphabet

The basic letters of the alphabet may be typed inside the Greek font using matching letters of the Roman alphabet to be found in their usual places on the keyboard. For example, depressing the key for a produces an alpha. The following table lists the keys for typing the more awkward Greek letters or symbols:

LetterGreekTo access...

Etahtype letter h

Thetaqtype letter q

Sigma (final)jtype letter j

Psiytype letter y

Khictype letter c

Definite Article (m.)Ætype letter v

Definite Article (f.)¢type letter V

Greek colon>SHIFT + .

Greek question mark;;

You will find by experiment that many of the normal keys of the alphabet will produce a surprising result—perhaps an accent or a floridly accented Greek letter. However, all the keys necessary for typing numbers and punctuation have preserved their usual function. Numbers seemed worth preserving so that, if you are typing out a series of Greek sentences for translation, you can number them without the inconvenience of switching font.

Since the capital and small letter v were free, I have allotted them the definite articles forms Æ and ¢ . Of course, these can be typed in the usual way if you so wish, or with the help of AutoText and AutoCorrect, as will be explained in a moment.

Tip. If you find that Word insists maddeningly on turning the first letter of every Greek sentence into a capital, this means that you have turned on the lazy typist’s setting in AutoCorrect which capitalises the first letter of every sentence automatically. To turn this off, go to Tools, AutoCorrect and uncheck the box labelled Capitalize First Letter of Sentences. This same setting may have been impudently converting Æ to ¢ whenever you tried to type them at the beginning of a sentence using the key for n on your keyboard!

Breathings, Iota Subscripts and AccentsThe basic technique for entering a letter with breathings, iota subscripts and accents is this:Type the basic letter (e.g., a)Use the appropriate keyboard shortcut or Toolbar button to add breathings, accents and iota subscripts in that order (e.g., a, {, „, ø).The order can be important. Here is the reason: under the bonnet, the computer is taking a look at the letter that you have just typed, finding an entirely different letter in the font which consists of your letter plus the breathing, accent or subscript requested, replacing the letter you typed with the new one and then moving the cursor back to where it started so that you can continue typing. To the user, it looks as if a breathing has been added to the original letter, but in fact the computer has slyly inserted an entirely new letter. In order for this technique to work, the computer must be able recognise the letter already typed and replace it with the newly accented letter. Since there are countless possible combinations, in order to keep things simple, it looks for combinations in the order mentioned above. I have attempted to make the system fairly flexible by allowing changes of mind: if you have entered a rough acute combination, entering a grave accent will change the acute to a grave but leave the rough breathing as it was. Experiment with the program to see how much leeway you have. If you enter iota subscripts last of all, you will find that things will usually go according to plan.

Here are some of the keyboard shortcuts which I have built into the Greek Template. I have offered more than one for some tasks: you must use the one that best suits your keyboard habits and skills. Make up new ones to suit yourself but make sure you record them in the Greek Template, not in the Normal Template, where they may interfere with your normal word-processing keyboard shortcuts. (More about templates in a moment.) Notice that these combinations perform different tasks in your day-to-day documents built on what Word calls the Normal Template. Rest assured that using the Greek Template will not interfere with the usual running of your word-processor.

SymbolGreekKeyboard Action

Rough breathing|CTRL + rCTRL + hCTRL + [

Smooth breathing{CTRL + sCTRL + ]

Acute accent}CTRL + aCTRL + ;

Grave accent~CTRL + gCTRL + ‘

Iota subscriptŠCTRL + i

Circumflex‚CTRL + #

Diaeresis

ÁCTRL + d

Rough Acute† CTRL + 9 [(]

Smooth Acute„CTRL + 0 [)]

Let’s take an example where a combination is required. Suppose we need to type: ú . That is to say, a letter alpha with a rough breathing, an acute accent and an iota subscript:Type the letter alpha using the key for a.CTRL + h (CTRL + r or [ ) to insert the rough breathing.CTRL + a (CTRL + ; ) to insert the acute accent beside the rough breathing.CTRL + i to insert the iota subscript beneath the rest.Once you have had a little practice, you will find that this is not very difficult. Also, experiment with doing this in a different order to see what will and what will not work. Alternatively, you may find it easier to add the rough breathing and the acute accent with one key press: after typing the alpha, type CTRL + 9. (If you look at the way the brackets are arranged in the shift position above the 9 and the 0, you will know why I chose these keys.) Remember, you can easily add shortcuts of your own using Tools, Customise. (See your Word manual or the Appendix to this manual.)

The Greek Toolbar(s)The Greek Template features a special toolbar called the Accent Toolbar. If the Accent Toolbar is not visible when you open a document based on the Greek Template, simply click on the special button labelled, Accents Toolbar? located on the end of your normal Formatting Toolbar. This toggles the Accents Toolbar in and out of view. (Alternatively, you can use the menus by going up to View, Toolbars and clicking on the Accents check box.) This toolbar boasts a number of buttons. The purpose of the buttons on the left is self-evident: if you have typed a vowel and want to add to it a breathing, iota-subscript or accent, simply tap the appropriate button with the left mouse button. If you are a touch-typist or do a lot of Greek typing, I think that you will find that the keyboard shortcuts are much faster and easier than mousing up to the Toolbar every few seconds. The Toolbar comes into its own when you are entering a rare combination the keyboard shortcut for which you have never memorised. Also, the Toolbar is useful when you are mousing through your work correcting the odd error after

the main typing chore has been accomplished. The purpose of the fat buttons on the right of the toolbar (labelled Reset AutoText, etc.) will be explained below.

Troubleshooting: If you find that the Accents Toolbar is too wide for your screen, do not despair! I have included a shorter toolbar for those using a low VGA screen resolution (640 x 480). The shorter toolbar can be accessed by going up to View, Toolbars and clicking on the AccentsVGA check box. The problem with this shorter toolbar is that some of the button labels have become rather terse and enigmatic. If you can alter your screen resolution to the more familiar SVGA resolution of 800 x 600, you will find you have much more room on the screen for all your Windows applications. If you are unsure how to do this, don’t be too proud to ask your friendly neighbourhood IT expert for a little help: a mistake in this area can prevent Windows 3.x from being visible on your screen!

Editing shortcutsIf you are like me, you will sometimes find yourself at the end of a Greek word and find that you have left out an accent near the beginning. To retrace your steps to the offending letter you will probably use the mouse or the cursor keys. You may even backspace to the letter, devouring the end of your word as you go so that you have to type it all over again. However, if you are a touch-typist, you will find these techniques slow and awkward because they take one of your hands far from the home keys. Long ago, I incorporated the following keyboard shortcuts for my general word-processing needs. I have copied them to the Greek Template for the touch-typists among you. (If you want to know why I chose these keys for the shortcut, notice the helpful “<” and “>” in the Shift position above the full stop and the comma keys which indicate the direction in which the action will be taken.) It may be that you will find these shortcuts so useful that you will want to copy them to your Normal.dot to be available when typing all your documents. (If you want to know how to do that, turn to the Appendix.)

ShortcutAction

ALT + ,Moves the cursor one character to the left.

ALT + .Moves the cursor one character to the right.

CTRL + ,Deletes one character to the left (= Backspace).

CTRL + .

Deletes one character to the right (= Delete).

CTRL + qDeletes one word to the left.



CTRL + wSelects the previous word or words by keeping the CTRL key down and tapping w repeatedly.


AutoTextIf you are an experienced Word user, you may already use the AutoText facility. At its simplest, this is a way of entering a word, sentence or block of text that you need to type often using a simple abbreviation. For example, when I type “sig” on my computer and press the function key F3, the “sig” is replaced by “Yours Sincerely,... D.E. Flynn” set out as one would wish to find it at the bottom of a letter. I have adapted the AutoText facility to enable you to enter some common Greek words in their accented form simply by typing the correct letters and pressing F3 (or possibly more easily, CTRL + k). For example, if you type the letters of kai , then press F3, what you typed will be replaced instantly by ka¸ including the grave accent. (More about why I chose a grave rather than acute accent in a moment.) Obviously, words whose accentuation change all the time are not suitable for this dodge.

For your convenience, I have incorporated about 250 common Greek words which do not much vary in their pattern of accentuation. These are the definite article, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions and some indeclinable numerals. Of course, even these regularly change their accentuation if, for example, they end with an acute accent on the final syllable (an oxytone on the ultima) and find themselves followed by another word in a sentence, when the acute changes to a grave. I have chosen the form of each word with its most common accentuation in the AutoText entries so that all words with the oxytone have been recorded with a grave accent since this is by far their most common form. Therefore, you will find a typed kai replaced by ka¸ not by ka· , since the latter is much less common. If you need to change the accentuation from the default final grave

accent (e.g., where an oxytone is followed by an enclitic), simply insert the correct version using the usual shortcuts or the toolbar. For a list of words which I have incorporated in the AutoText section of your Greek Template, please consult the end of this document.

Of course you may add your own words to the AutoText entries already supplied with the Template. For those who have not read their Word manual, here is a brief outline of how to type ka¸ without having to accentuate it each time.Open a document in the Greek Template.Type the word ka¸ including its grave accent.Select the word on the screen but exclude any spaces or paragraph marks.Go to Edit, AutoText. You will see that the string of symbols ka¸ has been entered in the Selection box, this time in Greek lettering. The cursor will be throbbing away expectantly in the Name box. Just type kai with its normal English lettering. Whatever you type here is what will be replaced when you later use F3.In order to make this entry private to your Greek Template, go to the list box labelled Make AutoText entry available to... and click on Documents based on Greek.dot . (If you click on Documents based on Normal.dot, you will be able to use these Greek words in your daily word-processing in the Normal Template, but you would be wiser not to burden your Normal Template with unneeded Greek words.)Finally, click on the Add button.Time to try out your new AutoText entry. Type the plain letters kai in your Greek document and press the function key F3. The correctly accentuated version of the word ka¸ will pop up to replace what you typed. When you come to close this document, you will find Word will ask you if you want to keep the new entries you have added to AutoText. If you click No, your Greek Template will be unchanged by this recent addition.

You may want to delete the odd entry from the collection of AutoText words that I have supplied if you do not find it helpful. There is no special difficulty about that. Without selecting any text in your document, go to Edit, AutoText. Scroll down through the names of your various AutoText entries until you come to the one you wish to delete. Then, simply click on the Delete button. Later, when you go to close your document, Word will ask if you want to keep the changes you have just made. Click Yes or No as you see fit.

One advantage of using AutoText is that a special set of entries can be saved inside the Greek Template where they will be private. There is no risk of cross-talk with your normal word-processing. However, the disadvantage of using AutoText, as you have seen, is that when the code word has been entered, an extra F3 keystroke (or CTRL + k) is necessary to activate the AutoText replacement. However, the Greek Template has one more trick up its sleeve

which makes life even easier by dispensing with the extra F3 keypress. This is the AutoCorrect facility.

AutoCorrectThere is a powerful tool inside Word for Windows 6 and later called AutoCorrect. Its primary purpose is to spot and correct typing errors on the fly. If you accidentally type teh when you meant to type the, the computer’s beady eye spots your error after you press the spacebar and tactfully inserts the correct spelling—perhaps without your even noticing what has happened. This facility can be harnessed to type common Greek words with their awkward breathing and accent combinations simply by typing the letters of the word itself or some shortened version of it. It is like using AutoText without the extra F3 keypress. There is a possible problem with this technique, however.

Unlike AutoText entries, AutoCorrect entries are global : that is to say, they are shared by all Word documents and so are not private to your Greek Template. Accordingly, if a certain combination of Greek letters mirrors a combination of equivalent English letters that you use in your normal word-processing, AutoCorrect will blindly attempt the replacement, not realising its intervention will not be appreciated. Clearly, this diabolus ex machina would be enough to jeopardise anyone’s sanity! However, it would be a great pity to give up this powerful aid to Greek typing, so I have devised a way round the problem.

When you open a document based on the Greek Template and show the Accents Toolbar, you will see two fat buttons on the right labelled Load AutoCorrect and Reset AutoCorrect. When you press Load AutoCorrect, a macro under the bonnet copies all the Greek AutoText entries in the Greek Template into the AutoCorrect part of the global template. This means that, when you type any of the Greek words listed under AutoText and enter a space or a punctuation mark, the AutoCorrect facility will automatically spring into action and replace it with the default accented version. No more pressing F3, you see! (If the default is not appropriate in a given context, simply enter the correct accentuation then press the spacebar. AutoCorrect will ignore this unfamiliar version and will not try to tinker with it behind your back.)

When you have finished your Greek session, you can remove the Greek entries from AutoCorrect by pressing the other fat button on the Accents Toolbar labelled Reset AutoCorrect. The program will spend a feverish second or two purging the unwanted Greek entries from your global template. This avoids the diabolus ex machina nightmare described above. To help you remember, I have arranged things so that a special warning pops up when you close your Greek document asking you if you want to reset AutoCorrect. If you choose not reset AutoCorrect, you will soon learn your mistake. I know because I’ve made the same mistake! When you type the English word “to”, for example, AutoCorrect

will think that this is the Greek article tÈ and “obligingly” replace “to” with something that looks like tÈ. Likewise, a word like “ton” will turn into tÈn because AutoCorrect believes you are trying to type the Greek word tÈn . But even if you are faced with this word-processor on the rampage—don’t despair. The solution is simple. Just open a new document under your Greek Template and do what you forgot previously: click the Reset AutoCorrect button. Then close and go back to your original document. (Of course, there is a quicker “solution” to your quandary. Turn off your AutoCorrect facility altogether by going to Tools, AutoCorrect and unchecking the box labelled Replace Text as You Type. However, AutoCorrect is so useful that this is a poor solution.) There is also another safeguard. When you have finished your session, Word will probably ask you if you want to retain the changes in the global template (Normal.dot) wrought by your Greek Template. Just click No.

You will probably want to add common Greek words of your own to my list once you get the hang of all this. I strongly suggest that you record the new words as AutoText inside a Greek Template document and let the Load AutoCorrect and Reset AutoCorrect look after the AutoCorrect aspects of things. That way, the Greek words do not permanently burden your global template nor need you fear that a rogue entry may try to hijack your normal word-processing sessions.Important note. Why have I not included v in the AutoText list of words to be transferred to AutoCorrect? I have encountered a strange problem loading AutoCorrect with the pair of words o and the Greek v . When I type the English letter o and wait for AutoCorrect to replace it with v , Word sometimes freezes and a CTRL + ALT + DELETE must be administered to give the paralysed program the coup de grâce. This happens only when the pair have been loaded automatically into AutoCorrect from the AutoText list inside the Greek Template. I have not been able to reproduce this effect when they are loaded manually into AutoCorrect. I’m afraid this behaviour remains a mystery and may represent a obscure “bug” in Word. For that reason, I have deleted v from AutoText so that this problem will not be visited upon you. However, there are several simple ways round it: (i) use the keyboard letter v for typing v (I have built this into the Greek font in the lower-case v position since the letter v is a spare letter); (ii) insert o and its Greek equivalent for yourself directly into AutoCorrect, where it should remain quietly and permanently, causing little harm to your normal word-processing, since the letter o on its own is rare and the odd, unexpected replacement is easily reversed using Undo. Of course, test it on your own system to make sure it has no harmful side effects before you have an important document on the screen which you do not want to lose.

AmbiguityIt may have struck you that there is a problem on the horizon both for the AutoText and AutoCorrect methods of typing familiar Greek words. What about Greek words which feature the same letters but, by different accentuation,

become different words. For example, the Greek pairs: oÎ (= not) and oÙ (= where); ¦ (= or) and ´ (= where). Among the range words I have provided with the Template, I have chosen to incorporate the more common versions. However, both versions can be accommodated with a little forethought. For example, you might decide that you will type ouu when you want to type oÙ and encode it appropriately in AutoText. Similarly, you might choose to encode hh as the code for ´ . (I have actually incorporated these.) The more regularly you need to type Greek, the more worthwhile it will be to make up your own private codes like this to take full advantage of AutoText and AutoCorrect.

One little fly in the ointmentThere is a small problem with this AutoCorrect method which we must face. First, let me explain that AutoCorrect works (i) by glancing back at the whole of the word you have just typed; (ii) by looking up that word in its private table; and (iii) if it finds the word in its table, it replaces the word with its equivalent in the table. So far, so good. But this depends on AutoCorrect being able to identify what counts as a complete word. It has been designed to do this by looking back along a string of characters in the text just typed and finding what it regards as a non-letter: i.e., a space, a punctuation mark, a paragraph mark, etc. However, to accommodate all the permutations of accentuation required by classical Greek, I have been compelled to use lots of characters which Word regards as non-letters to print our letters inside the Grkacca font. So, occasionally, Word will look back along a string of characters and misidentify the last part of a Greek word you have just typed as a complete word. If this so happens to exist as an entry in its table, it will blithely replace the latter part of your Greek word with something else. Test this for yourself by typing the word Polukr}thj in the Greek Template. By putting an acute accent over the alpha, you have made the last three letters of Polukr}thj into a separate word as far as Word was concerned. Now AutoCorrect dutifully looks up thj , finds it in the table and printed t¥j with the circumflex accent on the end of Polycrates. You will appreciate now that word endings like -thj, -th etc. will be misidentified occasionally by AutoCorrect and wrongly replaced. (The same reason explains why double-clicking an accentuated word will not usually select the whole word in the Greek Template: Word’s sense of what counts as a complete word has been wrong-footed.)How can we cope with this irritation? The answer is to invoke Undo either from the Edit menu, from the button on the Standard Toolbar or by using a shortcut key. The standard shortcut keys are ALT + Backspace or CTRL + z. I have also added another shortcut key for our Greek Template, CTRL + u, because it is simple to remember. For your convenience, I summarise below all the keyboard shortcuts which you may find useful.

ShortcutAction

CTRL + uUndo last action (e.g., a rogue AutoCorrection)

CTRL + kInsert AutoText

ALT + ,Moves the cursor one character to the left.

ALT + .Moves the cursor one character to the right.

CTRL + ,Deletes one character to the left (= Backspace)

CTRL + .Deletes one character to the right (= Delete)

CTRL + qDeletes one word to the left.



CTRL + wSelects the previous word or words by keeping the CTRL key down and tapping w repeatedly.


CTRL + nCurrent paragraph acquires Normal English style


CTRL + 2Current paragraph acquires Greek12 style

CTRL + 4Current paragraph acquires Greek14 style

Checking Your WorkSo you have managed to type out your passage of Greek rather more quickly than usual? Now, how do you discover whether you have made any mistakes? After all, we have no spell-check to help us with our classical Greek. In particular, it is horribly easy to leave out the odd breathing, that elusive acute accent or embarrass yourself by typing a normal sigma s when you should have inserted a terminating sigma j . To render you some assistance with the eye-

straining business of checking your Greek, I have included three checking macros which I describe below.

BreathingsIf you look at the Accents toolbar, you will see a button labelled Breathings?. This does what it says. If you click the insertion point somewhere in your document, the checking macro will scuttle through the rest of your document inspecting the initial two letters of each Greek word. (It ignores non-Greek fonts to prevent irritating false alarms over English words which naturally lack breathings over initial vowels.) If it finds a place where it suspects a breathing has gone AWOL, it halts in its tracks, beeps indignantly and throws up a message box cautioning you to inspect the point where the insertion point has halted. When you have fixed any problem, click the Breathings? button again and the check will continue.

Are You Suffering from Terminal Sigmas?If you press the button labelled Sigmas? a macro takes a quick squint at each of the sigmas you have typed at the ends of words and tactfully changes any final s to a j . So, no more embarrassing faux pas with that dratted sigma! Words in other fonts are ignored to avoid false alarms. However, take note of two differences from the Breathings? macro: (i) since this check is so quick, it is set up to cover the whole document, irrespective of the current position of the insertion point; and (ii). since the problem and its solution are so straightforward (change any final s to a j ) the macro automatically changes any incorrect sigmas without wasting your time asking for permission. If you want to know if any sigmas have been corrected, consult the Undo list on the Standard Toolbar. Each Replace listed there represents at least one sigma replacement. In the unlikely event that you want to undo these corrections, use Undo in the usual manner.

Tip: If you happen to find it difficult remembering to type the “j” key every time you need a final sigma, you could give up the struggle right now. Just type a normal sigma using the “s” key and use the Sigmas? button to repair your “errors.”

AccentsIt is all too easy to omit an accent when typing Greek. I have designed a macro that may help you if you have forgotten to insert an accent in a word. It works by checking every Greek word in your document. If it finds that a word has no accents at all: (i) it consults a table of common Greek words that do not usually boast an accent; and (ii) if it does not find the word from your document on the list, it sounds the alarm.

Some Greek words which are commonly unaccented are listed below:

Æ¢o¶a¶

oÎoÎkoÎcoÎde

eµj÷n÷k÷x

àjd’all’te

÷jÏp’di’eµ

Many words are not usually accented but possess another accented equivalent (e.g. tij). Likewise, words like parts of eµmi (= I am), which are not usually accented, do receive the accent before enclitics or boast accented equivalents. Therefore, I think it has been prudent to err on the side of caution by strictly limiting the range of the list above. (Exception: te is so common and is so rarely accented that I have included it, otherwise there are just too many false alarms!)

Warning. Please note that this is no more than a modest aid when you are checking your work. If, for example, you have entered the wrong accent(s) in a Greek word, this check will not pick up your error. For a truly thorough check, you would need more sophisticated help in the form of a classical Greek spell-checker. Perhaps it will be possible to devise one for the next release of the Greek Template, sanity permitting. For the moment, don’t allow this tool to lull you into false sense of security.

Help Line : (01869) 323 137

AppendixAutoCorrectHow does the Greek Template “know” whether AutoCorrect is loaded with Greek words or not? After trying out several possible approaches, I plumped for one that involves creating a special entry to live permanently inside the user’s AutoCorrect. When the macros launched by pressing the Load AutoCorrect and Reset AutoCorrect button do their work, they change the entry GreekLoaded to Yes or No accordingly. Ultimately I preferred this technique to others because these occasionally created a lack of synchronisation which prevented loading or resetting AutoCorrect because the macros grew confused about whether AutoCorrect was already loaded or not. This method (fingers crossed!) does not seem to involve us in those problems, even after a system crash.

Copying macros to your Normal.dotIf you find any of the macros in the Greek Template useful for your day-to-day word-processing, they may be copied to your Normal.dot template, which contains all the macros and keyboard shortcuts available to every document you create. The macros that could interest you in the Greek Template are CursorPrevChar, CursorNextChar, DeleteCharBefore and DeleteCharNext. Copy them to your Normal.dot as follows:

Open a new document with the Greek Template.Go to Tools, Macro, Organizer.Click on the tab which is labelled Macros. You will see two panes, one listing the macros in the Normal Template and one listing the macros in the Greek Template.Scroll down the list in the Greek Template until you reach CursorPrevChar. Click on it to select it.Now click on the button entitled Copy. This copies the macro to your Normal.dot.Repeat the procedure for each of the macros you wish to copy.

Note that the keyboard shortcuts which activate these macros have not been copied. To set up the shortcuts within your Normal.dot, do as follows:

In a normal document go to Tools, Customize.Click on the tab which is labelled Keyboard.Scroll down the list labelled Categories and click on Macros. Now you should see a list of all the macros available in Normal.dot on the list to the right entitled Macros.Scroll down this list until you reach CursorPrevChar. Select it by clicking on it.Now click inside the text entry box labelled Press New Shorcut Key. Go through the motions of pressing your chosen shortcut key. For example, depress CTRL and tap the comma key.Make sure the box entitled Save Changes In: says Normal.dot.

Click the button labelled Assign, then click the Close button.