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ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 9:21 am
by Ajarn Philip
Feeling altruistic today...
I remember a little while ago there was some discussion about how to access accents. I've always been too lazy to bother, but recently I've had to use them from time to time. These came from WordReference.com, which I've only discovered fairly recently. It's an online (obviously) dictionary (or rather a series of dictionaries) for various foreign languages + English. I've only used Fr-Eng, but I've found that to be fine for most purposes. But if you have an interest in foreign languages, there is also a forum. If you have a query about vocabulary or a translation, post it and it's usually answered in seconds, often by a native speaker.
Keep the number lock on and use the numeric keypad. Hold the ALT button down while typing the numbers.
À = Alt + 0192
 = Alt + 0194
â = ALT + 131
à = ALT + 133
æ = ALT + 145
Æ = ALT + 146
Ç = ALT + 128
ç = ALT + 135
É = ALT + 144
é = ALT + 130
ê = ALT + 136
è = ALT + 138
ë = ALT + 137
î = ALT + 140
ï = ALT + 139
ô = ALT + 147
Å’ = Alt + 0140
Å“ = ALT + 0156
û = ALT + 150
ù = ALT + 151
ü = ALT + 129
€ = Alt + 0128
« = Alt + 0171
» = Alt + 0187
‹ = Alt + 0139
› = Alt + 0155
“ = Alt + 0147
†= Alt + 0148
‘ = Alt + 0145
’ = Alt + 0146
– = Alt + 0150 (en dash)
— = Alt + 0151 (em dash)
… = Alt + 0133 (ellipsis)
No-break space = Alt + 0160
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:28 am
by gma
æ = ALT + 145
Æ = ALT + 146
Aha!
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:30 pm
by englishangel
Hail Cæsar!!!
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:21 pm
by Wuppertal
I have to use them all the time for French and German; some in Italian too but they use accents much less. It is really tedious on a laptop though (without the number pad on the bottom-right of the keyboard) having to go "Fn + Insert/NumLk" then "Alt + numbers" then "Fn + insert/NumLk" again every time you want to do one single accent!
On Microsoft Word I have added my own shortcut keys for the most common ones I use, to make it easier, e.g. ä = Ctrl + F1; ö = Ctrl + F2; ü = Ctrl + F3, é = Ctrl + F4; è = Ctrl + F5, à = Ctrl + F6, etc.etc. It has probably saved me weeks of time writing dissertations!
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:06 pm
by Ajarn Philip
englishangel wrote:Hail Cæsar!!!
You're welcome, but 'thanks' would have done...
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:11 pm
by Ajarn Philip
Tom, is this any easier?
(Laptops: the numeric keypad is usually activated by the Function key. It transforms J,K,L into 1,2,3, etc.)
Just a thought, but it might be even easier to copy them all onto a word doc which you can have open and copy/paste when you need to.
The site is well worth a visit, if you haven't already.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:14 pm
by Katharine
Ajarn Philip wrote:The site is well worth a visit, if you haven't already.
Haven't looked yet but is it any good for Mac users? We have both PC & AppleMac laptop in the house.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:21 pm
by Ajarn Philip
Pass - you're getting technical on me.
But they do have a list of the accent codes for mac users.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 7:33 pm
by Wuppertal
Ajarn Philip wrote:Tom, is this any easier?
(Laptops: the numeric keypad is usually activated by the Function key. It transforms J,K,L into 1,2,3, etc.)
Just a thought, but it might be even easier to copy them all onto a word doc which you can have open and copy/paste when you need to.
The site is well worth a visit, if you haven't already.
I saw your quote about laptops and thought: wow! I've had a laptop for 5 years and never noticed this obvious thing! But alas, it doesn't seem to work on my laptop. But the thought about the word document is interesting and worth doing, thanks
Easier than going "Insert, Symbol" and finding it in the enormous table of symbols.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 10:44 pm
by cstegerlewis
The Alt+ numbers are accessing ASCII codes which are universal, so I guess they should work on a mac - although as I have never used one I am not sure.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:52 am
by ben ashton
I still have and use a list of which numbers=which symbols that I was given in 2nd form IT
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:43 pm
by jhopgood
I must be lazy because I use ASCII quite frequently when doing Spanish documents on with an English keyboard.
I have XP and just go into All Programmes, Accessories, System tools and finally Character map, and I don't have to use my limited memory or search for the lost note. Just selct, copy and paste.
It is there in all the fonts on your computer. Including some I didn't know I had. à« is from Shruti and calls itself gujarati letter vocalic Rr, whatever relevance that has.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 9:57 pm
by Jo
I've put the character map on my taskbar so I can access it in a single keystroke. Although I could copy and paste letters, I tend to use it to check the ALT+code in an effort to try and remember the most common ones
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 4:17 am
by matthew
Katharine wrote:Ajarn Philip wrote:The site is well worth a visit, if you haven't already.
Haven't looked yet but is it any good for Mac users? We have both PC & AppleMac laptop in the house.
Mac users have it much easier.
Option-E for acute.
Option-backtick (to the left of 1) for grave.
Option-I for circumflex.
Option-U for umlaut.
Option-N for tilde.
Just press the accent you want, then the letter you want it on, and you're done. So much easier than remembering codes.
The other wonderful thing about Mac keyboards is that the North American and British English layouts are almost identical. That makes switching between them so much easier.
Re: ALT+ for accents
Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 8:44 am
by Katharine
matthew wrote:
Mac users have it much easier.
Option-E for acute.
Option-backtick (to the left of 1) for grave.
Option-I for circumflex.
Option-U for umlaut.
Option-N for tilde.
Just press the accent you want, then the letter you want it on, and you're done. So much easier than remembering ASCII codes.
The other wonderful thing about Mac keyboards is that the North American and British English layouts are almost identical. That makes switching between them so much easier.
I'm being thick, but I don't understand Option in this context. At the moment I am using a PowerBook G4 will I have to find the instructions?