Inserting Diacritical Marks

All Windows applications: Standard Windows character map shortcuts

All Windows applications: U.S. International keyboard layout

Microsoft Word: Built-in foreign language characters

Microsoft Word: Assigning your own shortcuts

WordPerfect: Assigning your own shortcuts

Apple/Macintosh OS: Use the OPTION key

ALL WINDOWS APPLICATIONS: STANDARD WINDOWS CHARACTER MAP SHORTCUTS

This is the standard character map for use in any Windows application.

Advantage

Should work in most windows programs on most computers without any special setup or software.

Disadvantage

Each character requires 4 or 5 keystrokes.

 

		ASCII (3 digit)		Windows (4 digit)
á		[alt] + 160		[alt] + 0225		á
é		[alt] + 130		[alt] + 0233		é
í		[alt] + 161		[alt] + 0237		í
ó		[alt] + 162		[alt] + 0243		ó
ú		[alt] + 163		[alt] + 0250		ú
ñ		[alt] + 164		[alt] + 0241		ñ
ä		[alt] + 32		[alt] + 0228		ä
ë		[alt] + 137		[alt] + 0235		ë
ï		[alt] + 139		[alt] + 0239		ï
ö		[alt] + 148		[alt] + 0246		ö
ü		[alt] + 129		[alt] + 0252		ü
¿		[alt] + 168		[alt] + 0191		¿
¡		[alt] + 173		[alt] + 0161		¡
à		[alt] + 133		[alt] + 0224		à
è		[alt] + 138		[alt] + 0232		è
ì		[alt] + 141		[alt] + 0236		ì
ò		[alt] + 149		[alt] + 0242		ò
ù		[alt] + 151		[alt] + 0249		ù
â		[alt] + 131		[alt] + 0226		â
ê		[alt] + 136		[alt] + 0234		ê
î		[alt] + 140		[alt] + 0238		î
ô		[alt] + 147		[alt] + 0244		ô
û		[alt] + 150		[alt] + 0251		û
ç Ç		[alt] + 135 [alt] + 128		[alt] + 0231		ç
æ		[alt] + 145		[alt] + 0230		Æ

ALL WINDOWS APPLICATIONS: U.S. INTERNATIONAL KEYBOARD LAYOUT

This is the recommended method for all Windows applications. The highlighted keys are used to insert accented characters when the international keyboard is turned on.

Advantage

Once this feature is activated you can use it with any Windows Program: Word, WordPerfect, Netscape, Simeon. Requires only two easy to remember key strokes. Accessing the accented characters is quite easy because the characters for acute, grave, and circumflex accents and tildes have now been made into "dead" keys, which means that nothing happens immediately upon pressing the apostrophe key or another accent key. If the next key pressed is a vowel, an accented vowel will appear. For an accented a (á), for example, just type the apostrophe, then the a. For an è, type the backward apostrophe ` then the e: è. An i with a circumflex is created by typing the circumflex (shift 6: ^) then the i: î. This also works with the double quote (") for the umlaut (dieresis) and the tilde (ñ, ã). Note that if the next key entered after the accent is not a vowel or other letter, then you will get the apostrophe or other mark followed by the letter: 'n, ^p, ~d. If you want to enter just an apostrophe or other mark, enter the mark followed by the space key to get ' " ^ ~, etc. See the chart below for the keystroke combinations to obtain the desired accent mark.

Disadvantage

You must set the Keyboard layout property to US International.

Instructions for Windows 98

You may need your Windows CD.

1. Select Start button, Settings, Control Panel
2. Double Click on KEYBOARD icon
3. Select Language tab
4. Make sure English is selected in the window
5. Click on properties button. Select United States International
6. Click OK to save
7. Click OK again to exit

Instructions for Windows 2000

You may need your Windows CD.

1. Select Start button, Settings, Control Panel
2. Double Click on KEYBOARD icon
3. Select Input Locales tab
4. Click change
5. Click add
6. Check keyboard layout
7. Select United States International from the drop down box
8. Click OK to save, Click OK again to exit

Instructions for Windows XP

Method 1

1. If you are using the new Windows XP Start Button, click the Start Button, then click the Control Panel
2. Then double click the Regional and Language Options
3. Then Select the Languages Tab
4. Then Click Details, then Click Add, then check Keyboard Layout
5. Click the Keyboard Layout drop down box Choose English (United States): United States-International
6. Click Apply and then click OK

Now you have both the English and the International Keyboards installed, and you are able to switch back and forth between the English and International Keyboards. You may also set International as your Default input language and/or delete the US keyboard layout.

Method 2

1. If you are using the Windows XP Classic Start Button, click the Start Button, then Settings, then Control Panel
2. Double Click Regional and Language Options
3. Select the Languages Tab
4. Then Click Details, then Click Add, then check Keyboard Layout
5. Click the Keyboard Layout drop down box
6. Choose English (United States): United States-International
7. Click Apply then click OK

Instructions for Windows VISTA

1. Click Start-->Control Panel-->Clock, Language and Region-->Change Keyboards
2. In the new window, click on the Change Keyboards button. This opens a new window called "Text Services and Input Languages"
3. Click on the Add button. Scroll & check the English (United States) - United States-International keyboard. Click OK
4. In the upper part of the "Text Services and Input Languages" window, open the drop-down menu called Default Input Language and choose English (United States) - United States-International as your default for all input fields

Now you have both the English and the International Keyboards installed. You are able to switch back and forth between the English and International Keyboards. Or you can set International as your Default input language and/or delete the US keyboard layout

 

To Obtain		Press Key, Release		Then Press Key		Alternate Key Strokes
á		' (apostrophe)		a		[ctrl] + [alt] + a
é		'		e		[ctrl] + [alt] + e
í		'		I		[ctrl] + [alt] + I
ó		'		o		[ctrl] + [alt] + o
ú		'		u		[ctrl] + [alt] + u
'		'		spacebar
ñ		~		n		[ctrl] + [alt] + n
õ		~		o
~		~		spacebar
ä		"		a		[ctrl] + [alt] + q
ë		"		e		[alt] + 0235
ï		"		I		[alt] + 0239
ö		"		o		[ctrl] + [alt] + p
ü		"		u		[ctrl] + [alt] + y
¿						Right Alt + ?
¡						Right Alt + !
à		`		a		[alt] + 0224
è		`		e		[alt] + 0232
ì		`		I		[alt] + 0236
ò		`		o		[alt] + 0242
ù		`		u		[alt] + 0249
`		`		spacebar
â		^		a		[alt] + 0226
ê		^		e		[alt] + 0234
î		^		I		[alt] + 0238
ô		^		o		[alt] + 0244
û		^		u		[alt] + 0251
^		^		spacebar
ç		'		c		[ctrl] + [alt] + ,
o						[alt] + 0156
æ						[ctrl] + [alt] + z
€						[ctrl] + [alt] + 5
«						[ctrl] + [shift] + <
»						[ctrl] + [shift] + >

Other special characters can be entered by using the Right-Alt key in combination with other keys (esp. useful for ¿, ¡ «, » ß). For Spanish, it might be easier to use the Right-Alt key for accents.

 

Right Alt-? = ¿		Right Alt-! = ¡		Right Alt-s = ß
Right Alt-n = ñ		Right Alt-N = Ñ		Right Alt-, = ç
Right Alt-a = á		Right Alt-e = é		Right Alt-i = í
Right Alt-o = ó		Right Alt-u = ú

MICROSOFT WORD: BUILT-IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CHARACTERS

These foreign language characters work in Microsoft Word only. This does not require any special set up or key assignments.

 

To Produce		Press
à, è, ì, ò, ù À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù		CTRL + ` (accent grave), the letter
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý		CTRL + ' (apostrophe), the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û		CTRL + SHIFT + ^ (caret), the letter
ã, ñ, õ Ã, Ñ, Õ		CTRL + SHIFT + ~ (tilde), the letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Y		CTRL + SHIFT + : (colon), the letter
å, Å		CTRL + SHIFT + @, a or A
æ, Æ		CTRL + SHIFT + &, a or A
o, O		CTRL + SHIFT + &, o or O
ç, Ç		CTRL + , (comma), c or C
ð, Ð		CTRL + ' (apostrophe), d or D
ø, Ø		CTRL + /, o or O
¿		ALT + CTRL + SHIFT + ?
¡		ALT + CTRL + SHIFT + !
ß		CTRL + SHIFT + &, s*

MICROSOFT WORD: ASSIGNING YOUR OWN SHORTCUTS

Assign your own shortcut keys for accented characters.

Advantage

You choose the keystrokes you wish to use making it easier to remember.

Disadvantage

Only works in Microsoft Word, and only works on the computer where you set it up.

To assign a symbol to a shortcut key:

1. On the Insert menu, click Symbol
2. Click the tab with the symbol or character you want
3. Click the symbol or character you want
4. Click Shortcut Key
5. In the Press new shortcut key box, type the key combination you want to use
6. Click Assign

WORDPERFECT: ASSIGNING YOUR OWN SHORTCUTS

Assign your own shortcut keys for accented characters.

Advantage

You choose the keystrokes you wish to use making it easier to remember.

Disadvantage

Only works in WordPerfect, and only works on the computer where you set it up.

Instructions for assigning shortcut keys for accented characters are as follows:

1. Click Tools Settings Customize Keyboards
2. Click the keyboard you want to edit, then click Edit, or click Create, type the name of a new keyboard, then click OK
3. Click the shortcut key you want to make an assignment to. If it already has an assignment, be sure you want to replace the current assignment with something else. Follow step 4, 5, 6, or 7 depending on what you want to assign
4. Click Features, select a feature category and feature, then click Assign Feature to Key
5. Click Keystrokes, type the text you want assigned to the shortcut key, then click Assign Keystrokes to Key
6. Click Programs, click Assign Program to Key, specify the application you want to run, then click OK
7. Click Macros, click Assign Macro to Key, specify a macro to play, then click Select, or click Assign Template Macro to Key, select a template macro and location, then click Select
8. Repeat steps 2-7 as many times as you need to make the keyboard assignments you want

To get information on any option in this dialog box, click , then click the option.

Click "Allow assignment of character keys" if you want to make an assignment to an alphanumeric character such as the letter b or the number 5. Remember that if you make an assignment to a character, it will no longer function as a number or letter. For example, if you assign the Bold feature to the letter b, pressing that key will turn on Bold rather than typing "b."

To return to the default keyboard and menu for this application, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Backspace from a document window.

APPLE/MACINTOSH OS: OPTION KEY

Accented characters are obtained by using the OPTION key in combination with other keys.

 

To Obtain		Press		To Obtain		Press
á é í ó ú		[option] + [e], the letter		â ê î ô û		[option] + [i], the letter
à è ì ò ù		[option] + [`], the letter		æ		[option] + [']
õ ñ		[option] + [n], the letter		o		[option] + [q]
ä ë ï ö ü		[option] + [u], the letter		ç		[option] + [c]
«		[option] + [\]		»		[option] + [/]
Ä		[option] + [u] + shift + [a]		O		[option] + shift + q
Â		[option] + [i] + shift + [a]		o		[option] + [q]
À		[option] + ̀ + shift + [a]		¡		[option] + [1]
Ç		[option] + shift + [c]		¿		[option] + shift + [?]
ç		[option] + [c]		ñ		[option] + [n]
ã, õ		[option] + [n] + [a or o]		Ñ		[option] + [n] shift + [n]
Ã, Õ		[option] + [n] + shift + [a or o]