Hebrew for. Instructions regarding unicode, keyboards and word processing for students of Hebrew. Compiled by Michelle Knight Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Table of Contents Introduction 3 Versions Used in the Manual 3 Intent of the Manual 3 Typing in Hebrew 4 Downloading & Activating a Biblical Hebrew Keyboard 4 Typing with the Biblical Hebrew - SIL Keyboard 5 Hebrew Unicode Fonts 7 Best Fonts for Displaying Hebrew Unicode 7 Installing Fonts in Mac OS X 9 Word Processing in Hebrew 10 Hebrew and Microsoft Word for Mac 10 Alternatives to Word for Mac 11 Miscellaneous Issues 13 Reading Hebrew in Existing Documents 13 Hebrew and Moodle 15 2 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Introduction Versions Used in the Manual It is important to remember that different versions of programs might look and function differently. For the convenience of the reader, the version of programs used in this manual have been listed below for the sake of comparison if discrepancies should arise. 1. Operating System: Instructions included in this manual are written for use in OS X Lion (10.7.4). Slight adjustments may be necessary for a student utilizing a different version of the operating system. 2. Applications: 2.1. Pages: Pages 09 (4.1). 2.2. Mellel: Mellel 2.9.2. 2.3. Microsoft Word: Microsoft Word for Mac 2011 (14.2.0). 2.4. FontBook 198.4. 2.5. TextEdit 1.7.1. Intent of the Manual This instructional manual has been compiled for use by Trinity Evangelical Divinity School students taking classes that require use of Hebrew. Please do not publish this manual anywhere without the express permission of the author. Feel free to contact the writer by email with such requests, as well as corrections or suggestions for additional sections. 3 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Typing in Hebrew Word processing in Hebrew is best achieved by using unicode. Rather than using a font to represent specific hebrew characters, by using unicode, one can type a hebrew character in any font. Some fonts display Hebrew unicode better than others, and those will be discussed below. Unicode: A standard for computers to make them able to show text in different languages. Texts typed in Unicode can be safely exchanged between different applications and operating systems. Downloading & Activating a Biblical Hebrew Keyboard 1. Navigate to the Society of Biblical Literature s website. There, navigate to Educational Resources > Biblical Fonts > SBL Hebrew Font, or click here. 2. Download SBL Hebrew Keyboard Drivers, SIL and Tiro (OS X) by clicking on the link. Also download SBL Hebrew SIL Keyboard Driver Manual for use later. 3. Double click the Biblical Hebrew Keyboards Installer when it is finished downloading. Follow directions in the installation window. 4. Once installation is complete, open System Preferences. Click on Language & Text. 5. Navigate to Input Sources. 5.1. Click the checkbox next to Biblical Hebrew - SIL to activate this keyboard. 5.2. Scroll to the top of the list and check the box next to Keyboard & Character Viewer. 5.3. Make sure that Show Input menu in menu bar is selected. 6. Once these adjustments have been made, a flag will appear in the menu bar, indicating the Input Sources menu. By clicking this flag, you can select the Biblical Hebrew keyboard from the menu bar. 7. For switching quickly between languages, use the keyboard shortcut listed in the Input Sources window (see second image). 4 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Typing with the Biblical Hebrew - SIL Keyboard Once the alternate keyboard has been activated, typing on your physical keyboard inputs Hebrew letters as opposed to English letters. Typing anywhere (search bar, web browser, word processor, etc.) on the Mac will result in Hebrew, not English, letters. 1. When Hebrew is activated, your cursor will automatically type from right to left, rather than left to right. Whereas you need to type a Hebrew word backwards when using a Hebrew font, when using unicode, you will type the Hebrew word in order. 2. Each Hebrew letter is represented by an english letter on the physical keyboard. While this will be foreign at first, the corresponding letters are intuitive; after some practice, typing will become more natural. 2.1. Below are four diagrams from the SBL Hebrew SIL Keyboard Driver Manual (downloaded in step 2 above). Use this guide to practice typing. State: Normal (no shift or option keys depressed) State: SHIFT key depressed Type final forms by using the shift key 5 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
State: ALT / OPTION key depressed State: ALT / OPTION + SHIFT keys depressed Type composite shewas using option + shift. 2.2. For quick reference, a map of the keyboard is also available in the menu bar, through the input sources menu (the flag). Click on the flag, switch to Hebrew and select Show Keyboard Viewer. 3. Test the new keyboard using TextEdit. 3.1. Switch the font to New Peninim MT. Though (almost) any font will type in Hebrew, this is one of the best unicode Hebrew fonts (see below). 3.2. Select a larger font size (48 pt.) so that the details of the unicode are visible. 3.3. Switch alignment to right-justified. 3.4. Once your Hebrew keyboard is activated in the Input Sources menu, start typing! 6 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Hebrew Unicode Fonts Best Fonts for Displaying Hebrew Unicode While unicode works with almost any font, some fonts work better than others. Additionally, older fonts and free fonts downloaded from the internet are not always written to support the thousands of characters supported by a unicode font. Those included below are some of the best Unicode fonts for typing in Hebrew on your Mac. 1. New Peninim MT: This is my favorite unicode font for typing in Hebrew, and it is included with Mac OS X. Is is ideal because it types well in almost any program (Microsoft Word is a noteworthy exception. This is discussed below). בּ 6 אשׁ ית בּ 4 א א 2 ה ים ה שׁ מ י+ם ו)א ת ה א "ץ Proper dagesh placement for שׁ the 2. Times New Roman: Though Times New Roman doesn t type Hebrew as beautifully as some other fonts, it spaces vowels correctly in almost any program. Using Times New Roman allows the Hebrew student to switch seamlessly between English and Hebrew in a term paper, without making font adjustments. For both New Peninim MT and Times New Roman, the overall vowel spacing is great, with the small exception of the dagesh placement in the.שׁ This is a very minor issue, but it is an error, nonetheless. Note that using the word processor Mellel fixes this error for both fonts. ב ר שׁ ית ב ר א א ל ה ים א ת ה שׁ מ י ם ו א ת ה א ר ץ 7 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
3. SBL Hebrew: SBL Hebrew can be downloaded free by clicking here. It types beautifully in TextEdit or Mellel, but spaces vowels incorrectly in some programs, like Pages. That incorrect spacing is visible in the first line below. The second line shows the same phrase in SBL Hebrew, but typed in the word processor Mellel. In the right program, this is the best unicode Hebrew font. ב ר אשׁ ית ב ר א א ל ה ים א ת ה שׁ מ י ם ו א ת ה א ר ץ Dagesh and vowel displacement. 4. Ezra SIL: Ezra SIL should be installed on any Mac, but it can also be downloaded here. Like SBL Hebrew, it types well in some applications but not others. The first line shows the vowel issues in Pages and the second line shows the font typed in Mellel. ב ר אשׁ ית ב ר א א ל ה ים א ת ה שׁ מ י ם ו א ת ה א ר ץ Even in a program like Mellel, Ezra SIL doesn t always handle the dagesh correctly. In Summary: Both New Peninim MT and Times New Roman do a great job of displaying Hebrew on your Mac in nearly any application, with only minor dageshplacement difficulties. SBL Hebrew, however, does a superior job of displaying Hebrew accentuation, but only displays properly in certain applications (i.e. Mellel). 8 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Installing Fonts in Mac OS X Before fonts can be used, they must be installed on your Mac. Instructions for font installation are as follows. 1. Download the font. 1.1. Click any of the links above to download the font. Clicking the link will automatically initiate the download. 1.2. Locate the downloaded file. Such files are usually placed in the Downloads folder, located at YourUserName/Downloads. 2. Install the font. 2.1. Double-click the file. Doing so will open a second window showing a preview of the specific font and a prompt in the lower left hand corner that says whether or not the font has been installed before. 2.2. If the font is already installed, do not install it again. Duplicate fonts do not function properly. 2.3. Click the Install Font button. 3. Check for complete installation. 3.1. Initiating the installation will automatically open the application Font Book, a program which organizes and handles all fonts installed on your machine. 3.2. Once the font is fully installed, it will be visible in the list of fonts. 4. Restart your computer. This ensures that the font is now available for use. 9 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Word Processing in Hebrew Hebrew and Microsoft Word for Mac Although Microsoft Word is the standard word processor, Microsoft Word for Mac does not support Hebrew. Actually, it does not support any right-to-left languages, and as of 2011, has not announced that any such support is forthcoming. Using Unicode in Microsoft Word for Mac (2004, 2008 or 2011) results in three issues: 1. Microsoft Word does not recognize many important unicode fonts, including some of those above. Though installed, they do not appear in the font drop-down menu. 2. Many fonts are rendered with incorrect vowel spacing, much like the examples from Pages provided in the fonts section. This is exaggerated in older versions of Word. ב ר אשׁ ית ב ר א ת ה שׁ מ י ם :2004 An example from Word 3. More importantly, Microsoft Word does not keep Hebrew in the proper right-to-left order. The letters that make up individual words may remain in order, but the word order often reverses when the document saves. In the figure below, Genesis 1:1 was typed, in order from right-to-left, using the Hebrew unicode keyboard in standard Times New Roman font. The same text, displayed correctly in Mellel, is provided for the sake of comparison. Note how the שׁ words with a become jumbled. Because Microsoft Word for Mac does not recognize that a Hebrew input source requires a right-to-left arrangement, it will always place words in a left-to-right order. 10 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Alternatives to Word for Mac Do not despair! While Microsoft Word for Mac does not handle Hebrew well, there are several other word processors that do just that. 1. Mellel: Mellel offers full support for writing in Hebrew (as well as many other languages), placing vowels correctly, seamlessly switching from Hebrew to English and even supporting Hebrew spell check. For a complete list of such benefits, click here and read Hebrew Support. The SBL website recommends use of Mellel for typing with the Biblical Hebrew - SIL keyboard and the SBL Hebrew font, because of its support for complex script layouts. Mellel is ideal for anyone hoping to work extensively with Hebrew. Especially for a student who benefits from outlining and color coding Hebrew text, Mellel is an excellent word processing option. Documents have a direction which is separate from justification. Even a left-justified document can include right-to-left text. Mellel allows highlighting and editing of individual vowels and accentuation. Mellel is available to students for $29. Click here to purchase an educational license. 11 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
2. Pages: Pages is a great word processing option for the Mac user who doesn t intend to work with Hebrew extensively. Pages handles Hebrew well enough to type with some unicode fonts and write exegesis papers. Pages does have some issues, including vowel spacing with certain fonts and an inability to edit individual Hebrew characters. However, for most Hebrew students using OS X, Pages is a great option. Individual characters cannot be highlighted, and though the cursor can be used to break a line of text, it is invisible. Most graduate students will only need to type Hebrew in a paper or some sort of exegetical worksheet. For this sort of functionality, Pages is perfect. Pages is available in the Mac App Store for $20. Also, a trial version of Pages is often included with a new Mac. 3. TextEdit: Though TextEdit is not a fully functioning word processor, it handles unicode Hebrew very well. For personal study, practice with Hebrew, and minor projects, TextEdit may well be sufficient. This program is included with OS X. 12 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Miscellaneous Issues Once a student gets used to typing with unicode and masters switching to Hebrew in a word processor, working with Hebrew on a Mac becomes much easier. However, some compatibility issues may still arise as students interact with Hebrew generated on a different machine. Reading Hebrew in Existing Documents Though Unicode transfers to a different program, computer or operating system with ease, Hebrew fonts that are not based on unicode many not transfer correctly. 1. Sometimes documents with Hebrew fonts do not display correctly because the proper Hebrew font is not installed on your machine. 1.1. In any iwork document, an error message will indicate which font is missing from the document. When the document opens, a prompt to review the errors within the document appears. Click Review and identify the missing Hebrew font. 1.2. In a Microsoft Office document, select the incorrectly rendered text to see which font is missing. The name of the font will appear in the Font window. 1.3. Sometimes these fonts are available for free online. After identifying the missing font, do a Google search to see if the font can be downloaded for free. 1.4. Download the font file. 1.5. Close out of the document and any open applications. 1.6. Install the font using the instructions provided above. 1.7. Re-open the document to see if the font renders the Hebrew correctly. 13 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
2. Even after the correct Hebrew font is installed on a machine, sometimes Hebrew fonts will not render correctly when transferred to a Mac. In this example, the font Hebrew was downloaded and installed. Even though Hebrew characters became visible, they transferred in the wrong order. The result is something incomprehensible. 3. This is not always the case. Sometimes certain programs are able to render the font correctly when others are not. In this example, after installing the missing font Hebraica using the instructions above, the same PowerPoint file displays correctly in Keynote but incorrectly in Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac. Note: PowerPoint s difficulty with Hebraica is related to the Microsoft Word issues with fonts described above. Microsoft Office for Mac is very selective about the fonts it supports. 14 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012
Hebrew and Moodle Before the Moodle 2.0 upgrade, Hebrew used in Moodle Quizzes did not render correctly. Vowel spacing was an issue, resulting in something like this (similar to issues in early versions of Microsoft Word for Mac): ב ר אשׁ ית ב ר א ת ה שׁ מ י ם However, since the upgrade, Hebrew seems to be rendering correctly in any Mac browser. If you are having trouble with Hebrew rendering correctly, try opening Moodle in Chrome (free for download here) or Firefox (free for download here). 15 Ver. 1.0 Updated May 2012