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Contenidos

Sibylla

Introduction

Technical data

Updates and support

UNICODE fonts

Installation

Installation

Writing in Greek

Settings, fonts and applications

Writing Greek

Keyboard

Special characters keys

Keyboard Map

Options

Font conversion

Font conversion

Dictionary

Using the dictionary

Loading dictionaries

Modifying dictionaries

Add word

Delete words

Phonetical simbols

Phonetic symbols

Problem solutions

Font name printed


Introduction

 Sibyllai is a tool that helps writting classical greek with UNICODE fonts. Sibyllai is the english version of Sibylla. The name is changed just to avoid confusions with files. This program will allow you to write classical greek in any application: text processor, mail, etc. You only need an UNICODE font as Palatino Linotype that is installed with Windows XP or Office.  You can configure Sibyllai in order to change the font in your application when you change to greek or non greek option.

The program offers the possibility of writing automatically breathings in the initial vowels, write xi pressing k+s, etc.

It also includes a dictionary with vocabulary from Xenophon and  Plato that accentuates forms: if you write tau+omega it will assume that you want to write the article and you won't need to write the circunflex or iota subscript. It will add those diacritics by itself. (if the dictionary is activated)

You need Windows NT, SP3, XP installed.

It also allows font conversion Greek, betacode and sGreek to  Unicode. You just have to copy the text in the upper text box and choose the font or put the Unicode text in the second window.

The program has been developed by [image] Jesús Quílez Bielsa and [image] Palladium team.


Technical data

Sibylla is developed in Visual Basic 5. It needs an operative system Windows NT, SP3, XP to work properly. Sibylla hooks keyboard events before they go to the active application and send keys to it.


Updates and support

Sibylla is being updated time after time to solve problems and improve its capabilities. We also add new lexica and files. It is highly recomended that you visit our pages:
 Updates and support
 Writing Greek with UNICODE fonts
 Author
 Palladium Project


UNICODE fonts

ASCII fonts contains 256 characters. This means that they only can  manage signs for an only  language or script (please bear in mind that an alpha in Greek, depending on the combination of diacritics, may result in more than 20 different signs). To type Classical Greek we need over 250 different characters.
Unlike ASCII fonts, Unicode fonts can contains up to 65.000 characters, so that it is possible to write in different languages without changing font. Among the most usual available Unicode fonts with support for Polytonic Greek we have: Arial Unicode, Aisa Unicode, Cardo, Palatino Linotype, New Athena, Titus Ciberbit, Vussillus, etc. Some of them are free and others ask you for a small fee.
An interesting Unicode font is ALPHABETUM, developed by Juan José Marcos García, teacher of Greek and Latin. It has been specifically designed to type classical languages and ancient scripts.


Installation

To install the program downolad .zip file [image].
If you have a previous version of the program you should:
1º Make a copy of the data bases we have modified and we want to keep. (usually LEXICA_completo.mdb) And keep them all in another directory.
2º Uninstall the previous version.
After that we must unzip the file Sibyllai.zip in another directory. Then we will press Setup.exe file.
During installation it will ask for a directory. By default it will be installed in Program files  [image] Sibyllai.


Settings, fonts and applications

To make sibylla work properly we will need to change the font of the application we are working with to an UNICODE font.
To avoid changing fonts we can tell Sibylla the program we are working with so that it will send a key stream to select the font for Greek or non-Greek writing. We can press F2 and see how it changes the font.
Sibylla has a list of most common applications (Word, OpenOffice, NotePad, PowerPoint, etc.). But if your program is not in the list you can try with the ones included or contact the author. If you don't want this option just select '-None-'.
After selecting the program you must select the fonts you want to use for writing Greek and non-Greek text. We will do that following Tools [image] Fonts [image] Greek and non-Greek.


Writing Greek

To write in Greek you just have to check Greek in the main window click with the mouse in your program and start writing. Afterwards we can change to non-greek and Greek pressing F2 and activate the dictionary pressing F3.
If we have an application selected in Tools options and default fonts Sibylla will change automatically those parameters, if not we will have to change them by ourselves.


Keyboard

To write a Greek letter you must press the similar phonetical value in the keyboard. To write an alpha you will press 'a' or 'n' to write a 'ni'. For information on some 'special letters' confer the keyboard  map or special characters help.
To select the diacritics or diacritical marks as breathing, accent, subscritp iota, etc. you can press the corresponding key (consult special characters) before pressing the vowel key. You can also mark these signs [image] in the window of Sibylla and then press the letter into your program.
You may use parentheses for breathings and accent keys for accents.To write the upper dot or 'ano teleia' press the colon. To write a question mark press the semicolon.
Pressing F2 we can change from Greek to non-Greek and keep on writing so both keyboards will be available.
Pressing F3 we can activate dictionary.
We can press F4 to change diacritical marks in the last character we have written. To do it so just press F4 and the diacritical mark as many times as necessary.
Press [image] to choose the desired form from dictionary when there are several available.


Special characters keys

Some special characters:
  Press Q	  Press W	  Press Y
  Press H	  Press shift 2	  Press  { }
  Press C	  Press $	  Press %
  Press &	 Press ?	 Press j

Diacritical marks (before the letter key)
  Circunflex	  Acute	  Grave
  Rough	  Smooth	  Dieresis
  Subscript iota	 Colon	 Semicolon
  Apostrophe


Keyboard Map

 F1 Help, F2 to change Greek / non-Greek, F3 activate dictionary, F4 allows rectification of diacriticals in last character or changes to variants you can see in some keys.

Key [image] chooses among different forms in the dictionary.


Options

Sibylla includes some options to make Greek writing easier. Some of them are default activated. So it will write smooth breathing when you start writing with vowel or ro. If you write k and s then it will write xi, etc.
If you don't want these options you can deactivate them in the menu Options.

a) final sigma [image] transform sigma at the end of a word.
b) K+s [image] writes xi.
c) p+s [image] writes psi.
d) initial breathing [image] adds smooth breathing to vowels, rough to ipsilon and ro.
e) long + iota [image] adds subscript iota to previous vowel if it is omega or eta.
f) numbers [image] transforms numbers in Greek numbers after pressing space or pause.
g) double angle quotes [image]  < y > appear like double angle quotes.


Font conversion

Sibylla allows font conversion from non-Unicode to Unicode. You must select  [image] Tools [image] Font conversion. Then we insert in Windows clipboard the text.
Then we click in the upper window and paste the text. We can do that pressing SHIFT and INSERT at the same time or with menu Load from Clipboard.
If we want to convert UNICODE to non-Unicode we just paste the text in the second window and choose the corresponding option.


Using the dictionary

Sibylla uses data bases with lexica from classical authors. This allows writing Greek without pressing the diacritical marks. If you write, with the dictionary activated, tau and omega the program will assume that you want to write the article in dative and will add the circunflex and subscript iota when you press a pause, colon, or stop afterwards.
The program includes two lexica by default. The one selected (basic) includes nearly 50.000 forms of the most usual in classical Greek from Xenophon and Plato (except for the ones that appear once).
It also includes an empty lexicon (custom) that we can modify and increase to fit our preferences.
 With the dictionary activated, as we write the program seeks its data basis for the chain of letters and shows some suggestions. If case that various possibilities are available the TAB key appears [image] and shows an index according with the preference of this form.
If we press this key it shows the diverse possibilities of accentuation and when we have the desired one we just have to press space, colon, stop, etc. and the word will be replaced with the one in the window.
 The forms appear by order of preference. The ones more used the first. You can see in both images that the first form appears 63 times and the fourth 7 times.
The option approach of the dictionary checked makes the program add to the possibilities the result of changing omicron by omega, epsilon by eta, double consonants, etc.
We can activate or deactivate the dictionary any time just pressing F3. Also if we press a diacritical mark when we are writing a word it will assume that we don't want its suggestions and won't change the word.

You can also use the dictionary to test the spelling of any word written in the document. To do so just select the word and drag it to the left inferior corner of Sibyllai. Select the desired form with the TAB key and press a space in the text.


Loading dictionaries

We can also load other dictionaries not included in Sibylla installation. To do so we will visit [image] Sibylla's page and press the desired link. If we have problems with the basic dictionary or it is corrupted we can also copy it again.
When we have downloaded the dictionary we must unzip it and copy to the directory in which the program is. Usually it is installed in Program files [image] Sibyllai.
Sibyllai will recognize automatically available lexica.


Modifying dictionaries

In some cases there are words we use very often but they don't appear in the dictionary. For instance first persons or forms of verbs like [image] frecuently used in grammars but not in texts.
So we can add or delete forms from the dictionaries. But first of all it's important you copy all the original lexica in another directory in case something goes wrong. Those files are all like 'lexica_...'.
The first step to make a custom dictionary is to import to 'custom' (that comes empty) any of the authors we have or the basic one. To do so we will check the dictionary we want to import an press Tools [image] Dictionary [image] Add to dictionary. We can add all the dictionaries we want but it might slow the program.
The options are:
a) Add word
b) Delete
c) Delete by frecuency
d) Load (loads a BetaCode text file into the dictionary)


Add word

This option adds a word to the checked dictionary.
First we will check Greek in Sibylla window. Then we write the term without space or pause and typing all the diacritical. Then we will press Tools [image] Dictionary [image] Add word.
At this moment the term will appear in Sibylla window and we will be asked confirmation. We must check that the word is correctly spelled in the window. If not we will press space to delete the dictionary buffer and we will write it again.
Afterwards we will be asked by a frecuency number. This determines the order in which it is offered to the user among the different possibilities. It must be equal or higher than 1. The higher the number the sooner it appears among the possibilities.


Delete words

In some cases we would like to delete forms from the dictionary. For instance capital letters that appear in all authors and are used just to point out the chapter or book.

To do so we will check the dictionary option and then type the word and select the form with the TAB key. Then we will press Tools [image] dictionary [image] delete.
To reduce the data bases size we can select Tools [image] dictionary [image] delete by frecuency and delete the forms that appear only once or two times.


Phonetic symbols

You can also insert phonetical symbols corresponding to long, short, open vowels in Greek and latin alphabet.
You just have to check the corresponding options in Phonetics menu and afterwards press the vowel in the application we are using. Usually they will appear in Greek (long, short alpha, etc.)

If we want to write those signs in latin alphabet we must chek first the option (latin).
Unfortunately some combinations are not available in Unicode fonts by now.


Font name printed

If you get a font name printed when you change from Greek to non-Greek hitting F2 or as you start to write it is becouse the program is trying to change the current font using a keyboard shortcut according to the application selected in Tools [image] Application.
You can either disable this option selecting Tools [image] Application [image] -None- or edit Sibylla.ini in the same folder than the program and change the string after the corresponding application name having into acount that % represent ALT key, ^ control key, ~ INTRO and the * represent the name of the font.