Creating Unicode IPA word processing documents

Input methods

In order to create a word processing document containing Unicode IPA, it is necessary to have an input method for Unicode IPA characters, in addition to a Unicode IPA font and a word processing application that supports Unicode. Neither Windows 2000 nor Mac OS X includes an input method specifically designed for Unicode IPA, so other options must be explored.

Mac OS X

OS X includes an input method called “Unicode Hex Input”, which can be used to input Unicode IPA characters into a Unicode-savvy application such as TextEdit. To input characters via Unicode Hex Input, type the Unicode <a href>hexidecimal character code</a> for the desired character while holding down the Option key. A Unicode font that includes the characters specified must first be installed on the computer, of course.
(Possibility of creating an OS X Unicode IPA input method.)

Windows 2000

There are several ways to input Unicode IPA characters into Word 2000. The first is the well known Insert…Symbol menu command. By choosing Insert…Symbol and then selecting a Unicode font, the pull-down list on the right will display all of the Unicode code points (such as “IPA Extensions”) included in that font. The main problem with this method is that the IPA characters are not all displayed together. For example, the letter eng is located in “Latin Extended A” rather than in “IPA Extensions”. Thus, inserting Unicode IPA characters this way requires a lot of scrolling around to find the right character.

The second method for inputting Unicode IPA characters in Word 2000 comes from Dermod Quirke and Brian Holser, and involves entering AutoCorrect entries that replace mnemonic abbreviations such as \barredi\ with their Unicode IPA equivalents. This method is handy because its easy to delete, add, and redefine AutoCorrect codes as desired. The only constraint on the codes is that they must begin and end with a nonalphabetic character, because AutoCorrect only replaces whole words. Thus, ‘eacuteagrave’ will not be turned into ‘éà’. Beginning codes with a single, nonalphabetic character also guarantees that all of the IPA AutoCorrect codes will appear together near the top of the AutoCorrect codes as listed in the AutoCorrect dialog box.

Manually configuring AutoCorrect in this way would be tedious, because it involves adding an AutoCorrect entry for each IPA character. Fortunately, once this is done on one computer, a macro can be used to transfer the codes to other computers. (…)

Make a new keyboard. Keyboard Layout Manager and Keyman, combined with MS Virtual Keyboard.

Portable word processing documents

After creating a Word 2000 file with Unicode IPA characters, seriously consider transmitting the file in RTF format rather than in native Word format for maximum portability. To save as RTF, choose “Save As…” from the file menu and then choose “Rich Text File” as the format.

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