1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
|
\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{ethiop}
\newcommand{\eth}{\selectlanguage{ethiop}}
\font\manual=logo10 % font used for the METAFONT logo, etc.
\newcommand*\MF{{\manual META}\-{\manual FONT}}
\newcommand*\babel{\textsf{babel}}
\newcommand*\Babel{\textsf{Babel}}
\newcommand*\EthTeX{Eth\kern-0,1em \TeX}
\newcommand*\ethioplogo{\textsf{ethiop}}
\newcommand{\servicemail}{%
\texttt{ethiop@informatik.uni-hamburg.de}%
}
\newcount\xpos
\selectlanguage{english}
\hyphenation{Ethio-pi-an}
\begin{document}
\selectlanguage{english}
\title{\bf
Ethiopian Language Support\\
for the \Babel\ Package\\
{\large Version 0.7}}
\author{
\hfill\hbox to 0pt{\hss Berhanu Beyene\hss}\hfill
\hfill\hbox to 0pt{\hss Manfred Kudlek\hss}\hfill\kern0pt\\
\hfill\hbox to 0pt{\hss Olaf Kummer\hss}\hfill
\hfill\hbox to 0pt{\hss Jochen Metzinger\hss}\hfill\kern0pt\\[\medskipamount]
Universit\"at Hamburg,
FB Informatik,
AB TGI\\
Vogt-K\"olln-Stra\ss e 30,
D-22527 Hamburg}
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
The Ethiopian script differs considerably from the Latin script.
Most important, it consists of more than 350 different letters.
A new transcription method is presented that can be used for the
\LaTeX\ typesetting system. It was implemented on the basis
of the multilingual typesetting package \babel.
In addition to a guide to the concrete usage of our system, we provide
technical details of the implementation and sketch the
reasons for our design decisions. Linguistic and historical
information on the Ethiopian script is also included.
\end{abstract}
\selectlanguage{ethiop}
\begin{abstract}
ya'iteyo.peyA .sehuf kalAtin .sehuf 'e^geg yatalaya naw::
golto yamitAyaw ka 350 balAy fidalAten yayAza mahonu naw::
'enazihen fidalAt
\selectlanguage{english}\LaTeX\selectlanguage{ethiop}
batabAla ya.sehefat 'a.tA.tAl mAqanabAbariyA zadE ya'iteyo.peyAn
.sehuf balAtin
quAnquA lama.sAf
yamiyAs^cel 'adis yA'a.sA.sAf zaya
\selectlanguage{english}(Transcription)\selectlanguage{ethiop}
tazagA^geto qarbuAl::
ya~nAn ya'a.sA.sAf zadE lama.taqam kamiyAs^cl
mamariyA gAr; ya'a.taqAqamun tEknikAl zerezernA lamen yehEn
ya'a.sA.sAf mangad lama.taqem 'endawasan 'asAytenAl:: sela
'ityo.pyA quAnquAwo^c 'a.sA.sAf zadEnA yaquAnquA tArikAwi
mara^gAwo^c bazih .tenAt lAy 'akelanbatAl::
\end{abstract}
\selectlanguage{english}
\clearpage
\section{Introduction}
The \ethioplogo\ package \cite{BKKM97} is a collection of fonts
and \TeX\ macros that enable you to typeset the characters
of the languages of Ethiopia.
\subsection{The origins of the Ethiopian script}
The Ethiopian script has its origin in the South Semitic alphabet
which has been used for Thamudene, Dedanite, Li\d{h}yanite,
\d{S}afaitic, Minaean, Sabaean, \d{H}imyaritic, Qatabanic, and
\d{H}a\d{d}ramautic. These are Semitic languages once spoken
in the present state of Yemen. The alphabet was without vocalization.
The South Semitic characters are known from stone monuments only,
whereas the present Ethiopian characters originate from
paper documents. The writing direction of South Semitic was from
right to left or alternating (Bustrofedon).
In the $2^{nd}$ half of the $1^{st}$ milliennium BC Semitic groups
(Ge'ez, {\eth g`ez}) from South Arabia established a kingdom at Aksum.
After 350 AD a vocalization was introduced.
Today the Ethiopian script is an official writing system in two
states, Ethio\-pia ({\eth 'ityo.peyA}) and Eri\-trea ({\eth 'ErtrA}).
There exist 86 languages (4 of them extinct)
from 4 language families with around 200 dialects in Ethiopia and
Eritrea. The writing system is used for a number of languages
in these states, see Tab.~\ref{tab:speakers} for the most
important languages (figures taken from \cite{ethno96}).
Note that Amarinya, Guraginya, Afarinya,
Hadiyyinya, Kambaatinya, Orominya (O\-ro\-miffa),
Sidaminya, Somalinya and some others are the expressions in Amharic
for the different languages whereas the names in the second column of
Tab.~\ref{tab:speakers} are from \cite{ethno96}.
\subsection{The origins of this package}
The current Ethiopian \LaTeX\ environment started
as a project assignment at the university of Hamburg in
1995. Luckily, we did not need to start from scratch,
because there were some Ethiopian fonts already.
The fonts are based on \EthTeX\ which was originally distributed
by Abass B. Alameneh. The genuine \EthTeX\ package can be
found on CTAN in the directory \texttt{language/ethiopia/ethtex/}
or in \cite{ethio97}. We changed the existing letters a little to make
them more robust at low resolutions, but the most effort went into
adding new characters that were not present in the original fonts.
Still more important is the addition of \TeX-ligatures to
the fonts in order to support our input transcription.
When we chose our transcription scheme, it became apparent that
we would have to activate some of the input characters.
Although we wrote our own set of macros to handle the
activation, we soon decided not to introduce yet another
incompatible mechanism for this task. Instead we used
the \babel\ package by Johannes L. Braams \cite{Bra97} as
framework for the implementation of the input transcription.
The \TeX\ macros are derived from the file
\texttt{language.skeleton} provided with that package, which
also allows a more well-rounded support of multiple
languages.
Since the original \EthTeX\ package used a special editor
that is not available for all platforms, it was not easily
portable. Moreover, a special version of \LaTeX\,2.09 was
generated, thereby preventing an upgrade to the now current
\LaTeXe. By rewriting the language support completely and
by embedding the Ethiopian fonts into the framework of
the \babel\ package we got a more robust and portable
system that will be usable with future \LaTeX\ versions.
\begin{table}[t]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|l|ll|r|}
\hline
Language & Languages & &
\multicolumn{1}{|l|}{No.~of speakers} \\
family & & &
\multicolumn{1}{|l|}{in 1000} \\
& & &
\multicolumn{1}{|l|}{(year 91--95)} \\
\hline
Semitic & Ge'ez & {\eth g`ez} & only in church \\
& Amharic & {\eth 'amAr~nA} & 20\,000 \\
& Gurage & {\eth gurAge~nA} & 1\,850 \\
& Tigre & {\eth tegra} & ? \\
& Tigrinya & {\eth tegre~nA} & 6\,050 \\
\hline
Cushitic & Afar & {\eth 'afAr~nA} & 750 \\
& Hadiyya & {\eth hadiy~nA} & 1\,000 \\
& Kambaata & {\eth kambAt~nA} & 1\,000 \\
& Oromo & {\eth 'OrOm~nA} & 14\,000 \\
& Sidamo & {\eth sidAm~nA} & 1\,500 \\
& Somali & {\eth sOmAl~nA} & 2\,050 \\
\hline
Omotic & Gamo/Gofa/Dawro & {\eth gAm~nA} & 780 \\
& Wolaytta & {\eth walAyet~nA} & 2\,000 \\
\hline
East Sudanic & & & ? \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\caption{\label{tab:speakers}Languages and number of speakers}
\end{table}
Our transcription method does not provide support for the direct
entry of Ethiopian characters. Instead a natural encoding
has been developed that allows us to enter Ethiopian
text via Latin letters. This encoding is based on
scientific transcription techniques and is closely related
to other encoding standards. One of these standards is
SERA, which is mainly intended for the recording and
transmission of Ethiopian text within an ACSII environment.
However, the SERA encoding was not realizable as an
input encoding for \TeX.
Unicode, too, is an important text format, which
provides a unified framework for \textit{all}
languages by encoding characters with 16 bits instead of~8.
The \TeX\ extension $\Omega$ can handle Unicode
input. A rudimentary support for $\Omega$ has already
been included in this package. Note that the Ethiopian
script is not a full part of Unicode. Although it has
been approved by the Unicode committee and has passed the
ISO/JTC1/SC2 ballot, it still awaits the ISO/JTC1 ballot and
the final publication.
\section{Installation}
Installing the \ethioplogo\ package is not overly difficult,
especially if you adhere to the following instructions.
\begin{enumerate}
\item Check the prerequisites for this package.
\begin{itemize}
\item Make sure you have installed \TeX\ and \MF.
\item Make sure that the files \texttt{cmbase.mf} and \texttt{romand.mf}
from the Computer Modern fonts are accessible to \MF.
\item Make sure that you have installed \LaTeXe\ with
a release date of 1996/12/01 or later. \LaTeXe\
can be found on CTAN in the directory \texttt{macros/latex/}.
\item Make sure that you have installed the \babel\ package with
a release date of 1997/01/23 (version 3.6h) or later. \Babel\
can be found on CTAN in the directory \texttt{macros/latex/packages/babel/}.
\end{itemize}
\item If a previous version of this package is installed, remove
all the files, especially the font files that were generated
by \MF{} after the first installation.
\item Depending on how you obtained this package it might be
necessary to unpack/uncompress an archive. Now the files mentioned
in \texttt{MANIFEST} should be present.
\item If you do not intend to use the $\Omega$ typesetting system,
you may delete the files contained in the directory \texttt{omega/}.
\item Generate the \TeX\ files from their \texttt{docstrip}
source. To do this, run
\begin{verbatim}
tex ethiop.ins
\end{verbatim}
in the directory where the files \texttt{ethiop.ins} and
\texttt{ethiop.dtx} reside. (By default this is \texttt{latex/}.)
\item The files \texttt{ethiop.ins} and \texttt{ethiop.dtx}
can be removed, or you can run
\begin{verbatim}
latex ethiop.dtx
\end{verbatim}
to generate the source code documentation. \textit{This is not
required.}
\item Move the files to their destination.
\begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{}}
The files & are & and are needed by \\[1ex]
\texttt{*.tfm} & font metrics & \TeX \\
\texttt{*.fd} & font definitions & \TeX \\
\texttt{*.sty} & style files & \TeX \\
\texttt{*.ldf} & \babel\ language
definitions & \TeX \\
\texttt{*.tex} & \TeX\ sources & \TeX \\
\texttt{*.mf} & \MF\ sources & \MF \\
\texttt{*.otp} & $\Omega$ translation processes & otp2ocp \\
\texttt{*.ocp} & compiled \texttt{*.otp} files & $\Omega$ \\
\texttt{*.ovp} & $\Omega$ virtual font descriptions & ovp2ovf \\
\texttt{*.ovf} & $\Omega$ virtual font files & dvi-drivers \\
\texttt{*.ofm} & $\Omega$ font metrics & $\Omega$ \\
\end{tabular}
The exact location where the files belong depends on your
installation. As a first approximation, install them
near other files with the same extension.
For some installations it might be possible or even necessary
to place all the files in the directory where the user
documents will be placed. \textit{This is not recommended.}
\item Remove the font files that might be left over from a
previous version of ethiop, that is all files
\texttt{eth*.gf} and \texttt{eth*.pk}.
\item Verify the installation by generating this documentation
file from its source \texttt{ethiodoc.tex}. Run \LaTeX\ twice
to get the references right.
\begin{verbatim}
latex ethiodoc.tex
latex ethiodoc.tex
\end{verbatim}
The resulting file \texttt{ethiodoc.dvi} should be identical
to this text except for the date of translation.
\end{enumerate}
It is highly probable that after doing all of the above,
you have a working Ethiopian language package set up.
But maybe you ran into trouble during the installation.
In this case try the following:
\begin{itemize}
\item If the run on \texttt{ethiop.ins} fails, the files
might have been corrupted during transmission or one of
the necessary files might not be accessible to \TeX.
\item If \LaTeX\ complains about a missing input file, check whether
the files \texttt{*.fd} and \texttt{*.sty} are accessible and readable.
\item If \LaTeX\ complains about a missing font, check the
placement of the files \texttt{*.tfm}.
\item If \LaTeX\ issues warning messages, you might have an old version
of \LaTeX\ or \babel.
\item If \LaTeX\ issues strange errors, you might have an old version
of \LaTeX\ or \babel.
\item If \LaTeX\ issues strange errors, the files might have been
corrupted during transmission. Conversions of CR, LF, and
so on might cause this problem.
\item If the previewer or the printer driver complains about missing
fonts and does not automatically call \MF\ to generate
these font, either adapt your installation or generate
the fonts by hand. Depending on your installation you
must run something like
\begin{verbatim}
mf '\mode=localfont; input etha10'
\end{verbatim}
for each of the fonts.
\item If \MF\ is called and complains about missing source
files, check whether these (\texttt{*.mf}) are placed
correctly.
\item If \MF\ is called and complains about missing source
files, check whether the Computer Modern fonts have been
properly installed.
\item If \MF\ is called and complains about strange paths,
you are probably generating the
font at a lower resolution than 200\,dpi.
There is little you can do except ignoring the errors or
telling \MF\ to do so. Please report such errors only
if they occur at resolutions above 200\,dpi.
\item If the previewer or the printer driver complains about missing
characters, check whether you have deleted all files from
previous versions of this font.
\item If the previewer or the printer driver complains about a
checksum error, check whether you have deleted all files from
previous versions of this font.
\end{itemize}
If that does not help, have a look at our web page located at
{\small\verb|http://www.|\discretionary{}{}{}%
\verb|informatik.uni-hamburg.de|%
\verb|/TGI/mitarbeiter/wimis/kummer/ethiop_eng.html|}%
\hspace{0,33333em plus 3em}%
to read about possible updates and bug reports. If this
does not provide any clue and your friendly \TeX nician is unavailable,
we will try to help you, if time permits. Send a mail to
\servicemail, hopefully we will get back to you.
Please do \textbf{not} report bugs to Johannes L. Braams (the
maintainer of \babel) or to the \LaTeX\ team. They are \textbf{not}
responsible for our bugs and they are \textbf{very} busy already.
\section{Usage}
An important fact about the Ethiopian script is that
it uses more than 350 different characters. Hence the text
entry itself is a big problem. But we must also deal with
other topics like punctuation and spacing that arise when
using this package.
We will describe here the use of the \ethioplogo\ package
without the $\Omega$ system. The $\Omega$ support can be found
in section~\ref{omegasec}.
\subsection{Including the package}
The \babel\ language support is selected by adding the line
\begin{verbatim}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\end{verbatim}
to the preamble of a document. Of course a different language
might also be selected. But since the \ethioplogo\ package is not yet
a part of the \babel\ package, you must select it with
\begin{verbatim}
\usepackage{ethiop}
\end{verbatim}
in the preamble of a document. There is no need to include
\babel\ explicitly unless we want to use two or more languages.
If both \ethioplogo\ and \babel\ are included, we can use the ordinary
language switching mechanism of \babel\ to take us
from one language to the other. For example
\begin{verbatim}
\selectlanguage{english}'adis 'ababA
\selectlanguage{ethiop}'adis 'ababA
\selectlanguage{english}'adis 'ababA.
\end{verbatim}
will give you:
\selectlanguage{english}'adis 'ababA
\selectlanguage{ethiop}'adis 'ababA
\selectlanguage{english}'adis 'ababA.
\subsection{Typing the text}
In Tab.~\ref{tab:ethiopchar} you can see the Ethiopian
characters that are accessible using this package.
All characters with {\tt .d} are only used for {\it Orominya (Oromiffa)},
all with {\tt 'q}, {\tt 'k}, {\tt 'h}, {\tt 'g} and
{\tt mua}, {\tt mui}, {\tt muE}, {\tt mue} only for
{\it Guraginya (Chaha)}, all with {\tt .q} only for {\it Tigrinya},
and all with {\tt fu}, {\tt pu} only for {\it Wolayttinya}.
\begin{table}[p]
\begin{center}
\selectlanguage{ethiop}
\def\sci|#1|{\selectlanguage{english}%
\mdseries #1%
\selectlanguage{ethiop}}
\begin{tabular}{|c|r|ccccccc|ccccc|}
\cline{3-14}
\multicolumn{2}{r|}{}&
\sci|a|&\sci|u|&\sci|i|&\sci|\=a|&\sci|\=e|&\sci|e|&\sci|o|&
\sci|wa|&\sci|wi|&\sci|w\=a|&\sci|w\=e|&\sci|we|\\
\cline{3-14}
\multicolumn{2}{r|}{}&
\verb|a|&\verb|u|&\verb|i|&\verb|A|&\verb|E|&\verb|e|&\verb|o|&
\verb|ua|&\verb|ui|&\verb|uA|&\verb|uE|&\verb|ue|\\
\multicolumn{2}{r|}{}&
&\verb|U|&\verb|I|&&&&\verb|O|&&\verb|uI|&
\multicolumn{3}{r|}{\textrm{\small\itshape\mdseries if preferred}}\\
\hline
\sci|h| &\verb| h|& ha&hU&hI&hA&hE&he&hO&&&huA&&\\
\sci|l| &\verb| l|& la&lU&lI&lA&lE&le&lO&&&luA&&\\
\sci|\d h|&\verb|.h|& .ha&.hU&.hI&.hA&.hE&.he&.hO&&&.huA&&\\
\sci|m| &\verb| m|& ma&mU&mI&mA&mE&me&mO&mua&muI&muA&muE&mue\\
\sci|\'s| &\verb|'s|& 'sa&'sU&'sI&'sA&'sE&'se&'sO&&&'suA&&\\
\sci|r| &\verb| r|& ra&rU&rI&rA&rE&re&rO&&&ruA&&\\
\sci|s| &\verb| s|& sa&sU&sI&sA&sE&se&sO&&&suA&&\\
\sci|\v s|&\verb|^s|& ^sa&^sU&^sI&^sA&^sE&^se&^sO&&&^suA&&\\
\sci|q| &\verb| q|& qa&qU&qI&qA&qE&qe&qO&qua&quI&quA&quE&que\\
\sci|\d q|&\verb|.q|& .qa&.qU&.qI&.qA&.qE&.qe&.qO&
.qua&.quI&.quA&.quE&.que\\
\sci|b| &\verb| b|& ba&bU&bI&bA&bE&be&bO&bua&buI&buA&buE&bue\\
\sci|v| &\verb| v|& va&vU&vI&vA&vE&ve&vO&&&vuA&&\\
\sci|t| &\verb| t|& ta&tU&tI&tA&tE&te&tO&&&tuA&&\\
\sci|\v c|&\verb|^c|& ^ca&^cU&^cI&^cA&^cE&^ce&^cO&&&^cuA&&\\
\sci|\b h|&\verb|_h|& _ha&_hU&_hI&_hA&_hE&_he&_hO&
_hua&_huI&_huA&_huE&_hue\\
\sci|n| &\verb| n|& na&nU&nI&nA&nE&ne&nO&&&nuA&&\\
\sci|\~n| &\verb|~n|& ~na&~nU&~nI&~nA&~nE&~ne&~nO&&&~nuA&&\\
\sci|'| &\verb|'| & 'a&'U&'I&'A&'E&'e&'O&'ua&&&&\\
\sci|k| &\verb| k|& ka&kU&kI&kA&kE&ke&kO&
kua&kuI&kuA&kuE&kue\\
\sci|\b k|&\verb|_k|& _ka&_kU&_kI&_kA&_kE&_ke&_kO&
_kua&_kuI&_kuA&_kuE&_kue\\
\sci|w| &\verb| w|& wa&wU&wI&wA&wE&we&wO&&&&&\\
\sci|`| &\verb| `|& `a&`U&`I&`A&`E&`e&`O&&&&&\\
\sci|z| &\verb| z|& za&zU&zI&zA&zE&ze&zO&&&zuA&&\\
\sci|\v z|&\verb|^z|& ^za&^zU&^zI&^zA&^zE&^ze&^zO&&&^zuA&&\\
\sci|y| &\verb| y|& ya&yU&yI&yA&yE&ye&yO&yua&&&&\\
\sci|d| &\verb| d|& da&dU&dI&dA&dE&de&dO&&&duA&&\\
\sci|\d d|&\verb|.d|& .da&.dU&.dI&.dA&.dE&.de&.dO&&&.duA&&\\
\sci|\v g|&\verb|^g|& ^ga&^gU&^gI&^gA&^gE&^ge&^gO&&&^guA&&\\
\sci|g| &\verb| g|& ga&gU&gI&gA&gE&ge&gO&
gua&guI&guA&guE&gue\\
\sci|\d g|&\verb|.g|& .ga&.gU&.gI&.gA&.gE&.ge&.gO&
.gua&.guI&.guA&.guE&.gue\\
\sci|\d t|&\verb|.t|& .ta&.tU&.tI&.tA&.tE&.te&.tO&&&.tuA&&\\
\sci|$\check{\textrm{\d c}}$|&\verb|^C|&
^Ca&^CU&^CI&^CA&^CE&^Ce&^CO&&&^CuA&&\\
\sci|\d p|&\verb|.p|& .pa&.pU&.pI&.pA&.pE&.pe&.pO&&&.puA&&\\
\sci|\d s|&\verb|.s|& .sa&.sU&.sI&.sA&.sE&.se&.sO&&&.suA&&\\
\sci|\d c|&\verb|.c|& .ca&.cU&.cI&.cA&.cE&.ce&.cO&&&&&\\
\sci|f| &\verb| f|& fa&fU&fI&fA&fE&fe&fO&fua&fuI&fuA&fuE&fue\\
\sci|p| &\verb| p|& pa&pU&pI&pA&pE&pe&pO&pua&puI&puA&puE&pue\\
\cline{10-14}
\sci|\'q| &\verb|'q|& 'qa&'qU&'qI&'qA&'qE&'qe&'qO\\
\cline{12-14}
\sci|\'k| &\verb|'k|& 'ka&'kU&'kI&'kA&'kE&'ke&'kO&&&
\multicolumn{3}{|l|}{{\selectlanguage{english}\texttt{\char126 mA}}\hfill ~mA}\\
\sci|\'h| &\verb|'h|& 'ha&'hU&'hI&'hA&'hE&'he&'hO&&&
\multicolumn{3}{|l|}{{\selectlanguage{english}\texttt{\char126 ri}}\hfill ~ri}\\
\sci|\'g| &\verb|'g|& 'ga&'gU&'gI&'gA&'gE&'ge&'gO&&&
\multicolumn{3}{|l|}{{\selectlanguage{english}\texttt{\char126 fi}}\hfill ~fi}\\
\cline{1-9}\cline{12-14}
\end{tabular}
\selectlanguage{english}%
\caption{The Ethiopian characters}
\label{tab:ethiopchar}
\end{center}
\end{table}
We will now explain how the characters are entered.
Every character represents a syllable that consists of a
consonant followed by a vowel. If possible, every character
is encoded in a way that matches its pronounciation or its
scientific transcription as closely as possible.
As an example we choose the letter {\eth da} which is pronounced
\textit{da} and entered as \verb:da:. You will find the
character in the character table in row \texttt{d} and
column \texttt{a}.
The letter {\eth de} might represent the syllable \textit{de},
but it might also denote the consonant
\textit{d} without an accompanying vowel. To reflect this,
it is possible to enter either \verb:de: or \verb:d: at
the users choice.
If accented characters are used in the
scientific transcription of an Ethiopian syllable, they are
entered without the accent, but prefixed with an appropriate
special character. {\eth ^ca} has \textit{\v ca} as its transcription,
hence we will enter it as \verb:^ca: which is as close
to the proper transcription as we can get.
Long vowels are usually indicated by a bar,
\textit{d\=e} can serve as an example. But since long vowels
are fairly frequent, we do not want to use two letters for their
representation. Instead we will employ the uppercase letters
for this purpose, which leads us to \verb:dE: as our transcription
of the aforementioned syllable {\eth dE}.
When a vowel does not have both a short and a long form, like
the \textit{i} in \textit{di}, there is no need to insist on the
proper case for the vowel. Hence we might enter either \texttt{di}
or \texttt{dI} and get {\eth dI} in both cases.
Some consonants may be followed by a diphtong,
i.e.\ a combination of two vowels. A diphtong occurs e.g.\ in
{\eth duA} which is best transcribed \textit{dw\=a}.
We will code it as \verb:duA:, thereby slightly deviating
from the standard transcription. But this is unavoidable,
because if we enter \verb:dwA:, we will get an ambiguity
with \texttt{d\,wA} which we want to result in {\eth dwA}.
The SERA encoding, which is developed by
Daniel Yacob, Yitna Firdyiwek, and Yonas Fisseha,
suggests \verb:dWA:, which has been considered as an alternative
to the present encoding. It did not show any
significant advantages, however.
For the consonant series\quad{\eth
^Ca ^CU ^CI ^CA ^CE ^Ce ^CO ^CuA}\quad there exists a variant
form that looks like\quad{\eth\ethvariantCtrue
^Ca ^CU ^CI ^CA ^CE ^Ce ^CO ^CuA}\quad and
denotes the same syllables. The variant series can be activated by
issuing the command \verb|\ethvariantCtrue| once.
The original letterforms can then be restored by typing
\verb|\ethvariantCfalse|. This option will only
be needed in comparative studies, usually the standard
series should be preferred.
In the lower right corner of Tab.~\ref{tab:ethiopchar} you can
see an inlay with the three characters {\eth ~mA}, {\eth ~ri}, and
{\eth ~fi}. These characters are probably the remnants of
three complete series of seven syllables that were once used.
We added these three in order to
completely cover the character set of the proposed Unicode
standard for code positions 1200h to 137Fh. The encoding of
these characters is not fixed yet and may change at any
time in the future. At the moment the encoding is based on
the characters' appearance, but we are aware that the
pronounciation is different today.
\subsection{Punctuation}
Although the punctuation characters look different from
the punctuation of the Latin script, they have essentially the
same meaning. We made some compromises between
visual similarity and similar interpretation when
we chose the encoding of the punctuation characters.
In Tab.~\ref{tab:ethioppunc}--\ref{tab:ethiopspecial}
we have collected the appropriate inputs for each of the
characters.
\selectlanguage{ethiop}:-\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{table}[htb]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{l|ccccc|cc|cccc|c}
input&
\verb|:=|&
\verb|:-|&
\verb|::|&
\verb:,:&
\verb:;:&
\verb:|:&
\verb;:|:;&
\verb:?:&
\verb:'?:&
\verb:!:&
\verb:'!:&
\verb:...:\\
\hline
output&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}:=\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}:-\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}::\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop},\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop};\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}|\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}:|:\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}?\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}'?\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}!\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}'!\selectlanguage{english}&
\selectlanguage{ethiop}...\selectlanguage{english}\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\caption{The Ethiopian punctuation characters}
\label{tab:ethioppunc}
\vspace{\floatsep}
\begin{center}
{\selectlanguage{ethiop}
\begin{tabular}{l|cccc|cccc}
\selectlanguage{english}input&
\verb:<:&\verb:<<:&\verb:>:&\verb:>>:&
\verb:':&\verb:'':&\verb:`:&\verb:``:\\
\hline
\selectlanguage{english}output&
<&<<&>&>>&'&''&`&``\\
\end{tabular}
}
\end{center}
\caption{The Ethiopian quotation characters}
\label{tab:ethiopquot}
\vspace{\floatsep}
\begin{center}
{\selectlanguage{ethiop}
\begin{tabular}{l|cc|cc|cc|c}
\selectlanguage{english}input&
\verb:(:&\verb:):&\verb:[:&\verb:]:&\verb:\{:&\verb:\}:&
\verb:\$:\\
\hline
\selectlanguage{english}output&
(&)&[&]&\{&\}&\$\\
\end{tabular}
}
\end{center}
\caption{Special characters}
\label{tab:ethiopspecial}
\end{table}
The punctuation characters match their SERA equivalents closely.
\subsection{Spaces}
When the Ethiopian script is printed today, an interword gap
is signalled by a white space, in the same way as it is
done for the Latin script. This kind of spacing can
be used simply as in ordinary \LaTeX\ documents.
But in former times word breaks used to be denoted by the
character {\eth :} and even today this method is used for
handwriting. To get the appropriate effect look at the following
\LaTeX\ source
\begin{verbatim}
'abAs : 'alamenahe: 'abAs :'alamenahe:
'abAs:'alamenahe:'abAs:'alamenahe:
'abAs:'alamenahe:'abAs:'alamenahe:
'abAs:'alamenahe:'abAs:'alamenahe::
\end{verbatim}
which results in
\begin{quote}
\eth
'abAs : 'alamenahe: 'abAs :'alamenahe:
'abAs:'alamenahe:'abAs:'alamenahe:
'abAs:'alamenahe:'abAs:'alamenahe:
'abAs:'alamenahe:'abAs:'alamenahe::
\end{quote}
in the output. As you can see, line breaks are allowed after
the {\eth :} even if there is no space character in the
source. Space characters immediately following or preceeding
a \texttt{:} in the input are ignored as we can see from
the first line. Therefore newlines in the input
will not cause any problem either.
\subsection{Line breaking}
The ordinary spaces as well as the white space surrounding
an~{\eth :}~can be stretched a little,
so that it is possible to achieve proper justification.
Nevertheless, the lack of hyphenation in the Ethiopian language
makes itself felt from time to time, when \TeX\ cannot find
suitable breakpoints for a paragraph.
There are a few standard solutions to this problem, the easiest
is to use a \texttt{sloppypar} enviroment which allows \TeX\ to
stretch the interword spaces more than usual. But this does not
work when some words are simply too long. In that case
one may want to rewrite the sentence that causes the bad
break, maybe only by changing a few words.
However, the text might not be easily changable, e.g.~because
it is a quote from some other source, or the author insists
on that very phrase. In that case you an insert a \verb|\-|
into a suitable breakpoint where the text will be split
between two lines. Unlike the usual \TeX\ behaviour,
no hyphen will be added at the breakpoint. This kind of
line breaking is especially well suited when the
character~{\eth :}~is used for interword spaces.
But maybe even the insertion of break points is impossible.
In this case, some explicit
\verb|\hspace| must be added in a suitable position or
a raggedright layout must be selected during the whole document or
part thereof.
\subsection{Numbers}
Since today Arabic numbers are more frequently used than
the original Ethio\-pian numbers, the \ethioplogo\ package
outputs the Arabic numbers when the letters \texttt{0}
up to \texttt{9} occur in the source code.
But Ethiopian numbers can be typeset, too, by
using the command \verb|\ethnum|. If we enter \verb|\ethnum{1}|
we get {\eth\ethnum{1}} as the result. But the macro
\verb|\ethnum| can do more than that. In fact it can convert all
numbers up to 999\,999 to their Ethiopian equivalents:
\verb|\ethnum{999999}| gives {\eth\ethnum{999999}}.
We can see that the program knows quite a lot about
the representation of large numbers.
\begin{table}[thp]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{l|ccccccccc}
Arabic&
1&2&3&4&5&6&7&8&9\\
\hline
Ethiopian&
{\eth\ethnum{1}}&{\eth\ethnum{2}}&{\eth\ethnum{3}}&
{\eth\ethnum{4}}&{\eth\ethnum{5}}&{\eth\ethnum{6}}&
{\eth\ethnum{7}}&{\eth\ethnum{8}}&{\eth\ethnum{9}}\\
\end{tabular}
\bigskip
\begin{tabular}{l|ccccccccc|cc}
Arabic&
10&20&30&40&50&60&70&80&90&100&10000\\
\hline
Ethiopian&
{\eth\ethnum{10}}&{\eth\ethnum{20}}&{\eth\ethnum{30}}&
{\eth\ethnum{40}}&{\eth\ethnum{50}}&{\eth\ethnum{60}}&
{\eth\ethnum{70}}&{\eth\ethnum{80}}&{\eth\ethnum{90}}&
{\eth\ethnum{100}}&{\eth\ethnum{10000}}\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\caption{The Ethiopian numbers}
\label{tab:ethiopnum}
\end{table}
In \LaTeX\ we must output the contents of a counter
from time to time. This can be accomplished using the
macro \verb|\ethiop|. Saying \verb|\ethiop{subsection}| will
cause \TeX\ to print {\eth\ethiop{subsection}}, since this
is subsection \arabic{subsection}.
\subsection{Math mode}
One of \TeX's most important features is its math mode.
We can use math within Ethiopian text, but
by default all letters in mathematical formulas will
be taken from the ordinary \TeX\ fonts.
Ethiopian letters can be used in a formula, although this
will require slightly more work. When the macro
\verb|\ethmath| appears in math mode while the
Ethiopian language is selected, its single argument will
appear in the proper size typeset with the Ethiopian fonts.
For example
\begin{verbatim}
$$b+\frac{d}{f^g}\iff
\ethmath{ba}+\frac{\ethmath{da}}{\ethmath{fa}^{\ethmath{ga}}}$$
\end{verbatim}
will result in
\selectlanguage{ethiop}
$$b+\frac{d}{f^g}\iff
\ethmath{ba}+\frac{\ethmath{da}}{\ethmath{fa}^{\ethmath{ga}}}$$
\selectlanguage{english}%
where you should note the varying fonts in the first and second
subformula. Actually all the work is done by the macro
\verb|\ethmath| that outputs the Ethiopian characters.
\subsection{Ethiopian dates}
The Ethiopian calendar is based on the Julian calendar with
twelve months of 30~days and one month of 5~days. Every fourth
year is a leap year, which means that the last month will have
6~days. The calendar system is implemented in our package,
so it is possible to type \verb|\today| and get {\eth\today}.
(This is the date on which this document has
been translated. Compare it to the date on the title page!)
\subsection{Two examples}
We provide the first sample text to illustrate the appearance of
our font. The \LaTeX\ source of the text begins with
\begin{verbatim}
\subsubsection*{`amala~nAytun mArq}
pAduwA bametbAl web ya'i.tAliyA katamA si~nor bAptisetA
yatasa~nu 'and tegu_h `sarAta~nA yenofu nabar:: 'enih sawe
hulat qon^go sEto^c le^g^c nabaruA^caw::
\end{verbatim}
and gives the following result:
\selectlanguage{ethiop}
\subsubsection*{`amala~nAytun mArq}
pAduwA bametbAl web ya'i.tAliyA katamA si~nor bAptisetA
yatasa~nu 'and tegu_h 'sarAta~nA yenoru nabar:: 'enih sawe
hulat qon^go sEto^c le^g^c nabaruA^caw::
kuAduA.helinA yatabAla^cew webatuAnA
.tabAyua yatamuAlA naw:: puafEluA
webatuA 'enda 'e_hetuA 'amuAlto selAlesa.tAt ba`amala~nAnatuA
tetAwaqAla^c::
puafEluA lAbAtuA yabakuir le^g bamahonuA bazih 'alabelAbit
melAsuA sAbiyA menAlbAt bAl 'a.tetA qumo-qar 'enedAthon 'abAtuA
segAt 'aderobA^caw nabar::
yafarut 'alqaram laqon^gowA kavEreno 'eska quidA_hualA sigorf
la`amal~nAwA 'a.tagabuA yamiders saw .tafA::
\selectlanguage{english}
The next example will clarify the usage of bold and
slanted Ethiopian fonts. Italic characters are mapped to
slanted characters. The font selection works just as in
ordinary \LaTeX\ with NFSS. The source text
\begin{verbatim}
'adis 'ababA \textbf{'adis 'ababA}
\textsl{'adis 'ababA \textbf{'adis 'ababA}}
\end{verbatim}
gives us
\selectlanguage{ethiop}
'adis 'ababA \textbf{'adis 'ababA}
\textsl{'adis 'ababA \textbf{'adis 'ababA}}
\selectlanguage{english}
as the output.
\subsection{Using \ethioplogo\ with Arab\TeX}
Starting with version 3.6i, \babel\ is now compatible with
Arab\TeX. But still there are some problems with the many active
characters which are used by \ethioplogo, so that the two packages
do not work right away.
But it is possible to use Arab\TeX\ with \ethioplogo\ by
including the special style \texttt{etharab.sty} after
Arab\TeX\ has been loaded. Some internal macros of Arab\TeX\ are
redefined, so this is not guaranteed to work with every version
of Arab\TeX, but it has been successfully used with version
3.06g3 of Arab\TeX.
\begin{verbatim}
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{arabtex}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{ethiop}
\usepackage{etharab}
\begin{document}
\selectlanguage{english}
The Arabic (<al.har_t>) and the Ethiopian script
(\selectlanguage{ethiop}sel.tAnE\selectlanguage{english})
may occur within one sentence.
\end{document}
\end{verbatim}
We do not provide the output of the example, because this document is
intended to be translatable even in the absence of Arab\TeX.
In fact, everything works as usual, Arabic text can be inserted
using the \texttt{arabtext} environment or using
\verb:<>: pairs. However, these commands must not be used in
arguments to other commands or in command definitions. If that
is desired the complete commands or command definitions must be
enclosed in a \texttt{noethiop} environment.
\begin{verbatim}
\begin{noethiop}
\section{<al.har_t> -- cultivation}
\end{noethiop}
\end{verbatim}
provides an example. If Ethiopian characters are needed, too,
then a little trick is in order.
\begin{verbatim}
\def\temptext{%
\selectlanguage{ethiop}sel.tAnE\selectlanguage{english}}
\begin{noethiop}
\section{<al.har_t> -- cultivation -- \temptext}
\end{noethiop}
\end{verbatim}
But there should be really, really few occasions for
such ugly code.
\section{Advanced topics}
Although the usage of the \ethioplogo\ package is not really difficult
once one gets used to it, there are a few points to be
aware of. We will highlight the internal structure
of the package first, to make it more plausible why some
problems just cannot be easily patched away.
\subsection{Implementation notes}
Because we have to deal with so many characters, we
placed them in two separate fonts. The two codetables
are shown in Tab.~\ref{codetab:etha} and
Tab.~\ref{codetab:ethb}, together with the recommended
input strings. (Remember that there might be different
ways to achieve the same result.)
\begingroup
\catcode`\~=12\relax
\catcode`\^=12\relax
\catcode`\_=12\relax
\def\x{\endgroup
\let\plaintilde=~
\let\plainhatacc=^
\let\plainbaracc=_
}
\x
\newcommand{\codetable}[2]{%
\begin{table}[p]
\begin{center}
\global\xpos=0
~%
\kern-2cm
\begin{tabular}{@{}r|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|}%
\multicolumn{1}{r}{}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{0}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{1}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{2}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{3}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{4}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{5}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{6}}&
\multicolumn{1}{l}{~\texttt{7}}\\
\cline{2-9}%
\input{#1}%
\end{tabular}%
\kern-2cm
~%
\end{center}
\caption{\label{codetab:eth#2}The Ethiopian codetable ETH\uppercase{#2}}
\end{table}
}
\newcommand{\outputcode}[1]{%
\ifx\relax#1\relax
%\rule{1em}{1ex}%
\else
\rule[-4pt]{0pt}{14pt}%
{\def~{\plaintilde}%
\def^{\plainhatacc}%
\def_{\plainbaracc}%
\texttt{#1}}%
~\hfill
{\foreignlanguage{ethiop}{#1}}%
\fi
}
\newcommand{\docode}[2]{%
\ifnum\xpos=0 \relax
\texttt{#1}~&%
\fi
\outputcode{#2}%
\global\advance\xpos by 1
\ifnum\xpos=8 \relax
\global\xpos=0
\\\cline{2-9}%
\else
&%
\fi
}
\codetable{codeetha.tex}{a}
\renewcommand{\docode}[2]{%
\ifnum\xpos=0 \relax
\texttt{#1}~&%
\fi
\ifnum#1>48 \relax
\ifnum#1<69 \relax
\hfill
\foreignlanguage{ethiop}{\fontfamily{ethb}\selectfont\char#1}%
\else
\ifnum#1>191 \relax
\ifnum#1<200 \relax
\hfill
\foreignlanguage{ethiop}{\fontfamily{ethb}\selectfont\char#1}%
\else
\outputcode{#2}%
\fi
\else
\outputcode{#2}%
\fi
\fi
\else
\outputcode{#2}%
\fi
\global\advance\xpos by 1
\ifnum\xpos=8 \relax
\global\xpos=0
\\\cline{2-9}%
\else
&%
\fi
}
\codetable{codeethb.tex}{b}
In the first font we preferred to place characters that
result from a \TeX\ ligature (which must not be confused
with a ligature from ordinary printing) in the positions
0--31 and 128--255. These characters usually cannot be
entered from a keyboard and hence it is safe to assume that
they resulted from a ligature.
Only the characters in the primary font are accessible
by entering ordinary characters and forming ligatures.
For the other characters it is necessary to explicitly
select the secondary font within the \TeX\ code.
But this requires the execution of \TeX\ macros, hence
the activation of some characters was required. The
activated characters can inspect the following
characters and request the necessary font change.
In fact, this method of enlarging the number of
available characters is quite general and might be used for
other languages, too, e.g.\ to provide a unified
input mechanism for all Latin characters.
For a complete documentation of the input parsing mechanism
we refer the interested reader to the commented source code
in \texttt{ethiop.dtx}, which can also be typeset by
\LaTeX\ to get a more readable version.
A long calculation is required to convert the
Gregorian date provided by the \TeX\ primitives
\verb|\year|, \verb|\month|, and \verb|\day| to the
Ethiopian date. The implementation in \TeX\ is straightforward,
but hardly readable, because \TeX's expressiveness for
formulas is very weak. As calendar routines are provided
for all the other \babel\ language definitions, it was obvious
that this problem had to be addressed.
\subsection{Common pitfalls}
After discussing some of the internals of the
\ethioplogo\ package, we are now prepared to examine
some of the problems that result from our implementation.
First of all the characters \verb|~|,
\verb|^|, \verb|'|, \verb|_|, and \verb|.| are
made active. This is unavoidable, but there are some
drawbacks.
\begin{itemize}
\item We cannot use~\verb|^|\verb|^| for entering special characters.
Usually this is done in package files only, so we do not
get into real trouble, since \babel\ activates the
characters only at the beginning of the document.
\item We cannot use a~\verb|.| in numbers and \TeX\ dimensions
while Ethiopian text is being typeset. We can circumvent
this problem by using a~\verb|,| instead of the~\verb|.| when
entering numbers for \TeX.
Note, that we can use the~\verb|.| without
problems when we have temporarily switched to a language
other than Ethiopian, e.g.\ English.
\end{itemize}
We could expect that the activation of~\verb|^| and~\verb|_|
spoils \TeX's math mode, but this is not the case.
In fact math mode behaves just like before, with subscripts
and superscripts in their proper position.
The complex calendarical calculation require the allocation
of a large number of counters to hold the intermediate
results.
\begin{itemize}
\item In connection with other counter intensive packages
\LaTeX\ may run out of counters when using the
\ethioplogo\ package. Maybe we can get rid of two or three of the
counters in the next version, but it will still remain
a problem.
\end{itemize}
This problem is actually due to the lack of temporary
counters in \LaTeX, which are not provided, even though this
is done for all the other types of registers.
Since our package is not yet an integral part of the
\babel\ system, we have some other difficulties to overcome.
\begin{itemize}
\item The \ethioplogo\ package cannot be loaded
via an option to \babel. Instead an explicit
\verb|\usepackage{ethiop}| has to be used.
\item We do not know what the future will bring. While this
package \textit{might} work with future versions of
\babel, there is no guarantee that it will. So you should keep
your old version of \babel\ until you are sure it works
with the \ethioplogo\ package or until an updated version of
\ethioplogo\ is issued.
\end{itemize}
Typing errors will usually not result in
an error message. Instead a black rectangle will appear
in the output, if some illegal character is encountered.
\begin{itemize}
\item Because it is allowed to enter consonants without a
trailing vowel, there are plenty of typos that
simply result in the wrong letters being printed.
\end{itemize}
So look at your finished document carefully.
\subsection{Support of the $\Omega$ typesetting system}
\label{omegasec}
The advantage of using $\Omega$ for typesetting the
Ethiopian language is that it can handle text
files encoded in Unicode. Therefore the complex,
timeconsuming and error-prone conversion process
needed our transliteration within \TeX\ can be
skipped.
$\Omega$ can still profit from \babel's support for
captions, dates etc.
In $\Omega$ you can simply enter the Ethiopian charaters
as their Unicode equivalents. They will be converted to
our fonts by means of virtual fonts.
You will have to experiment when you want to use $\Omega$
with \ethioplogo. Tests have been only rudimentary so far.
There are some currently unused files that may help you.
\texttt{ethotlit.otp} simulates the old transliteration process
in $\Omega$. \texttt{ethohyph.otp} allows word breaking between every
syllable.
Let us note a few differences between our package and
Unicode.
\begin{itemize}
\item The letter {\eth huA} (\verb|huA|) is not present in Unicode.
It is mentioned in \cite{Wedekind95}.
It is used in the language of Agew ({\eth 'agaw},
also known as Awngi). \cite{Wedekind95} also uses {\eth _kuA}
(\verb|_kuA|) as an alternative representation for the same
sound.
An example word would be {\eth sOhuA}, which means in Agew
\emph{to eat}.
\item The letter {\eth mui} (\verb|mui|) is equipped with a additional tail
at the lower left in Unicode.
\item The four series {\eth 'q} (\verb|'q|),
{\eth 'k} (\verb|'k|),
{\eth 'h} (\verb|'h|), and
{\eth 'g} (\verb|'g|) are not present in Unicode.
They are suggested as possible extensions, but will
not occur in Unicode in the near future, as it seems.
\end{itemize}
\section{Changes}
Version 0.2 was the first version to be publicly released,
but we will shortly list the changes that this version made
to \EthTeX.
\begin{itemize}
\item Several letters were added, most notably the Leslau extensions
\verb|'q|, \verb|'k|, \verb|'h|, and \verb|'g|. Some diphtongs
were added, too.
\item The multi-letter encoding was chosen and implemented
using \babel.
\item The calendar algorithms were programmed.
\end{itemize}
\subsection*{Version 0.3}
\begin{itemize}
\item The letter {\eth huA} (\verb|huA|) was added.
\item Some bugs regarding subscripts and superscripts
in ordinary math mode were fixed.
\item The command \verb|\ethmath| was added to allow
Ethiopian characters in math mode.
\item Fonts in 5 point size were added to allow
Ethiopian characters in subscripts and superscripts.
\end{itemize}
\subsection*{Version 0.4}
\begin{itemize}
\item The punctuation characters {\eth |} and
{\eth :|:} were added.
\item The syllables {\eth ~mA} (\verb|~mA|), {\eth ~ri} (\verb|~ri|), and
{\eth ~fi} (\verb|~fi|) were added. Now all characters of the proposed
Unicode standard for the code positions U+0x1200h to U+0x137F are
included.
\item \verb|\ethvariantCtrue| and \verb|\ethvariantCfalse| were
introduced. At the same time the shorthand \verb|_C| was removed.
The variant forms of the series \verb|^C| can only be reached via
the aforementioned commands from now on.
\end{itemize}
\subsection*{Version 0.5}
\begin{itemize}
\item Problems with activating \verb|'| in math mode have been
solved.
\end{itemize}
\subsection*{Version 0.6}
\begin{itemize}
\item \texttt{etharab.sty} has been added to allow cooperation
with Arab\TeX.
\end{itemize}
\subsection*{Version 0.7}
\begin{itemize}
\item As suggested by Donald~E.~Knuth, some
faulty parameters in the files \texttt{etha8.mf} and
\texttt{ethb8.mf} were corrected.
\item As suggested by Donald~E.~Knuth, individual glyphs
for the characters {\eth :|:} and {\eth :-} were added.
In previous versions these characters were combined from
other glyphs.
\item The \ethioplogo\ package may now be loaded
before or after \babel, as desired. Previous versions
required that \ethioplogo\ had to be loaded after
\babel.
\item Limited $\Omega$ support has been added.
\end{itemize}
\section{Copyright and Liability Notice}
This software is available under the GNU General Public License,
which you can find in the \texttt{COPYING} distributed with
\ethioplogo.
We distribute \ethioplogo\ in the hope that it will be useful,
but \emph{without any warranty}; without even the implied warranty of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
The authors of \ethioplogo\ are \emph{not liable} for any direct,
indirect, incidential or consequential damage including,
but not limited to, loss of data, loss of profits, or
system failure, which arises out of use or inability to
use \ethioplogo.
This clause does not apply to gross negligence or premeditation.
Although we do not require this as a part of our license,
we would be very happy if you send us any changes you make.
\section{Closing Remarks}
Much work has been done during the development of
this package, but much work had been done before and
there are still open points.
\subsection{To Do}
What remains to be done?
\begin{itemize}
\item Bugs must be removed. We know that there are
some, but we do not know which. Please report bugs to
\servicemail, we will be happy to make some updates.
\item More languages must be added. To do this, we must
get to know the names for `bibliography', `chapter',
`index' and so on for as many of the languages of
Ethiopia as possible. Suggestions for these and other
non-technical improvements can also be sent to
\servicemail.
\item It must be possible to typeset whole books in the
Ethiopian script. Although this is possible at the moment,
there are several problems that occur with the
different \LaTeX\ structures like \verb|\part|,
\verb|\section|, or even \verb|\item|.
\item We need to find out more about the conventions for
typesetting in the Ethiopian script.
\end{itemize}
\subsection{Thanks}
We would like to thank Abass B. Alameneh, Johannes L.
Braams, Donald E. Knuth, and Leslie Lamport for their
efforts. The programs provided by them made our
package possible.
Paul Seelig from the Debian team provided the neccessary
motivation for finally releasing \ethioplogo\ under the GNU GPL.
Daniel Yacob gave encouraging and constructive
feedback on our project.
Michal Jerabek did some extensive field testing of our package.
While we are on the subject, here is a list containing
some of the names that appeared in this text.
You can already guess it, they are written in
the Ethiopian script. But which name is which?
\selectlanguage{ethiop}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
berhAnu bayana & yOhAnes brAms & mAnfrEd kudlEk \\
'abAs 'alamenahe & 'OlAf kumar & lasli lampOrt \\
yO_ken me.sngar & dOnAld knut & dan'El yA`eqob \\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{thebibliography}{99}
\bibitem{Ale94} Alamneh, Abass: \EthTeX.\newline
\verb|ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/languages/ethiopia/ethtex/|
\bibitem{BeBoCoFe77} Bender, M.L.; Bowen, J.D.; Cooper, R.L.;
Ferguson, C.A.: Language in Ethiopia. Oxford University Press, London 1997.
\bibitem{BKKM97} Beyene, Berhanu; Kudlek, Manfred; Kummer, Olaf;
Metzinger, Jochen: The \ethioplogo\ package. Fachbereich Informatik,
Universit\"at Hamburg, 1997.\newline
\verb|ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/languages/ethiopia/ethiop/|
\bibitem{Bra97} Braams, Johannes L.: The \babel\ package.\newline
\verb|ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/macros/latex/packages/babel/|
\bibitem{ethio97} EthiO Systems: \EthTeX.\newline
\verb|http://www.neosoft.com/~ethiosys/ethtex/ethtex.html|
\bibitem{ethno96} Summer Institute of Linguistics: Ethnologue.
Dallas, Texas, 1996.\newline
\verb|http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/|
\bibitem{Gui01} Guidi, Ignazio: Vocabolario Amaharico-Italiano.
Casa Editrice Italiana, Roma, 1901.
\bibitem{Ham73} Hammerschmidt, Ernst: \"Athiopische Handschriften
vom \d T\=an\=asee 1. Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1973.
\bibitem{Knu86a} Knuth, Donald E.: The \TeX book. Addison Wesley,
Reading, Massachusetts, 1986.
\bibitem{Knu86b} Knuth, Donald E.: The \MF book. Addison Wesley,
Reading, Massachusetts, 1986.
\bibitem{Lam86} Lamport, Leslie: \LaTeX~--
A Document Preparation System. Addison Wesley,
Reading, Massachusetts, 1986.
\bibitem{Les65} Leslau, Wolf: Ethiopians Speak, Studies in
Cultural Background, Vol. 2. University of California Press, Berkeley 1965.
\bibitem{Les87} Leslau, Wolf: Comparative Dictionary of Ge'ez
(Classical Ethiopic). Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1987.
\bibitem{LiHo62} Littmann, Enno; H\"ofner, Maria: W\"orterbuch der
Tigr\=e-Sprache. Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1962.
\bibitem{SERA93} The Unicode Technical Report \#1~--
Draft Proposal on Ethiopian Script. Houston, TX, August 1993.
\bibitem{Wedekind95} Wedekind Ch.; Wedekind K.:
A Survey of Awngi. In: Survey of Little-known Languages of Ethiopia,
Linguistic Report No.~28. Institute of Ethiopian Studies,
Addis Ababa University. May 1995.
\bibitem{woldeki66} \selectlanguage{ethiop}'aklila berhan walda
kirkos:= sela g`eznA 'amAr~nA quAnquA tArik:: negd mAtemiyA bet,
'adis 'ababA 1958::\selectlanguage{english}
\bibitem{TWol70}\selectlanguage{ethiop}takla wald dastA:=
ya'amAr~nA mazgaba qAlAt:: 'artistik mAtamiyA bEt, 'adis 'ababA 1970::
\selectlanguage{english}
\bibitem{sera97} Yaqob, Daniel: SERA FAQ.\newline
\verb|http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/dmulholl/fidel/sera.html|
\end{thebibliography}
\end{document}
|