How can I get a LINGALA font?

I need to write a book in Lingala, a DR Congolese language; thus I need to have Lingala font, which has some specificities


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Sep 24, 2023 4:05 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 24, 2023 6:03 AM

pierrot34 wrote:

I need to write a book in Lingala, a DR Congolese language; thus I need to have Lingala font, which has some specificities

What specificities exactly? Are you referring to ɔ and ɛ? Many ordinary Latin fonts will have these already, so you won't need a special font for them.


You might want a special keyboard, although the ABC Extended input source provided by Apple can make those two characters without problem.

16 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 24, 2023 6:03 AM in response to pierrot34

pierrot34 wrote:

I need to write a book in Lingala, a DR Congolese language; thus I need to have Lingala font, which has some specificities

What specificities exactly? Are you referring to ɔ and ɛ? Many ordinary Latin fonts will have these already, so you won't need a special font for them.


You might want a special keyboard, although the ABC Extended input source provided by Apple can make those two characters without problem.

Sep 24, 2023 8:31 AM in response to pierrot34

pierrot34 wrote:

Thank you very much Tom. Yes indeed those characters you just mentioned; and also other vowels with the three different accents such as acute, c, grave... You mean the Latin keyboard would be helpful? Thanks indeed.

Here is how to make the characters you need with Apple's ABC Extended input source:


ɔ is option shift ; then c

ɛ is option shift ; then 3

acute on any vowel is vowel then option shift e (ɔ́)

circonflex on any vowel is vowel then option shift 6 (ɔ̂)

grave on any vowel is vowel then option shift ` (ɔ̀)

caron on any vowel is vowel then option shift v (ɔ̌)


The first two are kind of tedious, you might want to make a custom keyboard with Ukelele. I could make you one pretty quickly if you tell me which keys you want the ɔ and ɛ to be on.


.

Sep 24, 2023 10:18 AM in response to pierrot34

Here is the keyboard.


Put the .bundle file in Library/Keyboard Layouts or Home/Library/Keyboard Layouts. (To get to Home/Library, you hold down the option key while doing Finder > Go.)


Then go to system preferences > keyboard > input sources and use the + button to find Lingala and add ABC Ext for Lingala to your list, and then select it in the Input Menu at the top right corner of the screen. Use Keyboard Viewer to see which key does what. Let me know if any problems.


Use the Keyboard Viewer on Mac - Apple Support


Sep 24, 2023 1:40 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thanks Tom! I have succeeded with the first step of dragging the .bundle into Keyboard Layouts, thanks to the image you sent. Could you send me the same for the second step now: "Then go to system preferences > keyboard > input sources and use the + button to find Lingala and add ABC Ext for Lingala to your list, and then select it in the Input Menu at the top right corner of the screen. Use Keyboard Viewer to see which key does what." Thanks a lot for your patience.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How can I get a LINGALA font?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.