insert IPA symbols into Word document

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Level 4

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insert IPA symbols into Word document

Hi,

Does anyone know what is required to insert IPA symbols into a Word (v. X) document. The type of symbols I'm looking for can be found here, but I can't get them into my Word documents. I'm afraid I'm missing some special font or symbol library, but I have no idea which ones. Does anyone know what I might need to get symbols into my documents? Thanks very much.

-NifflerX

iBook G3, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Feb 27, 2006 8:04 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,922 points

Feb 27, 2006 11:15 AM in response to nifflerX

If you have any alternative to WordX, I would advise you to use it. Since WordX can't do Unicode, you are stuck using non-standard fonts to insert IPA. Alternatives include Word2004, TextEdit, Pages, Nisus Writer Express, AbiWord, and NeoOffice/J.

If you have no choice but to use WordX, you can get the non-Unicode fonts here I think:

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=IPAhome

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Answer 2

nifflerX Author

Level 4

2,826 points

Feb 27, 2006 11:39 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Hi,

Thank you for the response. I'm not limited to Word, and I have NeoOffice (version 1.2) on my machine but I'm not sure how to insert those kinds of symbols. Is there a way to switch my keyboard in NeoOffice that lets me type IPA symbols, or do I have to insert them manually? Thanks very much.

-NifflerX

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,922 points

Feb 27, 2006 11:55 AM in response to nifflerX

You can do it manually from the Character Palette (Edit > Special Characters). The Unicode block is called IPA Extensions, 0250 and up. Lucida Grande has a lot of them, otherwise Gentium is good.

Or you can download and install a special IPA keyboard layout:

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?siteid=nrsi&item_id=ipa-silkeyboard

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Answer 4

nifflerX Author

Level 4

2,826 points

Feb 28, 2006 8:31 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Hi,

Thank you so much for your replies. OpenOffice works great for viewing the files. I think I may need the files in an excel spreadsheet though, so I'm guessing I'm going to have to upgrade to Office 2004. I need Office 'cause I won't be the only one looking at these files. Thanks again for all your help. If you have any ideas on how I can avoid upgrading I'd love to hear them, but it's not that big of a deal. Thanks again.

-NifflerX

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,922 points

Feb 28, 2006 9:29 AM in response to nifflerX

I think I may need the
files in an excel spreadsheet though,

NeoOffice/J includes an Excel compatible spreadsheet component, no?

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Answer 6

nifflerX Author

Level 4

2,826 points

Feb 28, 2006 9:51 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

It does and the NeoOffice spreadsheet has not problem with the IPA symbols, my fear is when I have to send these files to people I work with who do not have NeoOffice (and I am not in a position to tell them to get it). All they have is Excel or Word.

-NifflerX

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Answer 7

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,922 points

Feb 28, 2006 10:16 AM in response to nifflerX

The whole point of NeoOffice to be compatible with Office. So you might want to give the spreadsheet a test to see if its .xls files work as you need them to work in Office.

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Answer 8

nifflerX Author

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2,826 points

Feb 28, 2006 10:35 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Hi,

The openoffice spreadsheets work and when I save them as .xls files and open them in NeoOffice they still work, but if I open them in Word v. X I get no symbols. However, if I open the NeoOffice created files in 2004 I have no problems whatsoever. So I think for my local stuff I'll use NeoOffice, but I'll have to get Word 2004 to interact with my co-workers. Thanks again for all your help.

-NifflerX

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Answer 9

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,922 points

Feb 28, 2006 10:51 AM in response to nifflerX

The openoffice spreadsheets work and when I save them
as .xls files and open them in NeoOffice they still
work, but if I open them in Word v. X I get no
symbols. However, if I open the NeoOffice created
files in 2004 I have no problems whatsoever. So I
think for my local stuff I'll use NeoOffice, but I'll
have to get Word 2004 to interact with my co-workers.

There is nothing you can do to make this work with WordX, which is not compatible with Unicode IPA. Getting Word2004 will not help. If your co-workers only have WordX, then you have to also use WordX yourself and download the special non-Unicode fonts from SIL. WordX and Word2004 use two different standards for what codes generate what symbols. And the standard used by WordX is obsolete, or almost so.

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Answer 10

nifflerX Author

Level 4

2,826 points

Feb 28, 2006 11:55 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Gotcha. I know that my co-workers will not want to switch to NeoOffice, they are comfortable in Office and don't like switching, but I will bring up the need to get 2004. Thank you again so much for all your help.

-NifflerX

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