8

When using Charis SIL, how do I access IPA characters? Are there handy macros, as with tipa.sty? If I have to set up my own encoding using unicode numbers, how is this best done? (Code from those who have done this already?)

Here’s how I’m getting Charis SIL:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Charis SIL}
\begin{document}
Blowzy DJ frumps vex a knight QC

\it 
Blowzy DJ frumps vex a knight QC 
\end{document}

And here’s the result:

enter image description here

This question arises from a response to another question of mine.

|improve this question
7

You can use the IPA characters (of course you need that your file is encoded as UTF-8)

% -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Charis SIL}
\begin{document}
Blowzy DJ frumps vex a knight QC

ɳ (U+0273), ɲ (U+0272), ʁ (U+0281), ɱ (U+0271), ə (U+0259)

\end{document}

enter image description here

|improve this answer
  • Aha, I didn’t think to check my encoding. Thanks, that works perfectly, and, moreover, gives me long-sought-after italics. – Daniel Harbour Jan 6 '13 at 16:52
11

xunicode (loaded by fontspec) contains the definitions of tipa.sty:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}

\setmainfont{Charis SIL}
\begin{document}
Blowzy DJ frumps vex a knight QC

\textturna

\textipa{[\!b] [\:r] [\;B]}
\end{document}
|improve this answer
  • To get this to compile, I need to add \usepackage{tipa}—maybe my fontspec is an older version. When it compiles, the IPA characters are Computer Modern rather than Charis SIL, and they don't respond to \it or \emph. (egreg's solution responds to \it by producing italic Charis IPA characters.) Are there ways round this? – Daniel Harbour Jan 6 '13 at 18:23
  • You need xunicode not tipa. Older versions of fontspec didn't load xunicode. Load xunicode always after fontspec!! – Ulrike Fischer Jan 6 '13 at 20:02
  • Thanks. That now works very nicely too. Unfortunately, both this and @egreg ’s solution—maybe XeLaTeX in general—appear to be incompatible with expex, which I’m reluctant to give up, as some of features are unique to that glossing package... Hopefully there’s a way round this. – Daniel Harbour Jan 6 '13 at 20:26
  • 1
    @DanielHarbour ExPex should be compatible with XeLaTeX. See e.g. my answer to Doing an interlinear text. – Alan Munn Jan 6 '13 at 20:35
  • @AlanMunn Sorry, wasn't thinking clearly. The problem's less drastic. If lingset includes glneveryline=\em, (or \it or \itshape), then each foreign word (in the top line of the gloss) appears as it. I could drop italics if there's no work around. – Daniel Harbour Jan 6 '13 at 21:55
4

I always recommend that my students learn to use a Unicode IPA keyboard overlay. I've used the Keyman and MSKLC keyboards for Windows, but there are Linux and Mac options available at that page too.

When the keyboard is turned on, certain keys (=, &, <, >, etc.) are activated to modify the key that's pressed next in fairly consistent ways. For example, in the Windows MSKLC keyboard, all retroflexes use <, ^ is used for superscripts, tonal accents are produced with @ followed by a number, and = gives what seems to be the most frequent derivative from a given letter (ɑ for a, β for b, ç for c, ð for d, ə for e, etc.). This semantic key assignment means that you don't have to memorize every shortcut. These shortcuts also work for useful accents/diacritics that aren't strictly IPA: ç č ñ ö, etc.

As long as your editor allows Unicode input (most do these days) and you're compiling with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX, you can just use the IPA keyboard to type directly into the editor just as you can in most other applications. You can also copy and paste your Unicode text from other applications too.

The IPA pickers mentioned in the comments on the original question are fine if you don't have to use diacritics or IPA symbols regularly, and they're certainly the best option if you need to use someone else's machine that doesn't have an IPA keyboard loaded.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.