[duxuser] Re: Arabic braille
- To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 10:48:44 -0000
Hi Janet,
Arabic braille is written left to right.
The following comes from the Help Files - Language
Translation Tables - Arabic.
George.
Arabic
FUNCTIONAL SUMMARY
The Arabic tables support print-to-braille translation of
Arabic-language literary text in contracted or uncontracted
Arabic braille. English text may also be processed as a
sub-language, and converted to contracted or uncontracted
English braille (following British conventions). The
American Computer Braille Code (CBC) is also supported.
Normally, the text is first prepared on Microsoft Word
(possibly Arabic version, but any version can be used as
long as the Arabic is prepared in a Unicode font [e.g. the
default "Times Roman"]) and imported to DBT prior to
translation.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS
True braille-to-print translation is supported only within
any embedded English text, not in the Arabic text. This
means that it is not generally useful to translate an Arabic
braille file to print. It also means that the "translated
line" will typically contain gibberish when viewing the
braille file. You may prefer to turn off the "translated
line" under the View menu, or even under Global/Default if
you wish it to be off by default.
Arabic characters may not be shown normally on the "print
file" view of DBT, and in any case the normal
(right-to-left) directionality of Arabic text is not
supported in that view. This is the main reason that
Microsoft Word should normally be used for entering, editing
and viewing the print text and the DBT print view is used
only as an intermediary step enroute to the braille.
SECONDARY LANGUAGES SUPPORTED
English text may be entered as a secondary language, and
converted to contracted or uncontracted English braille.
That is, the grade switches affect the translation of the
English text as well as the Arabic text. In English literary
text, British conventions are generally followed, to the
extent that they sometimes differ slightly from American
ones.
TECHNICAL BRAILLE CODES SUPPORTED
Computer Braille Code (CBC), as defined by the Braille
Authority of North America, is supported.
SUPPORTED DBT TRANSLATION CODES
[/] may be embedded within letter-groups that would normally
be contracted, to prevent the contraction.
[ab] is equivalent to [g2]
[cap-invert]
[cap-normal]
[cb-&]
[cb-de]
[cb-ds]
[cb-ee]
[cb-es]
[cb-ne]
[cb-ns]
[cb-se]
[cb-ss]
[cb-t1]
[cb-t2]
[cb-ue]
[cb-us]
[cb]
[cbi]
[cbn]
[cs-off]
[cs]
[cz] switches to "direct braille," wherein braille is
directly represented using the North American ASCII-braille
code. (This is sometimes called "no-translate" or "computer
grade 0")
[g1] switches to "grade 1" (uncontracted) braille. This
affects the Arabic text, and also any embedded English text.
[g2] switches to "grade 2" (contracted) braille. This is the
normal mode, and to any embedded English text as well as the
Arabic text.
[in] is equivalent to [g1]
[lng~en] switches to English language.
[lng~ar] or [lng] switches to Arabic language.
[tx] resumes normal translation, ending "direct braille."
[txi]
[txn]
Other translation codes will generally be ignored, or may
cause unpredictable translation results.
CHARACTERS SUPPORTED
The table is designed to work with the following groups of
characters:
All ASCII printable characters
Letters and vowel marks used in Arabic
Accented letters and punctuation marks typical of French,
German, Italian, and Spanish
British pound sign (£)
The above is a general guide only (see "General Notes"
section at the beginning of this document).
REFERENCES, HISTORY AND CREDITS
The rules for contracted Arabic were originally specified by
the former Middle East Committee for the Welfare of the
Blind (now under the auspices of the Department of
Education) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Working from that
specification, Duxbury Systems developed an automated
braille translation system for Arabic, believed to be the
first anywhere, which was installed at MECWB in 1982. That
original form of the system, designed for DBT as it ran on
minicomputers of the early 1980s, was used with only minor
updates until the late 1990s. The present tables have been
updated to work with the much more advanced Windows version
of DBT, to incorporate facilities for embedded English as
well as Arabic, and quite possibly to reflect feedback from
more recent users.
The rules for contracted literary English generally follow
British practice, but embedded "computer braille", if used,
follows the American code -- a combination that is common in
many places, e.g. Australia and South Africa.
(Documentation reviewed: April 2004.)
-----Original Message-----
From: duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 20 February 2006 01:07
To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [duxuser] Arabic braille
We are currently transcribing a book called Alif Baa for a
blind student who is studying Arabic. We have a workable
Arabic alphabet from the Bahrain page of the World Braille
Useage book but this doesn't mention whether Arabic braille
is read from right to left in the same way that Arabic print
is. The print book has Arabic words amongst English text so
when you get to a bit of Arabic you visually jump to the end
and read it backwards. I wasn't sure how well that would
work if you are reading by touch. And I also wondered how
the student would cope with writing Arabic with a Perkins if
he had to braille the letters in the wrong order. I think
Arabic has been mentioned on this list before so am hoping
someone may be able to give advice.
Janet
Janet Reynolds
Royal NZ Foundation of the Blind
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