Are you fed up with seeing Tåîchô in print when it’s supposed to be Tłı̨chǫ?
That’s what you see if WinMac Dene fonts are not installed on your computer.
Unicode frees us from depending on the WinMac Dene fonts. They were a great advance when I developed them back in 1995, but technology has progressed since then. Since Windows Vista, all new computers come with the fonts needed for the Dene Languages already built into the operating system. No need to download any new fonts. And to type, all you need is a simple keyboard program.
Here’s a sample of Tłı̨chǫ sentences typed using Unicode characters.
From Mary Adele Flunkie, for Aboriginal Languages Month.
Dzęę̀ Tą̀ą̀t’e kǫ̀ta Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ t’à gahde.
Dzęę̀ Tą̀ą̀t’e naxı̨kǫ̀ Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ t’à gahde.
Tłı̨chǫ k’e gahde.
Tłı̨chǫ ts’ǫ Dǫ ɂaht’e ne !
Det’ǫchozà sı̀ı Dǫne Sǫ̀ǫ̀l̨̀łı̨ sa hǫt’e, eyıt’à Det’ǫchozà k’e sı̀ı ełets’àts’ıdı̀. Tłı̨chǫ Yatıı̀ zǫ t’à gots’ıde.
Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ t’a gahde ha dı̀ı̀ nı̨dè, dǫ Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ t’à godee sı̀ı woàhkw’ǫ.
Dzęę̀ Tą̀ą̀t’e chekoa gını̨htł’èkǫ̀ Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ t’a gahde.
Whaèhdǫǫ̀ godıı̀ t’à dǫ naxıxè godo aahɂı̨h.
Tłı̨chǫ Dǫ ts’ı̨ı̨lı̨ sı̀ı ması̀ ts’ı̨ı̨wǫ xè goı̨nà hǫt’e.
Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ eyıts’ǫ Tłı̨chǫ nàowoò gha dzędeè xòts’ııhtsı̨.
Tłı̨chǫ yatıı̀ t’a gahade ha dı̀ı̀ nı̨dè, yatı dezı̀-lea t’à gahde ha wodaàhdzàh.
Using Unicode also enables you to type in places where you cannot choose a font, like Facebook and Skype.
See links and instructions for getting the Unicode keyboard here:
http://denefont.blogspot.ca/
There is no longer any need to wonder if someone else has the fonts installed to read what we intended to write.
Dene Keyboards – because it’s not about fonts anymore.
