- several are written in non-Latin scripts
- one is written tfel ot thgir ←
- two are non-Indo-European
- most have no definite article
- one places it at end-the noun-of-the
- one was invented by a farsighted Polish oculist
- one is officially dead
Despite this diversity, we have followed three underlying principles in devising an optimal input method—going far beyond mere keyboard remapping—for each of these languages.
- Make the keys work for a living
- use the same key for variants of a given letter or sound
- use spare QWERTY keys for language-specific letters
- allow both traditional and phonetic spellings
- Use the computer's intelligence
- use the context to decide which letter will appear
- use shortcuts for grammatical endings
- automate important spelling features of the language
- Make the computer do the drudgery
- automate predictable or repetitive key sequences