US Pinyin Keyboard Layout for Windows 2000/XP/Vista
I created this Windows 2000/XP/Vista keyboard layout for easy entry of pīnyīn tones, pictured below:
The light blue number keys are used as "dead keys", similar to other non-US keyboards for typing decorated characters. You will need to use a Unicode font that supports all of the pīnyīn tone-marked characters. Your applications will also need to support displaying Unicode text. Windows comes with several fonts that support it, including Arial, Courier New, and Lucida Sans Unicode.
Usage is as follows:
- Press and release '1', followed by 'a / e / i / o / u' --> ā / ē / ī / ō / ū
- Press and release '2', followed by 'A / E / I / O / U' --> Á / É / Í / Ó / Ú
- Press and release '3', followed by 'a / E / i / O / u' --> ǎ / Ě / ǐ / Ǒ / ǔ
- Press and release '4', followed by 'A / e / I / o / U' --> À / è / Ì / ò / Ù
- Press and release '1 / 2 / 3 / 4', followed by 'v' --> ǖ / ǘ / ǚ / ǜ
- Press and release '1 / 2 / 3 / 4', followed by 'V' --> Ǖ / Ǘ / Ǚ / Ǜ
- Press and release '1', followed by comma ',' --> 、 (dùn hào)
- Press '1 / 2 / 3 / 4' followed by spacebar --> 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
- Pressing Shift + '1 / 2 / 3 / 4' types the usual symbols ! @ # $
Installation:
Download and EXTRACT the zip file to a folder, then double-click on the 'Setup.exe' file in that folder to install it. You must extract the files, it cannot be installed directly from a compressed folder. VISTA USERS: As of 5-DEC-2007, this installer has been updated to fully work with 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.
Download USPinyin.zip (304 KB)
After it's installed, the keyboard should be automatically enabled. If not, you might need to enable the 'US (Pinyin)' in your Regional and Language Options Control Panel.
There is a basic tutorial on managing your keyboard at the following link. The screenshot below also helps a lot, thanks to Mark Swofford over at www.Pinyin.info.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/input_kbd_add_kbd_layout.mspx?mfr=true
This keyboard layout was created using the free Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator v1.4. You can download it from their website here, and the source file I made for this layout can be downloaded here on this website. Since the installation files were created using only these tools, I would guess (but cannot guarantee) that they contain no spyware or malware, only a keyboard layout DLL file. As such, I take no responsibility for anything you do with these downloads.
Copyright © 2006 Jason Frazier