Translation Services How-To

Special Characters for Translators and Linguistics

If you work a lot with multilingual text you’ll know the difficulties of using English text alongside European and Latin based text. Although the Alphabet of many European languages contains many of the same characters to the English Alphabet there are a considerable number that are specific to their own language. Microsoft Word typically offers three methods for creating and inserting these characters into a multilingual document. This article explains the three most common methods.

Method 1: The ‘insert symbol’ method

The most simple of all methods is to use the ‘insert symbol’ command in Microsoft Word. Both 2003 (and earlier) and 2007 offer the option for inserting symbols into a multilingual document. Using 2003 you will need to select ‘insert’ from the menu list and select ‘symbol’. A pop up box will appear and selection can be made from a range of symbols and special characters. Similarly if you use 2007 you will need to select the ‘insert’ menu and choose the ‘symbol’ from the ‘symbol’ option. If you are using a keyboard that does not have a numeric keypad (i.e. has numbers above the qwerty keys but not the additional keypad usually to the right of the keyboard) it is likely you will need to use the ‘insert’ method to create accented characters within your multilingual document.

Method 2: Using the Character Map

Microsoft Word offers a specific option for allowing users to create and use special characters that are not available on the standard keyboard. Using the ‘Character Map’ tool you can insert accented characters into your multilingual document. Typically the Character Map tool can be found by going to ‘start’ >’accessories’ and choosing ‘character map’. Windows 7 users may need to go to ‘start’ and search for the application in order to use it. Once selected, the application will open in a pop up box and users can find the character they require, copy it and then paste wherever needed into the document. If more than one character is needed adjacently in any one document Character Map allows for multiple characters to be selected and copied.

Method 3: Using the ALT Key

The third method for creating special characters within a multilingual document is to us the ALT key method. By selecting ‘ALT’ on the keyboard along with subsequent numbers from the Numeric Keypad (usually to the right of the main keyboard) users are able to quickly input a range of special characters and accented numbers.

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Tags: Market translation services, Foreign langauge typesetting services, Proofreading

Author: TomWC