Word features for South Asian languages

The features described in this Help topic are only available if support for the appropriate South Asian language is enabled through Microsoft Office Language Settings.

In addition, you must be running a 32-bit Microsoft Windows operating system that has South Asian language support ù for example, Microsoft Windows 2000.

Working with South Asian text and files

Editing text

The South Asian languages supported in Microsoft Word require special text editing considerations not generally necessary in other languages. Extensive use of diacritics, tone marks, and accents transpose a simple character into a more complex South Asian character. This language attribute requires additional techniques to perform standard editing functions and to change a character's associated markings. For example, if you type a Thai letter with tone marks on it, you cannot select the tone mark to change it. Instead, you must delete the entire character and type both the letter and the appropriate tone mark again.

In addition, in the Indic languages such as Hindi, new characters can be formed when markings are added or removed from existing text. Depending on what marking is changed, the new character may or may not be a legitimate character according to language convention.

To assist you in determining the legitimacy of a sequence of South Asian characters, Word can check the sequence for you. Also, you can have Word make logical substitutions for you.

Thai requires special consideration for such features as Word Count because the language doesn't visibly separate words by spaces. Word handles this language anomaly for you. In addition, Thai-enabled Word aligns text on the left and right by adjusting the width of characters instead of the space between words.

The editing methods used to insert and delete South Asian characters are based on the progression that forms characters with their associated diacritics, tone marks, and accents.

Deleting text

You can use the BACKSPACE key to remove an individual marking, or use the DELETE key to delete the entire character (cluster).

Checking spelling

Microsoft Word with South Asian languages enabled checks the spelling of South Asian words and other words automatically as it encounters them. You do not need to perform a separate spelling checker routine for each language.

Checking the correct sequence of characters

South Asian languages follow stringent grammatical rules that dictate which textual character elements are allowed next to one another in the composition of words. To compound the problem of correctly entering South Asian characters, text is comprised of both simple characters and more complex characters that include one or more markings such as diacritics, tone marks, vowels, and accents ù for example, in Thai, leading vowels are normally followed by a consonant that does or does not include vowel markings, but diacritics are located below it.

To assist you in correctly entering characters in your document that prescribe to the grammar rules for the enabled South Asian language, Microsoft Word can automatically check the text for you. Also, you can have Word make logical substitutions for you by using Type and Replace, a complementary feature.

Sequence checking can be used by itself or in combination with Type and Replace. When sequence checking only is selected, Word will not allow an invalid character to be typed at the insertion point. If Type and Replace is also selected, Word will insert or replace an existing character to make a valid sequence.

When sequence checking is selected, there are some text entry considerations:

• In Thai, you cannot type markings such as diacritics, tone marks, and vowels independent from the character they are associated with. If you need to type these markings independently, you must turn off sequence checking.
• In Vietnamese, only one tone mark is allowed on each vowel, and it can only be typed after the vowel. Typing a tone mark after a consonant will not insert the character in the document.

Note   The first time you type a character that is not sequentially valid, Word will display a Help box that provides access to topics on sequence checking and automatically inserting or replacing characters. This box will be displayed each time you start Word and an invalid character is typed unless you choose otherwise.

Specifying font characteristics

You can determine separate font characteristics for Latin and South Asian language text.

Note   The default font for all runs in South Asian languages is: Hindi (Mangal, 10 point), Thai (Angsana New, 14 point), and Vietnamese (Times New Roman, 12 point). Documents opened from earlier versions of Microsoft Word will retain their default settings.

Finding and replacing special characters

Some South Asian languages may not take full advantage of the search options in Microsoft Word. For example, the Sounds like and Find all word forms options will not work with South Asian text, but will find matching criteria in other types of text in the document.

File compatibility with previous versions

Note   There is no Hindi version of Microsoft Word 6.0/95 or Word 97.

Using numbers, dates, and time

Number formats

South Asian number formats are used in several circumstances in Microsoft Word documents. Most can be divided into two general categories: listing formats, such as page numbering and sequential numbering, and date and time formats.

Numbered lists

The South Asian languages offer several choices for displaying numbers in lists. Thai and Hindi provide formats based on their native numbering, their alphabets (Hindi has both vowel-based and consonant-based formats), and a descriptive form that spells out the numbers. Vietnamese uses the Arabic numerals common in Western countries and a descriptive format.

Date and time formats and calendars

The calendar you choose determines the date and time format used for each South Asian language. The list of calendars available to you is based on the languages you have enabled and what operating system language setting you have selected in Regional Settings or Regional Options in Microsoft Windows Control Panel.

When a South Asian language is the installed language, the predominate South Asian calendar for that language will be the default calendar used by Microsoft Word ù for example, for Thai, Buddhist is the default calendar; for Hindi, Western is the default calendar; and for Vietnamese, only the Gregorian calendar is available.

Depending on the South Asian language you have enabled, you can choose between the Buddhist (Thai only), Saka Era (Hindi only), and Gregorian (Indic or Vietnamese) calendars.

Note   The Gregorian calendar used with South Asian languages is based on U.K. English.