Sinhala input methods

A screencast showing Sinhala text being entered using the Intelligent Input Bus into Firefox under Linux. As shown in the video, under the Singlish method, to input විකිපීඩියා (Wikipedia), wikipIdiyaa is entered.

Sinhala input methods are ways of writing the Sinhala language, spoken primarily in Sri Lanka, using a computer. Sinhala input methods can be broadly classified into two main groups: ones based on typewriter keyboard layouts, and ones that are meant to be typed on QWERTY keyboards using an input method, known as "Singlish".^[1]

Wijesekara keyboard

The Wijesekara keyboard is the standard typewriter keyboard for the Sinhala script. This keyboard layout was first created and approved by the government of Sri Lanka in 1964.

In 2004, it was given the SLS standards as the Sri Lanka Sinhala Character Code for Information Interchange, SLS 1134 : 2004.^[2]

Implementations

The first standards compliant Sinhala Keyboard for Apple iOS was created by Bhagya Silva. This implementation featured a copyrighted custom layout that was based on SLS 1134:2004 optimised for mobile keyboards.^[3]

Virtual Keyboards

The first Sinhala virtual keyboard is Helakuru. Helakuru was developed by Bhasha Lanka (Pvt) Ltd for Android and iOS devices. It was first released on Android in 2011 and in 2015 it was released on App Store also.^[4] In 2019, Apple allowed Sinhala to be a keyboard layout and an iPhone language to boost Apple product sales in Sri Lanka.

References

^ Kishino, Fumio; Itoh, Yuichi; Hayashi, Yoshihiko; Goonetilleke, Sandeva (2007). "An Efficient and User-friendly Sinhala Input Method Based on Phonetic Transcription". Information and Media Technologies. 2 (4): 1228–1247. doi:10.11185/imt.2.1228. ISSN 1881-0896.
^ "SLS 1134 : 2004 (Sinhala ICT standard)". icta.lk.
^ "Sinhala for iOS - Apple AppStore". appstore.com. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
^ "හෙළකුරු (Helakuru) – Real-time Unicode and Sinhala Font". classifylanka.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.

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[1] Kishino, Fumio; Itoh, Yuichi; Hayashi, Yoshihiko; Goonetilleke, Sandeva (2007). "An Efficient and User-friendly Sinhala Input Method Based on Phonetic Transcription". Information and Media Technologies. 2 (4): 1228–1247. doi:10.11185/imt.2.1228. ISSN 1881-0896.

[2] "SLS 1134 : 2004 (Sinhala ICT standard)". icta.lk.

[3] "Sinhala for iOS - Apple AppStore". appstore.com. Retrieved 2015-09-02.

[4] "හෙළකුරු (Helakuru) – Real-time Unicode and Sinhala Font". classifylanka.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.

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