Keyboard Layouts : Gothic


Gothic Keyboard Layout

This page provides a Keyboard Layout for the Gothic script, for use with PCs running Windows 2000, XP or Vista (N.B. the keyboard layout cannot be installed or run on systems running Windows 95, 98 or ME).

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions on downloading and installing the Gothic Keyboard Layouts.



About the Gothic Script

The Gothic script was devised by Bishop Wulfila (circa 311-383) in order to facilitate his translation of the Bible into the Gothic language spoken by the Visigoths in the area between the Danube and Dniester rivers west of the Black Sea.

The script devised by Bishop Wulfila consists of a mixture of letters that are derived from the Greek, Latin and Runic scripts. There is no upper/lower case distinction, and so all the Gothic letters have a single immutable form. It is probable that some Goths had on occasion written their language in the Runic script (although the earliest extant Gothic Runic inscriptions only date from the early 5th century), but there had been no systematic attempt to write the Gothic language prior to the creation of the Gothic script by Bishop Wulfila sometime after 341 (the year that he was consecrated a bishop in Constantinople).

Bishop Wulfila is reputed to have translated the entire Bible, with the exception of the Book of Kings (which he supposedly missed out in order to avoid inflaming the warlike passions of the Goths). However, all that remains of his translation is about three quarters of the New Testament, preserved in a number of manuscripts. The most important manuscript is the Codex Argenteus (preserved at Uppsala in Sweden), which comprises much of the Gospels of Matthew, John, Luke and Mark.

There are very few other surviving examples of written Gothic. Aside from three examples of the Gothic alphabet (with the names of the Gothic letters), some sample Gothic sentences, and various Gothic names and words included in Greek and Latin texts, the only extensive examples of written Gothic other than Wulfila's New Testament are :



Sample Text

Gabriel and Mary [Luke 1.26-38]

𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌿𐌷 𐌸𐌰𐌽 𐌹𐌽 πŒΌπŒ΄πŒ½π‰πŒΈ πƒπŒ°πŒΉπŒ·πƒπ„πŒΉπŒ½ πŒΉπŒ½πƒπŒ°πŒ½πŒ³πŒΉπŒΈπƒ π…πŒ°πƒ πŒ°πŒ²πŒ²πŒΉπŒ»πŒΏπƒ πŒ²πŒ°πŒ±π‚πŒΉπŒ΄πŒ» π†π‚πŒ°πŒΌ 𐌲𐌿𐌸𐌰 𐌹𐌽 πŒ±πŒ°πŒΏπ‚πŒ² πŒ²πŒ°πŒ»πŒ΄πŒΉπŒ»πŒ°πŒΉπŒ°πƒ πƒπŒ΄πŒΉ πŒ·πŒ°πŒΉπ„πŒ°πŒ³πŒ° πŒ½πŒ°πŒΆπŒ°π‚πŒ°πŒΉπŒΈ, 𐌳𐌿 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐌹𐌽 π†π‚πŒ°πŒ²πŒΉπŒ±π„πŒΉπŒΌ 𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌽, 𐌸𐌹𐌢𐌴𐌹 πŒ½πŒ°πŒΌπ‰ πŒΉπ‰πƒπŒ΄π†, πŒΏπƒ πŒ²πŒ°π‚πŒ³πŒ° πŒ³πŒ°π…πŒ΄πŒΉπŒ³πŒΉπƒ, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒ½πŒ°πŒΌπ‰ πŒΈπŒΉπŒΆπ‰πƒ πŒΌπŒ°πŒ²πŒ°πŒΈπŒ°πŒΉπƒ πŒΌπŒ°π‚πŒΉπŒ°πŒΌ. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒ²πŒ°πŒ»πŒ΄πŒΉπŒΈπŒ°πŒ½πŒ³πƒ 𐌹𐌽𐌽 πƒπŒ° πŒ°πŒ²πŒ²πŒΉπŒ»πŒΏπƒ 𐌳𐌿 𐌹𐌢𐌰𐌹 𐌡𐌰𐌸 : "π†πŒ°πŒ²πŒΉπŒ½π‰, πŒ°πŒ½πƒπ„πŒ°πŒΉ πŒ°πŒΏπŒ³πŒ°πŒ·πŒ°π†π„πŒ°, π†π‚πŒ°πŒΏπŒΎπŒ° 𐌼𐌹𐌸 πŒΈπŒΏπƒ; πŒΈπŒΉπŒΏπŒΈπŒΉπŒ³π‰ 𐌸𐌿 𐌹𐌽 πŒ΅πŒΉπŒ½π‰πŒΌ. ..." 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌡𐌰𐌸 πŒ°πŒ²πŒ²πŒΉπŒ»πŒΏπƒ 𐌳𐌹 𐌹𐌢𐌰𐌹: "𐌽𐌹 π‰πŒ²πƒ 𐌸𐌿, πŒΌπŒ°π‚πŒΉπŒ°πŒΌ, πŒ±πŒΉπŒ²πŒ°πƒπ„ 𐌰𐌿𐌺 πŒ°πŒ½πƒπ„ π†π‚πŒ°πŒΌ 𐌲𐌿𐌸𐌰. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πƒπŒ°πŒΉ, πŒ²πŒ°πŒ½πŒΉπŒΌπŒΉπƒ 𐌹𐌽 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒ²πŒ°πŒ±πŒ°πŒΉπ‚πŒΉπƒ πƒπŒΏπŒ½πŒΏ, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒ·πŒ°πŒΉπ„πŒ°πŒΉπƒ πŒ½πŒ°πŒΌπ‰ πŒΉπƒ πŒΉπŒ΄πƒπŒΏ. πƒπŒ°πŒ· π…πŒ°πŒΉπ‚πŒΈπŒΉπŒΈ πŒΌπŒΉπŒΊπŒΉπŒ»πƒ, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πƒπŒΏπŒ½πŒΏπƒ πŒ·πŒ°πŒΏπŒ·πŒΉπƒπ„πŒΉπŒ½πƒ πŒ·πŒ°πŒΉπ„πŒ°πŒ³πŒ°, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌹𐌳 𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 π†π‚πŒ°πŒΏπŒΎπŒ° 𐌲𐌿𐌸 πƒπ„π‰πŒ» πŒ³πŒ°π…πŒ΄πŒΉπŒ³πŒΉπƒ πŒ°π„π„πŒΉπŒ½πƒ πŒΉπƒ. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒΈπŒΉπŒΏπŒ³πŒ°πŒ½π‰πŒΈ πŒΏπ†πŒ°π‚ πŒ²πŒ°π‚πŒ³πŒ° πŒΉπŒ°πŒΊπ‰πŒ±πŒΉπƒ 𐌹𐌽 𐌰𐌾𐌿𐌺𐌳𐌿𐌸, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒΈπŒΉπŒΏπŒ³πŒΉπŒ½πŒ°πƒπƒπŒ°πŒΏπƒ πŒΉπƒ 𐌽𐌹 π…πŒ°πŒΉπ‚πŒΈπŒΉπŒΈ πŒ°πŒ½πŒ³πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ." 𐌡𐌰𐌸 𐌸𐌰𐌽 πŒΌπŒ°π‚πŒΉπŒ°πŒΌ 𐌳𐌿 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌿 : "πˆπŒ°πŒΉπ…πŒ° πƒπŒΉπŒΎπŒ°πŒΉ πŒΈπŒ°π„πŒ°, 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹 𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 𐌽𐌹 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽?" 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒ°πŒ½πŒ³πŒ·πŒ°π†πŒΎπŒ°πŒ½πŒ³πƒ πƒπŒ° πŒ°πŒ²πŒ²πŒΉπŒ»πŒΏπƒ 𐌡𐌰𐌸 𐌳𐌿 𐌹𐌢𐌰𐌹 : "𐌰𐌷𐌼𐌰 π…πŒ΄πŒΉπŒ·πƒ πŒ°π„πŒ²πŒ°πŒ²πŒ²πŒΉπŒΈ 𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌸𐌿𐌺, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒΌπŒ°πŒ·π„πƒ πŒ·πŒ°πŒΏπŒ·πŒΉπƒπ„πŒΉπŒ½πƒ πŒΏπ†πŒ°π‚πƒπŒΊπŒ°πŒ³π…πŒ΄πŒΉπŒ³ πŒΈπŒΏπƒ, 𐌳𐌿𐌸𐌴 𐌴𐌹 πƒπŒ°πŒ΄πŒΉ πŒ²πŒ°πŒ±πŒ°πŒΉπ‚πŒ°πŒ³πŒ° π…πŒ΄πŒΉπŒ·πƒ πŒ·πŒ°πŒΉπ„πŒ°πŒ³πŒ° πƒπŒΏπŒ½πŒΏπƒ πŒ²πŒΏπŒΈπƒ. ..." 𐌡𐌰𐌸 𐌸𐌰𐌽 πŒΌπŒ°π‚πŒΉπŒ°πŒΌ : "πƒπŒ°πŒΉ, πŒΈπŒΉπ…πŒΉ π†π‚πŒ°πŒΏπŒΎπŒΉπŒ½πƒ, π…πŒ°πŒΉπ‚πŒΈπŒ°πŒΉ πŒΌπŒΉπƒ 𐌱𐌹 π…πŒ°πŒΏπ‚πŒ³πŒ° 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰." 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌸 π†πŒ°πŒΉπ‚π‚πŒ° 𐌹𐌢𐌰𐌹 πƒπŒ° πŒ°πŒ²πŒ²πŒΉπŒ»πŒΏπƒ.

Source : Old English and Its Closest Relatives pp.51-52.



Note

Most browsers do not yet support the display of text encoded beyond the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP) of Unicode, as is the case with the Gothic script. If your browser cannot display the Gothic text on this page, then you may copy the text and paste it into any conformant Unicode application (e.g. Notepad under Windows NT4/2000/XP) for viewing. However, you must ensure that you have a font that supports the Gothic script installed and selected (Code2001 is recomended).



Keystroke Mapping


Table 1 : Gothic Alphabet
Key Stroke Gothic Letter Code Point Unicode Name Number Value Transcription Letter Name Rune Name Rune
a𐌰U+10330GOTHIC LETTER AHSA1aaza*ansusᚨ
b𐌱U+10331GOTHIC LETTER BAIRKAN2bbercna*baΓ­rkanα›’
g𐌲U+10332GOTHIC LETTER GIBA3ggeuua*gibaᚷ
d𐌳U+10333GOTHIC LETTER DAGS4ddaaz*dagsα›ž
e𐌴U+10334GOTHIC LETTER AIHVUS5eeyz*Δ“geisα›–
q𐌡U+10335GOTHIC LETTER QAIRTHRA6qquertra*qaΓ­rΓΎra 
z𐌢U+10336GOTHIC LETTER IUJA7zezec*algsᛉ
h𐌷U+10337GOTHIC LETTER HAGL8hhaal*haglᚺ
T𐌸U+10338GOTHIC LETTER THIUTH9þthyth*þaúrisᚦ
i𐌹U+10339GOTHIC LETTER EIS10i, Γ―iiz*eisᛁ
k𐌺U+1033AGOTHIC LETTER KUSMA20kchozma*kusmaᚲ
l𐌻U+1033BGOTHIC LETTER LAGUS30llaaz*lagusα›š
m𐌼U+1033CGOTHIC LETTER MANNA40mmanna*mannaα›—
n𐌽U+1033DGOTHIC LETTER NAUTHS50nnoicz*nauþsᚾ
j𐌾U+1033EGOTHIC LETTER JER60jgaar*jΔ“rᛃ
u𐌿U+1033FGOTHIC LETTER URUS70uuraz*urusᚒ
p𐍀U+10340GOTHIC LETTER PAIRTHRA80ppertra*paΓ­rΓΎraα›ˆ
c𐍁U+10341GOTHIC LETTER NINETY90    
r𐍂U+10342GOTHIC LETTER RAIDA100rreda*raidaᚱ
s𐍃U+10343GOTHIC LETTER SAUIL200ssugil*saΓΊilα›Š
t𐍄U+10344GOTHIC LETTER TEIWS300ttyz*teiwsᛏ
w𐍅U+10345GOTHIC LETTER WINJA400wuuinne*winjaᚹ
f𐍆U+10346GOTHIC LETTER FAIHU500ffe*faΓ­huᚠ
x𐍇U+10347GOTHIC LETTER IGGWS600xenguz*iggwsα›œ
v𐍈U+10348GOTHIC LETTER HWAIR700Ζ•uuaer*aΓ­Ζ•sᛇ
o𐍉U+10349GOTHIC LETTER OTHAL800outal*ōþalα›Ÿ
y𐍊U+1034AGOTHIC LETTER NINE HUNDRED900    

Notes

  1. All keystrokes are case sensitive.
  2. Alphabetic keystrokes not listed will be ignored.
  3. All other non-alphabetic keystrokes will behave as for the English (UK) keyboard layout.
  4. Gothic Letter Names, Rune Names and corresponding Runes are based on R.W.V. Elliot's Runes Table V.
  5. Each Gothic letter may also be used to represent a number, as in "𐌾𐌰𐌷 πŒ±πŒ°π‚ 𐌰𐌹𐌽 .𐌻. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌹𐌽 .𐌾. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌹𐌽 .𐍂." (... and one bore 30, one 60, and one 100) [Mark 4.9]. To complete the number system, there are two letters that have no phonetic value, and are used exclusively to represent the numbers 90 and 900.


Download and Installation Instructions


  1. Download Gothic.zip.
  2. Unzip Gothic.zip to a temporary folder.
  3. Double-click on the file setup.exe in the extracted Gothic folder, and follow the instructions.

If you are running Vista the keyboard layout will be installed and ready to use under the OL ("Other Languages") icon of the language bar. If you have installed multiple BabelStone keyboard layouts then you will need to select the particular layout to use by clicking the keyboard icon next to OL.

If you are running 2000 or XP you will need to map the keyboard layout to an unused input locale from Control Panel : Regional Option before you can use it.


Please note that this keyboard layout cannot be installed or run under Windows 95, 98 or ME.



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