Hebrew Vowels (Niqud) for Microsoft Windows and Word

This is very old news, but a few people asked me about it, so maybe it's worth a post.

To enter niqud in Word, for example:

1. Make sure you are in HEBREW language mode (Alt+Shift).
2. Engage Caps Lock
3. Place your cursor after the letter over/under/in which you want to inset niqud.
4. Hold down the Shift key and click the following:

If you need to use multiple nequdot on the same letter (Let's say, a Shin with a dagesh in it and a patach under it) the order is Dagesh, shin/Sin dot, vowel.

[The above chart is originally from the website http://www.qsm.co.il/Hebrew/wniqud.htm, which no longer exists.]

Hebrew Vowels (Niqud) for Google Docs on Chromebooks

I have figured out how to insert vowels into Google Docs on a Chromebook. If this is documented fully anywhere, I haven't found it. Wikipedia is blank on this.

This is for Chromebooks and some newer PCs. It does not work on older PCs. (For Niqud in Windows, see this post.)

If you need a refresher on setting up Hebrew in Google Docs / on a Chromebook, see my post here.

The key (pun fully intended) to doing this is the Alt Graph key, often abbreviated AltGr. Don't panic. You do so have one. It's the Alt Key to the right of the spacebar.

When you are in Hebrew on a Chromebook (Ctrl + Spacebar to switch back and forth), position the cursor after the letter under/over which you wish to insert a vowel. Hold the AltGr (again, the Alt Key to the right of the spacebar) plus the following keys to insert niqqud.

(There's kind of a mnemonic to it - for many of the basic vowels, the key is the Hebrew letter that begins the name of the vowel. So [AltGR +] the ח'‏ key (J) for חירק; the צ'‏ (M) for צירה, the ד'‏ for דגש; the ש'‏ for שוא. The תנועות חטופות are immediately to the right of their counterparts. So פ'‏ (P) for פתח and the [ key for חטף פתח; the ק'‏ (E) for קמץ and the ר'‏ (R) for חטף קמץ; and the ס'‏ (X) for סגול and the ב'‏ (C) for חטף סגול.  The ו'‏‏ (U) is also the dot for the חולם. The backslash \ looks like a קבוץ, I guess.
Since the A is the ש'‏ key, the key to its upper right (W) puts the dot for the shin, and the  key to its upper left (Q) puts the dot for the sin.)

Key Combo	Vowel / Symbol
AltGr + E (ק)	קמץ
AltGr + R (רׂׂ)	חטף קמץ
AltGr + P (פ)	פתח
AltGr + [	חטף פתח
AltGr + X (ס)	סגול
AltGr + C (ב)	חטף סגול
AltGr + U (ו)	חולם dot
AltGr + J (ח)	חירק
AltGr + M (צ)	צירה
AltGr + S (ד)	דגש (also the dot for שורק)
AltGr + A (ש)	שוא
AltGr + \	קבוץ
AltGr + W	dot for שִׁין
AltGr + Q	dot for שִׂין
AltGr + 7	מתג
AltGr + -	מקף
AltGr + ‘/”	גרשים a/k/a tzupchik -  רש״י
AltGr + `/~	ר׳ - גרש
AltGr + ;	Bottom of the line quote mark - „
AltGr +	Quote mark proper direction - ”
AltGr + 4	₪ New Israeli Shekel NIS
AltGr + ]	רפה mark - רֿ
Niqqud for Chromebooks  © Jeff Kuperman 2020

Downloadable copy can  be accessed here.

Hebrew Fonts in Google Docs

As you may have noticed, there aren't a lot of choices for Hebrew fonts in Google Docs. Right now, Rashi script is one of the only features keeping me attached to Microsoft Word.

Here's how to find the available Hebrew fonts in Google Docs.

Click on File > Language

Scroll past the Latin-alphabet languages until you find עברית. (This does not change the language of the toolbar or the left-to-right orientation of the page.)

When you select עברית, the following fonts will appear in the font section on the toolbar up top. The highlighted fonts work in Hebrew.

When the language selection is English, the only fonts available that will look different in Hebrew are Arial, Courier New (if you miss your old typewriter) and Times New Roman. All other fonts will leave Hebrew in Times New Roman.

There is one other choice (if you find more, please let me know!) - if you go to the bottom of the font list (when the language selection is English) and click "More fonts" - you can search for and choose Tahoma, which is a different type of sans serif font, and might be fun to use on occasion.

Setting Hebrew on a Chromebook

Setting up a Chromebook to type in Hebrew is fairly simple.

Click down in the bottom right area of the screen, where the time and wi-fi signal is.

Click on Settings; scroll down and click on Advanced to see more. Scroll down to Languages and click Language and input settings

Click on Add at the bottom of the Languages window

Scroll down until you find Hebrew; choose it.

Click OK.

With Hebrew selected in the Languages box, check off Use this language for spell checking. (If you choose Display Google Chrome OS in this language, then everything - menus, settings, etc. will be in Hebrew. You probably want to avoid that unless you're an Israeli and you'll be using the Chromebook in Israel. So for most of you - don't.) Under Input, select Hebrew keyboard. Then hit Done.

The first time you switch from English to Hebrew, hit Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar; then you can toggle back and forth using Ctrl+Spacebar

Finding & Installing Hebrew Fonts on a PC

New classroom this year, which means I need to install, once again, some useful fonts on my computer (especially Rashi).

Downloading

The best place for free Hebrew fonts (and more than you can ever want or use) is The Open Siddur Project.

Download the fonts-master.zip file (I have a Fonts folder in my Download folder) and right-click it and choose Unzip. The Rashi font is called Mekorot Rashi.

For a look at all the fonts, open this .pdf

Installing

Once the fonts are unzipped, just right-click the font you want to install and choose INSTALL.

Or you can drag the fonts from their folders in Windows Explorer into the Fonts folder and Windows will install the fonts..
(Open up the fonts folder from the Control Panel or Search for Fonts in the search box when you click on the start menu [the little Windows symbol in the bottom left of your screen])

If you can't find the font you saw on the comparison chart (link above) just search the folder in which you opened the file.

Keyboard shortcut for switching languages the NEW way on Chromebooks

I started computing in the late 80s, and since the Days of DOS, Alt+Shift has been the keyboard shortcut for switching between language inputs. For me, it's been the way I switch between Hebrew and English. And up until recently, that was the way you still switched languages on a Chromebook in the 21^st century..

I do not know why Chromebooks have abandoned that, but abandon it they have. The new keyboard shortcut for switching between languages is (drumroll, please)...

Control+Spacebar 

That is all.

Enabling Right-to-Left editing in Google Docs

I forgot how to do this, so the refresher serves me as well. I am sure we are going to have to be giving these directions a lot as we transition to one-to-one Chrome devices.

Pre-Steps: Make sure you are logged into Google, and that you have enabled Hebrew as an input language.

Step One: Go to Google Docs 

Step Two: Click on the Menu (next to the word Docs; look like three stacked lines)

Step Three: Click on Settings (looks like a gear)

Step Four: Check "Always show right-to-left controls"

Type Transliterated Hebrew in Chrome

Great for students who have yet to learn how to touch-type in Hebrew. (See the bottom of the post for information on learning to type in Hebrew)

THIS ONLY WORKS IN CHROME ON A PC, MAC OR CHROMEBOOK.
It does not work on Chrome on an iPad or Android device; those are not true Chrome browsers.

STEP 1: Search for Google Input Tools in the Chrome Store

Add caption

STEP 2: Click + Add to Chrome . Click Add Extension when prompted.

STEP 3: You will receive the following confirmation:

STEP 4: The first time you click on the Extension icon, you will see Extension Options. Click that.

STEP 5: Scroll down to ע - Hebrew - עברית; click on the choice with the large ע. (The keyboard icon will give you a pop-up Hebrew keyboard that can be operated with a mouse on-screen; the Pencil icon will allow you to use handwriting.) Click the arrow between the boxes to select.

STEP 6: Now when you click the Google Input Tools icon in the active extensions section of Chrome (the upper-right corner) you will see your choices. Click on the עברית  ע to select; click again to de-select.)

STEP 7: Now the fun starts. Type a Hebrew word in transliteration. Choose it when it pops up in the window.

STEP 8: If you need more words type them one by one until what you're looking for appears.

STEP 9: This also works for inserting the occasional word in a Google Doc. However, for more intense Hebrew typing, the pop-up keyboard is preferable.

Caveat: No matter how hard I try, I can't figure out how to make it recognize shehecheyanu (or any of its variants) as שהחיינו.

Ultimately though, you're going to have to learn how to touch-type in Hebrew.

(To learn how to touch-type in Hebrew, play on this website. If the site is confusing, switch language to English first to get the lay of the land, and then switch back to Hebrew.)