An introduction to Shan and Tai fonts
by Nang San
(edited and published by KNL)

The following is an introductory guide by Nang San on using Shan (including Tai Yai, Tai Dam and Tai Lue) fonts for a variety of computer applications. The information in this post should also be used along with the fonts links and guides listed in the right hand tool bar as well as others that are readily available on the internet. Any questions or concerns are appreciated.

[Disclaimer]
This post is an adaption of an email on understanding and using the growing numbers of Shan, Tai Yai, Tai Lue and Tai Dam fonts currently available. Any mistakes and/or overall shoddy writing are entirely my own.

[Note: Viewing fonts on this page]
Nang has written this post using TaiPhonetic, and I have uploaded it as such. However, many Shan characters - particularly those discussed with regards to keyboard and key allocation - cannot be viewed here as this website does not yet allow free choice of fonts. To view, please install the TaiPhonetic font, available on the website listed belowd or elsewhere, and merely copy & paste the text into a wordprocessing programme.
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Anyone interested wishing to use Shan on their computer will be glad to know that a number of Shan fonts are readily available, and that this number is steadily increasing. Downloadable fonts are available – often for free – under a growing number of labels that include: Shan or Tai Yai or other Tai language sub-classes, such as Tai Dam, Dai Banna, and Tai Lue. Despite the increasing library of fonts, this phenomenon is not as good as one might hope. Instead of representing a broadening choice of ‘typefaces’ of computer fonts, it more clearly illustrates the continuing confusion that surrounds muddled and dated classifications and a visible lack of unity among Shan and Tai language professionals. Sadly, any initial elation at the array of fonts on offer is short lived. Users will discover that, following any downloads and installations of a font or fonts, a range of differences is immediately visible, including different keyboard layouts where characters have been placed in different locations depending on the font and the creator’s concept. These ‘features’ deepen the confusion and quash any initial ‘happy’ feelings.

This ever expanding variety will, no doubt, confound and irritate any user, even the most astute computer literate linguist. However, do not despair: all is not lost. Nang San has composed the following and much welcomed clarification that will lay a solid, introductory explanation for current and potential Shan font users, from beginner to expert. Enjoy.

Key locations and characters

Fonts for the Burmese-typewriter layout will generally set the ka k on the 'u' key (British or US keyboard) and kha K on the 'x'. Furthermore, the na n will be on the 'e' key. As the consonants are similar in the two scripts, their placement within the keyboard set-up was easy for font crafters who started from a Burmese base. However, when it came to letters that do not have a clear counterpart in Burmese, such as the è d symbol, different font creators have had different revelations as to the logical locations or key settings. For those who never learned how to type in Burmese, these layouts can be baffling, as most character placements seem somewhat arbitrary. Those who can type in Win and related Burmese layouts will find the use of these Shan fonts easier to work with.

Other fonts, such as Tzerngkoang Tai, which was designed by Sao Maha Wisanu Tzerngkoang, and others within the Tai family of fonts, take Shan sounds and match them to the representative Latin letter(s) on the keyboard. As a result, ka k is generally found on the 'k' key, kha K on the 'K' (or the ' g' and 'k' respectively), na n on the 'n', and so on. Again, users familiar with Burmese fonts, such as John Okell's Avalaser or U Saw Tun's Myanmar1 and 2 fonts, will find these systems much easier to use, as it is laid out (layout) on similar principles.

As the number of characters is limited and as there are few variations for those present, it is not difficult to learn to type in the Shan language, nor is it particularly difficult to learn several, often necessary, keyboard layouts. However, this is an inconvenience not only for the typist, but for any recipient of a document: as the layouts are different, one would have to check whether the giver and receiver have used same fonts, or at least fonts with the same layout. If this is not undertaken, the text will be unreadable for the receiver.

Fewer characters are required to write in Shan than in the Latin alphabet, and this means that there are vacant spots on the keyboard, as they are not assigned to any script symbol. Font designers have used these bonus spaces in different ways. Many fonts contain shortcuts and old-style abbreviations, such as the double a-hsak _Ï (indicating a doubled word), the dotted 1 ö for nüng; and the superscripted dot _M for ma-hsak.

However, some font makers have been tempted to expand on traditional systems and include extra characters, particularly for writing Pali, to use up the many empty spaces. This is a complicated undertaking, as it involves a near doubling of the number of consonants, which can become quite complicated for anyone other than a seasoned Shan font professional.

Many Shan fonts continue to use the Latin portion of Unicode and, as such, are typed in a familiar fashion to normal typing practice. For example, there is a larger CGG_ to write the Ct for example, and a narrower one for ck/

In the future, when Unicode has been fully implemented, typing in Shan should be even easier, as smart fonts will alter the size and placement of symbols to become orthographically correct. There will, for example, be only one wraparound ra, and it will automatically come out larger if you type it with a ta. t and smaller if you type it with a ka k. A Shan draft Unicode font is already available from SOAS, but the final official version may be somewhat different.

Shan phonetics

A issue related to Shan fonts remains how to represent the sounds of Shan in Latin letters. Sao Tern Moeng and Irving Glick have come up with a consistent romanisation for their teaching materials, though it uses a few symbols, such as the C, that are not easily found in an ordinary font. For these symbols, one must get an International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) font (available from SIL's fonts page at among other places; Dai Banna and Tai Dam and Tai Lue fonts are also available from this site) and insert letters or use a font that has an IPA section for those symbols. For those who use some other system, or their own ad hoc romanisation, there is the wide variety of unclear representations of the quiwf and qUiwf sounds to deal with.

A font - TaiPhonetic – tackles this issue by including symbols commonly used to represent these sounds. All letters are lower case, with the uppercase keystrokes used for the phonetic symbols, e.g., if you type 'W' you get the W, C is C, O is O.

Let me at those fonts

TaiPhonetic and the TaiNan family are true type/open type fonts that can be used on either Mac OSX or Windows systems. For those who would like to use these fonts on Mac OS9 or any other system, you can visit homepage.mac.com/inkish to download the fonts and documentation.

Lastly, as font creation and usages rapidly grows, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of these developments. If anyone can shed more light on the Shan Unicode effort, we and others would be greatly interested in and appreciate any insight on it.

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Once again, ‘many thanks’ to Nang San for this introductory guide to Shan fonts. Furthermore, I would like to thank – despite its short-life – everyone who has submitted, commented, contacted and visited All about Shan Studies since its birth in late 2006. I wish you all the best in the coming year: 2007 promises to be a busy, exciting and successful year already. I hope to see (and hear from) each of you again soon.

Mai soong kha,

Khun Naw Liang