NDEBELE   South African Flag  Zimbabwean Flag

TABLE DESIGNATOR

nde

(The initial translation table for a translation is determined by the selected template, and may be changed using the Document / Translation Tables menu. Using those menus does not involve explicit use of the table designator. However, in cases where it is necessary to switch to a different translation table partway through a file, the designator for the table being switched to is required; see the general description of the [lnb~...] command for further details.)

FUNCTIONAL SUMMARY

The Ndebele tables support print-to-braille translation of Ndebele-language literary text in contracted or uncontracted braille as defined for that language. The American Computer Braille Code (CBC) is also supported.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS

There are no special requirements and limitations.

SECONDARY LANGUAGES SUPPORTED

No secondary languages are supported.

While no "secondary languages" are supported within the Ndebele table itself, it is possible to switch to any of the available translation tables listed in DBT. (See the [lnb~...] code below.)

TECHNICAL BRAILLE CODES SUPPORTED

Computer Braille Code (CBC), as defined by the Braille Authority of North America, is supported.

In addition, it is possible to switch to any of the available translation tables listed in DBT (see the [lnb~...]code below), many of which do support various technical codes, such as for mathematics or computer notation, or which support “unified” treatment of technical notation as well as literary text in the base language associated with the table.

SUPPORTED DBT TRANSLATION CODES

The following DBT translation codes are available when using the Ndebele table. Any other translation codes used will be ignored, or indeed may cause unexpected results. If using an alternative translation table, i.e when switching to another base language table by means of the[lnb~...] code, please refer to the relevant topic and available codes for that table.

[/] may be embedded within letter-groups that would normally be contracted, to prevent the contraction.

[ab] is equivalent to [g2]

[cap-invert]

[cap-normal]

[cb-&]

[cb-de]

[cb-ds]

[cb-ee]

[cb-es]

[cb-ne]

[cb-ns]

[cb-se]

[cb-ss]

[cb-t1]

[cb-t2]

[cb-ue]

[cb-us]

[cb]

[cbi]

[cbn]

[cs-off]

[cs]

[cz] switches to "direct braille," wherein braille is directly represented using the North American ASCII-braille code. (This is sometimes called "no-translate" or "computer grade 0")

[fte~b]

[fte~i]

[fts~b]

[fts~i]

[g1] switches to "grade 1" (uncontracted) braille.

[g2] switches to "grade 2" (contracted) braille.

[in] is equivalent to [g1]

[lnb]

[lnb~...] (for switching to another base [primary] language table)

[tx] resumes normal translation, ending "direct braille."

[txi]

[txn]

CHARACTERS SUPPORTED

The table is designed to work with the following groups of characters:

All ASCII printable characters

All forms of letters and punctuation marks typical of the Ndebele language

British pound sign (£)

The above is a general guide only (see "General Notes" section at the beginning of this document).

REFERENCES, HISTORY AND CREDITS

These tables were developed from October 1999 by the Braille Consultancy of South Africa, working from earlier sample tables provided by Duxbury Systems, Inc. They are presently maintained mainly by Mr. Christo de Klerk with the help of Mr. Jan Bam, and with occasional assistance from Duxbury.

(Documentation reviewed: July 2010.)