Malay Malaysian Flag

Table Designator

msa

This is the technical description of a DBT Translation table. If you want more general information about languages and template choices, please see the list of templates.

Initially, the language table for braille translation is determined by the selected template, and may be changed using the Document / Translation Tables menu. Using those menus does not require use of the table designator. However, to switch to a different translation table partway through a file, one must enter a DBT code and the designator for the table to switch to. For switching secondary languages within a base language table, see the [lng~X] command. For switching from one base language to another, see the [lnb~...] command.

Functional Summary

The Malay tables support print-to-braille and braille-to-print translation of Malay-language literary text in contracted or uncontracted Malay braille. The American Computer Braille Code (CBC) is also supported.

Braille to Print (Back-translation)

Braille-to-print translation is supported for this language. However, braille-to-print translation may not be perfect, therefore beware that errors can occur. If you find errors or have suggestions, please send both the *.dxb and *.dxp files along with an explanation to: languages@duxsys.com. Please be sure to include sample files!

Special Requirements and Limitations

There are no special requirements or limitations.

Secondary Languages Supported

English, in grade 1 (uncontracted) only, is supported as a secondary language.

Note that in addition to the abovementioned provision for English as a "secondary language" supported within the Malay table itself, it is also 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 Malay 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]

[fte~u]

[fts~b]

[fts~i]

[fts~u]

[g1] switches to "grade 1" (uncontracted) braille. This affects the Malay text only; any embedded ("secondary") English text is always uncontracted.

[g2] switches to "grade 2" (contracted) braille. This is the normal mode, and applies only to the Malay text.

[in] is equivalent to [g1]

[lnb]

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

[lng~en] switches to English language.

[lng~ms] or [lng] switches to Malay language.

[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

Accented letters and punctuation marks typical of French, German, Italian, and Spanish

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 implemented by Duxbury Systems, Inc. commencing in October 1998 as an adaptation of the then-current Cymraeg (Welsh) tables, based upon the document entitled "The Malay Braille Code," a publication of the Malay Braille Code Committee of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. The National Council of the Blind of Malaysia (NCBM) sponsored the development and provided invaluable feedback as the work progressed.

Commencing in January 2004, these tables were extensively updated to conform to the Revised Malay Code (2003).

With considerable assistance from NCBM, these tables were thoroughly reworked in 2009 to improve the handling of contractions.

(Documentation reviewed: July 2010.)