Hebrew, Israeli Flag of Israel

Table Designator

heb-isr

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 Hebrew/Israeli tables support print-to-braille translation of Hebrew-language literary text in uncontracted Hebrew braille according to the code documented for the Central Library for the Blind in Netanya, Israel by Rivka Rosenzweig. These translation tables also follow the code's rules for material in other languages within a Hebrew document. See the section below on secondary languages for more details.

Text in Arabic script is translated as uncontracted Arabic.

Text in Cyrillic script is translated as Russian 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!

When you view material with Hebrew

DBT shows the Hebrew characters in print. Do not attempt to edit print Hebrew text inside DBT.

Hebrew Variations Supported

The Hebrew/Israeli (Uncontracted) translation tables support a number of variations to determine which signs are shown in braille.

To issue a command for one of these variations, go to the Codes list (hot key F5), select vrn from the list, and type the appropriate parameters in the Code Parameters field. In coded view, the command appears as [vrn~xxx], where xxx shows what you entered in the Code Parameters field. You may switch from one of these variations to another within the same document. These variations determine whether vowels, dagesh marks, and sheva marks in the print are to be shown in Braille. These three settings are independent of each other for the most part, with the exception that if you are suppressing vowels, then the print-to-braille translator will also suppress the sheva, even if you tell the translator to use it.

[vrn~shv]- suppress Hebrew vowels; even if the print original includes vowel signs, the braille does not show them. This is the default setting with use of the Hebrew/Israeli translation tables.

[vrn~uhv] - use Hebrew vowels.

[vrn~phv]- partial Hebrew vowels.

[vrn~shd]- suppress Hebrew dagesh; this is the default setting with use of the Hebrew/Israeli translation tables.

[vrn~uhd] - use Hebrew dagesh.

[vrn~shs]- suppress Hebrew sheva; this is the default setting with use of the Hebrew/Israeli tables.

[vrn~uhs] - use Hebrew sheva.

Secondary Languages Supported

A document being translated with the Hebrew/Israeli translation tables may include a number of secondary languages.when English is used as a secondary language, the braille follows American rather than British rules. In accordance with the rules developed by the Central Library for the Blind in Israel, all material marked as a language other than Hebrew is automatically translated in uncontracted (grade one) braille. In addition, wherever you mark a segment as a language other than Hebrew, the braille uses dots 46 foreign language indicators for that segment. The placement of these indicators is similar to the placement of italics indicators in English braille. In addition, when a foreign language segment contains three words or fewer, then for any lowercase word, the dots 46 is followed by dots 56. To issue a language-switching command, select lng from the Codes list (hot key F5), and enter the appropriate parameters in the Code Parameters field. In coded view, the command appears as [lng~xxx], where xxx shows what you entered in the Code Parameters field.

[lng~he] or [lng~] - Hebrew; this is the default setting with the Hebrew/American) translation tables.

[lng~en] or [lng~eng] - English. This follows American conventions.

[lng~de] or [lng~deu] - German.

[lng~es] or [lng~esp] - Spanish.

[lng~fr] or [lng~fra] - French.

[lng~it] or [lng~ita] - Italian.

[lng~la] or [lng~lat] - Latin.

[lng~mao] or [lng~mi] - Maori.

Text in Arabic script is translated as uncontracted Arabic.

Note that in addition to the above provisions of this Hebrew (Israeli) table in 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

The Computer Braille Code, as in the English/American tables, 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 Hebrew (Israeli) 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.

[atxN]

[cz]

[lnb]

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

[lng~...] see "Secondary Languages" above.

[tx]

[vrn~...] see "Hebrew Variations Supported" above.

Codes for computer notation are generally the same as for the English/American tables.

References, History and Credits

These tables were developed in July 2002 by Duxbury Systems, Inc., based on a document written by Rivka Rosenzweig for the Central Library for the Blind in Netanya, Israel. These tables replace the older Hebrew translation tables developed for DBT as used with the Hebrew version of WordPerfect 5.1.

(Documentation reviewed: July 2010.)