Simple, Fast Way to Enter/Type Unicode Characters in Windows (using UTF-8)
I often need to enter the International Phonetic Association's (IPA) or other math symbols into my computer, often during a lecture, when speed matters. Some great webpages, particularly this one, explain how, but they require you to know the Unicode code numbers. That is far too cumbersome for me. My approach is a little different, and much more intuitive.
Enter Unicode characters using AutoHotKey (AHK)
Steps- Download AutoHotKey (free)
- Edit its script (copy and paste mine below if you like) to create intuitive hotkeys that you can change.
- For example, to enter an d͡ʒ, type j then d then z.
My AHK hotkeys
First, see my list below. Don't let the terse syntax confuse you. Ignore every line's initial :?C: because what really matters is whatever you put next, in the format input::output. In the first line under "consonants," for example, you see jT::θ which means that if you type j then a capital T, your output is θ (theta). To get a unicode symbol you copy and paste it into the script. Not all webpages let you copy and paste though, so see this excellent list, which does.
; ********************** HOTKEYS FOR IPA, MATH, AND OTHERS *************************
; * = don't require space afterwards (aka terminating character)
; ? = intra-word is allowed
; C = case sensitive
; consonants
:*?C:jT::θ
:*?C:jD::ð
:*?C:jS::ʃ
:*?C:jZ::ʒ
:*?C:jrb::ɹ
:*?C:jR::ʁ
:*?C:jX ::χ ;space required here to distinguish X and Xb
:*?C:jXb::ħ ;non-space version
:*?C:jJ::ɲ
:*?C:jN::ŋ
:*?C:jC::ç
:*?C:jjb::ʝ
:*?C:j? ::ʔ ;space required here to distinguish ? and ?\
:*?C:j?b::ʕ ;non-space version
:*?C:jhb::ɦ
:*?C:jrr::ɽ ; r+backtick but AHK doesn't allow backtick here, so r for retroflex
:*?C:j4::ɾ ; tap
:*?C:jH::ɥ
:*?C:jW::ʍ
:*?C:jsb::ɕ
:*?C:jzb::ʑ
:*?C:jF::ɱ ; eg comfort
:*?C:jpb::ɸ
:*?C:jB::β
:*?C:jG::ɣ
:*?C:jL::ʎ
:*?C:jdz::d͡ʒ ; dʒ affricate with tie-bar
:*?C:jts::t͡ʃ ; tʃ affricate with tie-bar
; vowels
:*?C:jE::ɛ
:*?C:j3::ɜ
:*?C:jA::ɑ
:*?C:j{::æ
:*?C:jQ::ɒ
:*?C:j2::ø
:*?C:j9::œ
:*?C:jI::ɪ
:*?C:j@::ə
:*?C:jV::ʌ
:*?C:jU::ʊ
:*?C:jlong::ː ; semicolon doesn't work in AHK, so long
:*?C:jO::ɔ
:*?C:jnO::ɔ̃ ; nasalized ɔ
:*?C:jna::ã ; nasalized a
:*?C:jn9::œ̃ ; nasalized œ
:*?C:jnE::ɛ̃ ; nasalized ɛ
; diacritics
:*?C:j_h::ʰ
:*?C:jcb::ˑ ; colon backslash :\
:*?C:jre::ɚ ; rhotic ə
:*?C:jra::a˞ ; rhotic a
:*?C:jsr::r̩ ; syllabic r
:*?C:jsl::̩l̩ ; syllabic l
:*?C:jsn::̩n ; syllabic n
:*?C:j_}t::t̚ ; no audible release t
:*?C:jr3::ɝ ; rhotic ɜ
; suprasegmentals
:*?C:jq::ˈ ; primary stress -- q for "quotation mark" since " doesn't work in AHK on International keyboard
:*?C:j%::ˌ ; secondary stress
; other
:*?C:jnull::Ø ; null, zéro
:*?C:jsupern::ⁿ ; superscript n
; greek
:*?C:alphal::α ; alpha lowercase
:*?C:alphau::A ; alpha uppercase
:*?C:betau::Β ; beta uppercase
:*?C:betal::β ; beta lowercase
:*?C:gammau::Γ ; gamma uppercase
:*?C:gammal::γ ; gamma lowercase
:*?C:epsilonl::ε ; epsilon lowercase
:*?C:epsilonu::Ε ; epsilon uppercase
:*?C:deltal::δ ; delta lowercase
:*?C:deltau::Δ ; delta uppercase
:*?C:lambdau::Λ ; lambda uppercase
:*?C:lambdal::λ ; lambda lowercase
:*?C:phiu::Φ ; phi uppercase
:*?C:phil::φ ; phi lowercase
:*?C:jmul::μ ; mu lowercase
:*?C:psil::ψ ; psi lowercase
:*?C:psiu::Ψ ; psi uppercase
:*?C:omegau::Ω ; omega uppercase
:*?C:omegal::ω ; omega lowercase
:*?C:sigmau::Σ ; sigma uppercase
:*?C:sigmal1::σ ; sigma lowercase 1
:*?C:sigmal2::ς ; sigma lowercase 2
:*?C:jpil::π ; pi lowercase
:*?C:jpiu::Π ; pi uppercase
:*?C:jchil::χ ; chi lowercase
:*?C:jchiu::Χ ; chi uppercase
:*?C:thetal1::θ ; theta lowercase 1
:*?C:thetal2::ϑ ; theta lowercase 2
:*?C:thetau::Θ ; theta uppercase
:*?C:!=::≠
:*?C:jss::§ ; double s
; Logic
:*?C:sidewaysu::⊃ ; sideways U
:*?C:horseshoe::⊃ ; horseshoe
:*?C:turneda::∀ ; upside down a / turned a
:*?C:turnedv::∧ ; upside down v / turned v
:*?C:turnede::∃ ; sidways down ∃ / turned ∃
; Sets and math
:*?C:jsubset::⊆ ; subset (has fewer elements or equal to the set)
:*?C:jsubset::⊄ ; not subset
:*?C:jelement::∈ ; element of
:*?C:jnotelement::∉ ; not an element
:*?C:junion::∪ ; union
:*?C:jinter::∩ ; intersection
:*?C:jarr1::→ ; right arrow (implies, if then)
:*?C:jarr2::⇒ ; right arrow (material implication)
:*?C:jarr3::↦ ; function arrow (function maps)
:*?C:jiff::≡ ; if and only if
:*?C:jnegation::¬ ; negation
:*?C:jrn::ℝ ; real numbers
:*?C:jgradient::∇ ; gradient
:*?C:jdeg::° ; degree
:*?C:jsqrt::√() ; radix (radicand)
:*?C:jcuber::∛() ; cube root
:*?C:jdiv::÷ ; division
:*?C:jthus::∴ ; thus
:*?C:jplusminus::± ; thus
:*?C:jbc::∵ ; because
:*?C:jinf::∞ ; infinity
:*?C:sup0::⁰ ; superscript
:*?C:sup1::¹ ; superscript
:*?C:sup2::² ; superscript
:*?C:sup3::³ ; superscript
:*?C:sup4::⁴ ; superscript
:*?C:sup5::⁵ ; superscript
:*?C:sup6::⁶ ; superscript
:*?C:sup7::⁷ ; superscript
:*?C:sup8::⁸ ; superscript
:*?C:sup9::⁹ ; superscript
:*?C:supt::ᵗ ; superscript
:*?C:supr::ʳ ; superscript
:*?C:supn::ⁿ ; superscript
:*?C:supx::ˣ ; superscript
:*?C:sup-::⁻ ; superscript
:*?C:suph::ʰ ; superscript
:*?C:sub0::₀ ; subscript
:*?C:sub1::₁ ; subscript
:*?C:sub2::₂ ; subscript
:*?C:sub3::₃ ; subscript
:*?C:sub4::₄ ; subscript
:*?C:subi::ᵢ ; subscript
:*?C:suba::ₐ ; subscript
:*?C:subx::ₓ ; subscript
:*?C:rn2::ℝ² ; r2
:*?C:rn3::ℝ³ ; r3
:*?C:turnedu::∩ ; intersection
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