Language tool · 2018

Santali (Ol Chiki) Unicode converter

For anyone with Santali text typed in an older Ol Chiki font, which shows as Latin letters on other phones and computers.

Jnanaranjan Sahu · · Updated

Permanent link: https://n2t.net/ark:15056/ofdn-t-000001

ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ: https://n2t.net/ark:15056/ofdn-t-000001/sat

Much Santali text was typed in older Ol Chiki fonts. These fonts store each Ol Chiki letter as a Latin letter: type "a" and the font draws ᱟ. On a phone or computer without the same font, the text shows only as Latin letters. This converter changes it into Unicode. Then it shows in Ol Chiki on any device, and search engines can find it.

The text converts as you paste or type. It is sent to a server run by Jnanaranjan Sahu to be converted, and comes back in the second box.

How to use it

  1. Copy the Santali text from your file. Here is an example of a book typed in an older font.
  2. Paste it in the first box. The Unicode text shows in the second box.
  3. Read through the Unicode text and correct any small errors.
  4. Select "Copy the Unicode text" and paste it where you need it.

To read the Unicode text, you need an Ol Chiki Unicode font such as Noto Sans Ol Chiki. Most Android phones and Windows computers already have one.

Why it is needed

Michael Everson proposed adding Ol Chiki to Unicode on 29 January 1999. Unicode 5.1 added it in 2008. Until then, Santali fonts each used their own encoding, mostly built on ASCII. Some publications still use these fonts, such as the Santali magazine Fagun. Their text cannot be searched online. It also cannot be read on a device without the same font.

Read the blog post on the converter's release (ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ) for more.

Credits and acknowledgements

Use these resources well

  • Check who made a resource, and when, before you rely on it.
  • Credit the people whose words, recordings and knowledge you use, by name.
  • Ask for consent before you record people or publish community knowledge.

To learn more, read the Archiving the Present manual, take the free course on WikiLearn, or read about the OpenSpeaks Oral Knowledge Framework. See Registry of Type Design for scripts, their inventors, typefaces/fonts and their creators.

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