LaserLakota in Unicode

Lakota, typed with the LakotaLS font included in LaserLakota, from Linguist's Software.

Now Type The Lakota Language Using Unicode-Encoded Fonts That Are Cross-Platform Compatible Between Windows and Macintosh!	for Windows
	for Macintosh

Type The Lakota Language

LaserLakota in Unicode

LaserLakota in Unicode (LaserLakotaU) provides professional-quality TrueType® fonts in three typestyles (Times®-style, Helvetica®-style, and Palatino®-style) supporting the Lakota (or Lakota Sioux) language, including the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota dialects, plus English, French, Spanish, and other languages supported by the Latin 1 character set. Now for the first time you can get Unicode-encoded Lakota fonts providing all the special characters and accents needed for the Lakota language, and files typed in Windows or in Macintosh Operating Systems can be read on the other platform with no file conversion necessary!

LaserLakotaU includes both OpenType and Deadkey keyboard resources for easy input of all characters in the Lakota language. Typing order for either method is easy to learn since the keyboard layouts are based on the US keyboard and the accents for each method are always typed using the same keys, no matter which letter they modify. Nasal hooks are easy to add to any vowel. See below for details on LaserLakotaU for Windows, LaserLakotaU for Macintosh, font samples, and descriptions of the Windows and Macintosh keyboard input methods.

The Lakota fonts include separate composite forms of each letter with each diacritic combination so that every letter shape and diacritic is perfectly positioned (see the samples). The fonts include the Latin 1 and Extended Latin character sets providing English and other western languages such as French, German, and Spanish. This allows your entire project to be typed in the same typestyle, with no need to switch between fonts as you switch languages. LaserLakotaU is available in three typestyles: Times®-, Palatino®-, and Helvetica®-styles. All typestyles are provided in plain, bold, italic, and bold-italic weights.

The Lakota People

The Lakota People (also known as the Teton or Titunwan) speak the Lakota dialect (also spelled Lakhota). The Lakota include the Oglala, Sicangu or Brulé, Hunkpapa, Miniconjous, Hohwoju, Sihasapa or Blackfoot Sioux, O'ohunumpa or Oohenupa (also known as Two Kettle), and Itazipco or Itazipacola (also known as Sans Arc). The Dakota People (also known as the Santee) speak the Dakota dialect (also spelled Dakhota). The Dakota include the Mdewakantunwan or Mdewakantonwon, Wahpetunwan or Wahpeton, Wahpekute and Sisitunwan or Sisseton. The Nakota People (also known as the Yankton and Yanktonai) speak the Nakota dialect (also spelled Nakoda and Nakhota). The Nakota include the Ihanktunwani (also known as the Yanton), and in Canada, the Stoney and Assiniboine. The Sioux name for themselves is Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires). (These spellings are commonly used, but there are many different spellings used for the Lakota language and tribal names. You may be familiar with different spellings.)

The LaserLakotaU fonts support several popular Lakota orthographies, including the Albert White Hat, Sr., Eugene Beuchel, David Little Elk, and Paul Manhart orthographies. No matter which orthography you are familiar with, you will quickly learn to type using LaserLakotaU fonts and keyboards. Keyboard layout charts are included for your convenience while you learn the keystrokes.

Languages Supported by LaserLakota in Unicode

In addition to Lakota, the following languages can be typed with the LaserLakotaU fonts:

Afrikaans	English	Indonesian	Swedish
Basque	Finnish	Italian	plus additional
Catalan	French	Norwegian	languages covered
Danish	German	Portuguese	by the Latin 1
Dutch	Icelandic	Spanish	Character Set

It is very easy to type the accented letters used in Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, to produce text such as the two samples shown here. The input methods for Windows and Macintosh are described below.

Lakota

A sample of the Lakota dialect typed with the LakotaLSU font

Dakota and Nakota

A sample of the Dakota and Nakota dialects typed with the LakotaLSU font

Below is detailed information about the Windows and Macintosh products, followed by pricing information and links to font samples of each of the typestyles. Please be sure to read the System Requirements for Windows or Macintosh before ordering.

LaserLakota in Unicode for Windows

LaserLakota in Unicode for Windows includes two keyboard layouts that provide four-characters-per-key input (instead of the normal two-characters-per-key) in Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows NT4. The keyboards are phonetic, based on the US keyboard, and allow easy input of all Lakota characters and symbols supported by the fonts.

The first keyboard layout takes advantage of the OpenType layout features built into the fonts for the most logical, intuitive input possible. Input order is letter-accent. The letter with its associated diacritics is built up automatically as you type, with all diacritics perfectly positioned.

On our keyboard charts the accent keys are represented by bold black outlines, as shown here:

Accent keys are shown with bold black outlines.

To type accented letters first type the letter then type the accent key. For example:

To type nasalized vowels simply type the nasal hook accent key (the colon key):

To type nasalized vowels simply add the nasal hook accent key.

See the LakotaLSU OT Keyboard Layout Chart in this pop-up.

The second keyboard layout included in the product uses deadkey input to type letters with their associated diacritics. The user first types the deadkey (representing the accent) and nothing happens. Then the user types the letter and the accented letter appears in the file. (Note this is the reverse of the OpenType input method, above.) For example:

To type nasalized vowels type the deadkey for the nasal hook (Ctrl-Alt+j) or for the combined stress mark with nasal hook (Shift+Ctrl-Alt+J), and then type the vowel. For example:

It is easy to add the nasal hook to any vowel.

See the LakotaLSU Deadkey Keyboard Layout Chart in this pop-up.

Users will choose between the two keyboards (OpenType or Deadkey) based on the applications they and their collaborators will use. The User's Manual gives complete guidance in deciding which keyboard to use. Users can easily switch their input method from one keyboard layout to another at any time using a keyboard shortcut. Detailed instructions and printable keyboard layout charts showing all keystrokes are included in the product. This documentation is installed to the Windows Start menu for easy access.

Windows System Requirements

Operating Systems

Requires Windows 10, 8, 7, or Vista. (An older version that supports Windows XP, 2000, or NT 4.0 is available. Contact the sales office or specify the Windows XP version in the Special Instructions text box on the order form.)

Applications

Requires any Unicode-compatible application, such as Microsoft Word (or another component of Microsoft Office). Adobe® InDesign® and Adobe Creative Suite 2 and newer are compatible.
Older, non-Unicode applications such as QuarkXPress 6.5 or older, Framemaker, PageMaker, and WordPerfect (tested only through version 12) are not compatible. If you must use these non-Unicode applications please see our non-Unicode version of LaserLakota.
Microsoft Word 2003 or newer, InDesign CS4 or newer, or QuarkXPress 8.02 or newer is required to use the included LakotaLSU OT (OpenType) keyboard layout for the most intuitive input order (letter-accent-nasal hook). Users of any other Unicode-compatible application will use the LakotaLSU Deadkey keyboard layout, which provides deadkey input (accent-letter). Both keyboard layouts provide full access to all letters and diacritics used in Lakota; they differ only in input method (OpenType order is letter-accent; Deadkey order is accent-letter).
Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 is not compatible with LaserLakota in Unicode for Windows. All text is changed to the Arial font, whether typed with the keyboard, input using Insert Symbol, or pasted from Word using the Windows clipboard. PowerPoint users should type their text in Word or another Unicode-compatible application, and save the text as a graphic for import into PowerPoint. Users can also use WordArt to create their text. To do this in PowerPoint go to Insert, Picture, WordArt, and type your text, formatting it as desired. Alternatively, users can type directly into PowerPoint using our non-Unicode LaserLakota fonts. (Earlier versions of PowerPoint have not been tested for compatibility.)

Notes

Collaboration with Macintosh users: If you type documents using the OpenType keyboard the Macintosh user who receives your documents must use Mellel or InDesign CS5 (or newer), or another Macintosh application that supports the OpenType keyboard. (Microsoft Word for Macintosh does not support the OpenType keyboard.) Likewise, if a Mellel or InDesign for Mac user creates a document using the OpenType keyboard and sends the document to you, you must open it in Word 2003 (or newer) or InDesign CS4 (or newer). Documents created with the deadkey keyboard may be transferred back and forth using any Unicode-compatible application (including Microsoft Word for Macintosh). All characters in the fonts are accessible using either keyboard; only the input method differs.
Printer: The fonts will print to any Windows printer at the highest quality allowed by your printer.
Documentation: All documentation, including a Setup Manual, a User's Manual, and Keyboard Layout Charts (showing placement of the characters on the keys), is in Adobe Acrobat™ PDF format, and is installed into the Windows Start menu for easy access. Users may view the documentation on screen or print it using Acrobat Reader, available free online if you do not already have it installed.

Keep reading, or jump to Font Samples below.

LaserLakota in Unicode for Macintosh

LaserLakota in Unicode for Macintosh includes two keyboard layouts that provide four-characters-per-key input. The keyboards are phonetic, based on the US keyboard, and allow easy input of all Lakota characters and symbols supported by the fonts.

On our keyboard charts the accent keys are represented by bold black outlines, as shown here:

Accent keys are shown with bold black outlines.

To type accented letters first type the letter then type the accent key. For example:

To type nasalized vowels simply type the nasal hook accent key (the colon key):

To type nasalized vowels simply add the nasal hook accent key.

See the LakotaLSU OT Keyboard Layout Chart in this pop-up.

The second keyboard layout works with any Unicode-compatible application (such as Microsoft Word) and uses deadkey input to type letters with their associated diacritics. The user first types the deadkey (representing the accent) and nothing happens. Then the user types the letter and the accented letter appears in the file. (Note this is the reverse of the OpenType input method, above.) For example:

To type nasalized vowels type the deadkey for the nasal hook (option+j) or for the combined stress mark with nasal hook (option-shift-j), and then type the vowel. For example:

Nasalized vowels are easy to type with deadkey input.

See the LakotaLSU DK (deadkey) Keyboard Layout Chart in this pop-up.

Users will choose between the two keyboards (OpenType or Deadkey) based on the applications they and their collaborators will use. The User's Manual gives complete guidance in deciding which keyboard to use. Users can easily switch their input method from one keyboard layout to another at any time. Detailed instructions and printable keyboard layout charts showing all keystrokes are included in the product.

Macintosh System Requirements

Operating Systems

Requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

Applications

The OpenType keyboard requires the Mellel word processor or InDesign CS5 or newer (or another application that supports the OpenType keyboard).
The deadkey keyboard works with any Unicode-compatible application.
The only Macintosh applications we are aware of that support Unicode at this time are Microsoft Word 2011/2008/2004, Mellel, InDesign CS, QuarkExpress 7.0 or newer, OpenOffice, Pages, Nisus Writer Express, TextEdit (included with Mac OS X), Oxygen, and BBEdit. We have only tested the fonts in Word 2004, Mellel, Nisus Writer Express and TextEdit. (If you are aware of additional applications please let us know.)
Even applications that claim to be Unicode and OpenType compliant may only support a limited range of Unicode characters or a limited set of OpenType features. Contact Linguist's Software about compatibility questions and about the availability of a non-Unicode version of this product that works in all applications.

Notes

These fonts are compatible with the Windows version of LaserLakota in Unicode. No conversion of files is necessary when transferring files to Windows if your applications are fully Unicode-aware and compatible fonts are installed on both systems.
If you type documents in Mellel or InDesign CS5 using the OpenType keyboard the Windows user who receives your file must use Word 2003 or newer, or InDesign CS4 or newer, which are the only Windows applications known to support the OpenType keyboard. Likewise, if a Word for Windows user creates a document using the OpenType keyboard and sends the file to you, you must open it in Mellel or InDesign CS5. Documents created with the deadkey keyboard may be transferred back and forth using any Unicode-compatible application. All characters in the fonts are accessible using either keyboard; only the input method differs.
All documentation, including a User's Manual and Keyboard Layout Charts (showing placement of the characters on the keys) is in Adobe Acrobat™ PDF format. Users may view the documentation on screen or print it using Acrobat Reader, available free online if you do not already have it installed.

Keep reading, or jump to Font Samples below.

Product Sets in the LaserLakota in Unicode Product Series

Product Sets Available in the LaserLakota in Unicode Product Series

LaserLakota LakotaLSU (Times-style)

LaserLakota LakotaPalaU (Palatino-style)

LaserLakota LakotaSansU (Helvetica-style)

Cost: Individual typestyles cost US$99.95; any two typestyles purchased for the same platform (Windows or Macintosh) at the same time is $149.95; or purchase all three typestyles together for one platform as LaserLakota Professional in Unicode for $199.95. Order

Do you need to upgrade? Check the current version number and a Release History.

Font Samples

A single font sample is shown below for each font. Links to additional font samples will open in a new browser window. These additional samples will show you all accented letters used in Lakota, in plain, bold, italic, and bold-italic typestyles.

Be sure you read the System Requirements for Windows or Macintosh before ordering!

LaserLakota LakotaLSU in Unicode
$99.95 (or $50 when ordered with another full-priced set for that platform) Order

LakotaLSU, a Times-style Lakota font, in plain, bold, italic, and bold-italic
(more samples)

LaserLakota LakotaPalaU in Unicode
$99.95 (or $50 when ordered with another full-priced set for that platform) Order

LakotaPalaU, a Palatino-style Lakota font, in plain, bold, italic, and bold-italic
(more samples)

LaserLakota LakotaSansU in Unicode
$99.95 (or $50 when ordered with another full-priced set for that platform) Order

LakotaSansU, a Helvetica-style (sans serif) Lakota font, provided in plain, bold, italic, and bold-italic
(more samples)

LaserLakota Professional in Unicode $249.95 Order

Complete contents of all LaserLakota in Unicode product sets listed above for one platform