Transliteration is a system using which words that are written in a source language script are converted to a target language script. This is not same as translation: For example transliterating the word "bachpan" into Hindi does not return "childhood". It returns "बचपन".

Microsoft ILIT currently supports ten languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

You can go to the Microsoft ILIT Home Page and simply download and install any new languages you are interested in.

No. Microsoft ILIT is a transliteration tool that helps you enter Hindi text easily and quickly. It supports free form transliteration which means that you do not have to use any scheme to transliterate words from English to Hindi. For example, to enter "रामायण", you do not have to type "raamaayanna" or "rAmAyaNa". You can just type "ramayan".

Microsoft ILIT offers support for capitalization based hinting to disambiguate sounds that are spelt with the same English letter. For example, some users may prefer to type "bhArat" for "भारत", to disambiguate it from "भरत", which is also spelt "bharat". In this case, Microsoft ILIT will regard the capital letter as a hint and only return "भारत".

Microsoft ILIT only considers some capital letters as hints. The following is a comprehensive list for Hindi.

Hint	Symbol
Vowels
A	आ
I	ई
U	ऊ
Consonants
Ch	छ
T	ट
Th	ठ
D	ड,ड़
Dh	ढ,ढ़
N	ण
Sh	ष

No. Only capital letters can be used as hints. While typing "bhArat" gives only "भारत", typing "bharat" will return both "भारत" and "भरत".

Microsoft ILIT ignores a capital letter if it is the first letter of the word. This is because Microsoft ILIT cannot differentiate a hint from a capital letter used for a proper noun or the first word of a sentence.

When you input a word in all capitals, the first option returned by Microsoft ILIT will simply spell out the individual letters. For instance, if you type "ATM", the first result will be "एटीएम" and all other phonetic transliterations will follow. None of the capital letters in the word will be treated as hints.

Since Hindi numerals are rarely used even in Hindi text, Microsoft ILIT returns the international numerals as the first option and the Hindi numerals as the second.

For example, typing "2009" gives "2009" followed by "२००९".

Further, in the Desktop version, if you manually select the Hindi numerals from the list of options, for all subsequent words containing numerals, Microsoft ILIT returns Hindi numerals as the first option and international numerals as the second. This preference will be retained until you manually select international numerals from the list of options or until you switch to another language or close the application.

Since Hindi uses the Danda (i.e. the vertical bar, ।) to denote the full stop, Microsoft ILIT automatically converts the full stop into a Danda.

When you type a commonly used emoticon (or smiley), Microsoft ILIT does not transliterate that sequence of characters. For example, typing :-P leaves the emoticon as it is. The letter P will not be converted into Hindi script.

The Desktop version of Microsoft ILIT is implemented as a Text Service using the Text Services Framework (TSF). Microsoft Windows Text Services Framework (TSF) is a system service included in Windows XP and later versions of the Windows operating system. TSF provides a simple and scalable framework for the delivery of advanced text input and natural language technologies, which will eventually replace the current Input Method Editor (IME) framework. Using Microsoft ILIT, you can enter Hindi text in any application that is TSF-aware.

Most applications in Windows are TSF-aware, including the following:

1. Windows Explorer (You can have Hindi file names)
2. Word processors and editors such as Microsoft Word and Notepad (You can create Hindi documents)
3. Chat clients such as Windows Live Messenger (You can chat in Hindi)
4. Email clients such as Microsoft Outlook (You can send emails in Hindi)
5. Presentation programs such as Microsoft Powerpoint (You can create presentations in Hindi)
6. Web browsers such as Internet Explorer

Do the following to use Microsoft ILIT in any application, such as Microsoft Word:

1. Open the application in which you would like to enter Hindi text.

2. Change the language to Hindi using the language bar, which typically appears in the taskbar as follows.

   

3. The language bar will now show the "अ" symbol to indicate that Hindi is the current language.

   

4. You can now start typing in English and whatever you type automatically gets transliterated into Hindi after a word-breaking character like a space, comma, etc. is entered. Note that this language setting is per application. You may have to repeat the steps above for each application you want to use Microsoft ILIT in.

If you do not see the language bar in the task bar (at the bottom of the desktop) or floating on the desktop please do the following:

On Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Regional and Language Options.
2. On the Languages tab, under Text services and input languages, click Details.
3. Under Preferences, click Language Bar.
4. Select the Show the Language bar on the desktop check box.

On Windows Vista/Windows 7

1. Click Start and go to Control Panel.
2. Click Change keyboards or other input methods under Clock, Language and Region.
3. On the Keyboards and Languages tab, click Change Keyboards.
4. On the Language Bar tab, select the Floating on Desktop option.

While you are typing the Hindi word in English, Microsoft ILIT presents you a list of transliteration options on the fly:

You can select any of the five options shown or can alternatively select the English word itself. For example, while typing "karan", if you select "करण",the default option "कारण" will be overridden.

If you would like to change a word that is already transliterated, you can do so only in applications that support reconversion (such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook) by right-clicking the word and then selecting an option from the list. The list of options will be displayed in the application drop-down as follows:

(The above drop-down is the one shown by Microsoft Word and may change from application to application).

In the rare case that the right word does not appear in the list of options you can edit the word in one of the following ways:

1. Delete the portion of the word that did not get transliterated correctly and re-enter it in English and select from the list of options. For example, if the word "karna" gets transliterated into "करना" whereas you want "कर्ण", you can do the following.

   1. Delete the portion of the word that was wrong, i.e. "रना" and re-enter it in English as "rna".
   2. Select "र्ण" from the drop-down list of options so that the target word now becomes "कर्ण".

2. Alternatively, you can use the visual keyboard to edit the word by doing the following:

   1. Click on the keyboard icon on the language bar. If the keyboard icon is not visible, right click on the Language Bar and select Additional icons in taskbar.

      

      This will bring up the visual keyboard for the current language which appears as follows:

      

   2. Delete the portion of the word that needs to be edited, i.e. "रना".
   3. Re-enter the correct syllable using the visual keyboard by entering "र्" first, followed by "ण".
   4. Now the word "करना" is modified in place into "कर्ण".

You can change the language from one to another by changing the current language in the language bar

.

Alternatively, you can use any of the keyboard shortcuts to switch languages. To see/edit the language bar keyboard shortcuts do the following:

On Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Regional and Language Options.
2. On the Languages tab, under Text services and input languages, click Details.
3. Under Preferences, click Key Settings to see/edit language bar keyboard shortcuts.

On Windows Vista/Windows 7

1. Click Start and go to Control Panel.
2. Click Change keyboards or other input methods under Clock, Language and Region.
3. On the Keyboards and Languages tab, click Change Keyboards.
4. Select the Advanced Key Settings tab to see/edit language bar keyboard shortcuts.

The visual keyboard automatically changes when the language of the application is changed. When you switch between applications that are using different languages the on-screen keyboard automatically changes its language. When you switch to an application that is using English, the visual keyboard disappears automatically.

You can hide/unhide the visual keyboard by clicking on the keyboard icon on the language bar.

Once the hide/show state of the keyboard is changed, it will remain so for all the applications that are using Indic transliteration with Microsoft ILIT.

Yes. The Desktop version of Microsoft ILIT remembers the choices you have made either by selecting from the list of transliteration options or by manually editing the Hindi word using the visual keyboard and subsequently presents your preferred transliteration as the default. For example, if you change the transliteration of word "karan" from "कारण" to "करण", the next time you type the word "karan" you will get "करण" as the default transliteration option. These choices will be remembered until you switch to another language or close the application.

You can stop transliteration by changing the language back to English in the Language Bar.

This can happen for any of the following reasons:

1. Not all applications support reconversion. Only some, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook, do. The application must support reconversion for this to work.
2. If the application that is using the transliteration service is closed and restarted, you will not see transliteration options for a word as the transliteration history is lost.
3. Transliteration options will not be shown for Hindi words that are pasted from elsewhere.
4. If you add English text to any Hindi word and transliterate it, the resultant Hindi word will not show transliteration options for the full word. (For example if you add "ji" to the word "नारायण", "ji" gets transliterated to "जी" and the resultant word becomes "नारायणजी". Right-clicking on the word "नारायणजी" will not show transliteration options for the full word.

This is a known issue with an old version of Microsoft ILIT. Upgrading to the latest version will solve this problem.

You can give feedback about Microsoft ILIT by sending an email to the support alias ilitsup@microsoft.com detailing the problem you have faced while using the Desktop version of Microsoft ILIT or any other general feedback.

The Web version of Microsoft ILIT is implemented as a Javascript Bookmarklet. A bookmarklet is a small piece of (usually Javascript) code that is stored as a URL in a browser's bookmarks. A bookmarklet can be used to perform simple and repetitive tasks on the elements of a webpage.

Installing a bookmarklet in your browser is different from installing a desktop application. You can install the Web version of Microsoft ILIT by following the browser specific installation instructions on the Web Version Installation page.

Do the following to use Microsoft ILIT on any web page:

1. Click on the bookmarklet in the browser Bookmarks toolbar:

   

2. Now click inside the text box in which you would like to enter Hindi text. You will see the following image in the top right corner of the textbox .
3. Now you can start typing text in English and each word is transliterated into Hindi as soon as you hit a space, newline or any punctuation after it.

Once a space or any punctuation is entered after the word the best transliteration option is presented by default. But if you are not satisfied with the transliteration option presented you can do the following to change it.

1. Click on the word (in Hindi) for which you would like to change the transliteration, or press Backspace at the end of the word. For example, suppose you typed "karan" but did not want "कारण". Click on "कारण" or press Backspace at the end of the word.

2. A list of transliteration options will be displayed for that word:

   

3. Now select any of the transliteration options in the list , say "करण", and the word will now be changed to "करण".

In the rare case that the right word does not appear in the list of options you can either change the English spelling to get a better transliteration or edit the word using the visual keyboard.

1. To change the English spelling press the Backspace key twice at the end of the word. Now the word changes back from Hindi to English and you can revise the spelling and press Space (or any punctuation) again to get a better transliteration. (For example, pressing Backspace twice after placing the cursor at the end of word "करना" will bring back the English spelling "karna".)

2. Alternatively, you can use the visual keyboard to edit the word manually by doing the following:

   1. Bring up the list of options and click on the option "Edit" from the list.

      

   2. Now the visual keyboard will popup and the original transliteration option will appear in the textbox in the keyboard as shown below:

      

   3. Use the visual keyboard to edit the word. For example, you can change the word "करना" to "कर्ण" using the visual keyboard by first deleting "ना" and entering "र्" followed by "ण".

      

   4. Click the Done button on the visual keyboard or press Enter or Space on the physical keyboard when you are done with editing the word. Now the visual keyboard will disappear and the word "करना" gets updated in the text box to "कर्ण".

Each Microsoft ILIT bookmarklet is meant for one language. If you want to be able to use the Web version of Microsoft ILIT in more than one language, you must install each bookmarklet separately. You may change the language by simply clicking on the bookmarklet of the desired language in the browser Bookmarks toolbar.

The on-screen key-board is designed to assist you only when you are editing a word. For this reason, the visual keyboard will dismiss itself automatically once the word is edited.

As mentioned earlier, the visual keyboard is meant to assist you while editing a word and hence will dismiss itself the moment a space, newline or punctuation is entered.

Yes. The Web version of Microsoft ILIT remembers the choices you have made either by selecting from the list of transliteration options or by manually editing the Hindi word using the visual keyboard and subsequently presents your preferred transliteration as the default. For example, if you change the transliteration of word "karan" from "कारण" to "करण", the next time you type the word "karan" you will get "करण" as the default transliteration option.

You can stop transliteration in one of the following ways:

1. Press Shift+Space or Shift+Enter after typing a word instead of pressing Space or Enter. This will leave the English spelling as it is without transliterating it. Note that this will not work with punctuation characters (since Shift+[punctuation] itself is another punctuation character).
2. If you want to stop transliteration for more than one word, you can do so by clicking the button in the current text box.

   

   The button will now change its state to . Transliteration is now switched off for the current web page. You can enable transliteration again by clicking the button again.

3. You can also disable transliteration by entering the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M. The button will now appear as . Transliteration is now switched off for the current web page. You can enable transliteration again by entering the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M again or by clicking the button in the current text box.

There are a number of reasons this could happen.

1. Transliteration may have been disabled either by clicking the button or using the Ctrl+M keyboard shortcut. Click on the button again or enter the keyboard shortcut again to re-enable transliteration.

2. Microsoft ILIT does not transliterate text typed into password fields. Try typing in another text entry field.

3. You may be using an unsupported or partially supported browser. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome, all input fields are supported, i.e. plain text fields (such as textareas and input tags) as well as rich text fields (such as in an email composer like Windows Live Hotmail or on a blogging site). In Opera, only plain text fields are supported.

   When you click in any supported text entry field, you will see the button in the top right corner.

4. You may be on a page which has an iframe containing a page from a different domain. In this case, browser security restrictions prevent Microsoft ILIT from attaching to input fields on the page within the iframe.

5. Each time a page is changed or refreshed, the browser does a full post-back to the server. This results in Microsoft ILIT being unloaded. To reload, click on the bookmarklet in the browser Bookmarks toolbar.

   Also, in some Web 2.0 websites that are heavily Javascript driven (such as a social networking site), changes to a page can occur without a full post-back to the server. In this case, any new text entry fields that appear after Microsoft ILIT was first loaded will take a few seconds to be detected. In order to transliterate inside these fields, click inside them after a few seconds or reload Microsoft ILIT by clicking on the bookmarklet in the browser Bookmarks toolbar.

To summarize, if the image doesn't appear at the top right corner of the text entry field, transliteration will not work for one of the above reasons.

Finally, if words are typed very very rapidly, such that more than 5 words are entered before the transliteration for the first one has been processed, some words may not be transliterated. Type slower to have every word transliterated.

If you have switched transliteration off (either using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M or by clicking the button) you will not see the transliteration options for a word. If the word is not of the same language as the currently loaded Microsoft ILIT bookmarklet, you will not be able to see any transliteration options. Even if you switch the language once, you will not be able to see the transliteration options though your current language is the same as that of the current word. In all the above cases, the transliteration options cannot be shown as the transliteration history is lost.

Transliteration options will not be shown for Hindi words that are pasted from elsewhere. In some cases, you may see options if you happen to have already typed the same word using Microsoft ILIT.

If you add English text to any Hindi word and transliterate it, the resultant Hindi word will not show any transliteration options. (For example if you add "ji" to the word "नारायण", "ji" gets transliterated to "जी" and the resultant word becomes "नारायणजी". Right-clicking on the word "नारायणजी" will not show any transliteration options.

You can send an email to the support alias ilitsup@microsoft.com detailing the problem you have faced while using the Web version of Microsoft ILIT or any other general feedback.