SERA(1)

NAME
SERA -- The System For Ethiopic Representation in ASCII

DESCRIPTION
SERA is not a software in and of itself, it is a transcription system for Fidel employed by an ever growing number of software applications.

OPTIONS
SERA supports options for the different writing rules of languages that use Fidel. Languages rules can be specified at any time in a body of text by giving their ISO-639 language codes as:

\~am or \~amh
    Set Amharic writing rules. This setting affects the transcription of ``a'' to be read as the 1st and not the 4th vowel. Amharic phonetic rules will be used for phonetic filters and transliterators.

\~ti or \~tir
    The default. Sets Tigrigna writing rules. These are the regular Fidel writing rules used by most languages. Tigrigna phonetic rules will be used for phonetic filters and transliterators.

\~gz or \~gez
    Ge'ez phonetic rules will be used for phonetic filters and transliterators.

The following options can be used at any time in a body of text to change the rules for the associated punctuation usages:

\~`:
     Use : for Ge'ez Wordspace `: (The Default)

\~-:
     Use : for Ge'ez Colon -:

\~?
     Use ? for Ge'ez Stylized Question Mark
     Use `? for Ge'ez 3-Dot Question Mark (The Default)

\~`|
     Use ? for Ge'ez 3-Dot Question Mark
     Use `? for Ge'ez Stylized Question Mark

The SERA Fidel
      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
     g`Iz ka`Ib sals rab`I hams sads sab`I diqala -->
      8 (9) 10 11 12 13
  1 he hu hi ha hE h ho
  2 le lu li la lE l lo lW\lWa
  3 He Hu Hi Ha HE H Ho HW\HWa
  4 me mu mi ma mE m mo mW\mWa
  5 `se `su `si `sa `sE `s `so `sW\`sWa
  6 re ru ri ra rE r ro rW\rWa
  7 se su si sa sE s so sW\sWa
  8 xe xu xi xa xE x xo xW\xWa
  9 qe qu qi qa qE q qo
     qWe (qWu) qWi qWa qWE qW
 10 `qe `qu `qi `qa `qE `q `qo
 11 Qe Qu Qi Qa QE Q Qo
     QWe (QWu) QWi QWa QWE QW
 12 be bu bi ba bE b bo bW\bWa
 13 ve vu vi va vE v vo vW\vWa
 14 te tu ti ta tE t to tW\tWa
 15 ce cu ci ca cE c co cW\cWa
 16 `he `hu `hi `ha `hE `h `ho
     hWe hWu hWi hWa hWE hW
 17 ne nu ni na nE n no nW\nWa
 18 Ne Nu Ni Na NE N No NW\NWa
 19 e/a* u i a E I o e3
 20 ke ku ki ka kE k ko
     kWe (kWu) kWi kWa kWE kW
 21 `ke `ku `ki `ka `kE `k `ko
 22 Ke Ku Ki Ka KE K Ko
     KWe (KWu) KWi KWa KWE KW
 23 Xe Xu Xi Xa XE X Xo
 24 we wu wi wa wE w wo
 25 `e `u `i `a `E `I `o
 26 ze zu zi za zE z zo zW\zWa
 27 Ze Zu Zi Za ZE Z Zo ZW\ZWa
 28 ye yu yi ya yE y yo yW\yWa
 29 de du di da dE d do dW\dWa
 30 De Du Di Da DE D Do DW\DWa
 31 je ju ji ja jE j jo jW\jWa
 32 ge gu gi ga gE g go
     gWe (gWu) gWi gWa gWE gW
 33 `ge `gu `gi `ga `gE `g `go
 34 Ge Gu Gi Ga GE G Go
     GWe (GWu) GWi GWa GWE GW
 35 Te Tu Ti Ta TE T To TW\TWa
 36 Ce Cu Ci Ca CE C Co CW\CWa
 37 Pe Pu Pi Pa PE P Po PW\PWa
 38 Se Su Si Sa SE S So SW\SWa
 39 `Se `Su `Si `Sa `SE `S `So
 40 fe fu fi fa fE f fo fW\fWa
 41 pe pu pi pa pE p po pW\pWa * ``a'' is only valid for (e) in transcription for Amharic.

Equivalents
Consonant Series Special Series Lone Vowels
   B = b s2 = `s O = o
   F = f h2 = `h `O = `o
   J = j S2 = `S U = u
   L = l e2 = `e `U = `u
   M = m q2 = `q A = a
   R = r g2 = `g `A = `a
   V = v
   Y = y

W   =
    when not preceded by a consonant as defined above; it is left to the specific application to interpret. -- It may be ignored or given an additional phonetic character if available.

Punctuation and Numbers in Fidel Text Zones
  , Ge'ez Comma
  ; Ge'ez Semicolon
 `: Ge'ez Wordspace
 :- Ge'ez Preface Colon
 -: Ge'ez Colon
  : Ge'ez Wordspace or Ge'ez Colon
       Depending on Default Settings
 :: Ge'ez Full Stop
 << Ge'ez Left Quote
 >> Ge'ez Right Quote
 :|: Ge'ez Paragraph Terminator
 `! Ge'ez Sarcasm Mark
 `| Ge'ez 3-Dot Question Mark
 `? Ge'ez 3-Dot Question Mark or Ge'ez Stylized
       Question Mark Depending on Default Settings
  ? Ge'ez Stylized Question Mark or Ge'ez 3-Dot
       Question Mark Depending on Default Settings
  . Ge'ez Stylized Dot
 \\ Latin BackSlash
 \, Latin Comma
 \; Latin Semicolon
 \: Latin Colon
 \. Latin Full Stop
 \' Latin Apostrophe
 \` Latin Backquote
 ' is always ignored
 ` is ignored unless a special vowel, consonant, or
       punctuation follows
          -- s,S,h,g,q,e,u\U,i,a\A,E,I,o\O,?
 '' Geminates character on left
 `' Voiced Sads Vowel
       ('' and `' are for phonetic use and ignored in most
        software)
  0...9 Arabic Numerals
 `1..`9 Ethiopic Numerals

Punctuation and Numbers in Latin (or other) Text Zones
 \, Ge'ez Comma
 \; Ge'ez Semicolon
 \`: Ge'ez Wordspace
 \:- Ge'ez Preface Colon
 \-: Ge'ez Colon
 \: Ge'ez Wordspace or Ge'ez Colon
        Depending on Default Settings
 \:: Ge'ez Full Stop
 \<< Ge'ez Left Quote
 \>> Ge'ez Right Quote
 \:|: Ge'ez Paragraph Terminator
 \`! Ge'ez Sarcasm Mark
 \`| Ge'ez 3-Dot Question Mark
 \`? Ge'ez 3-Dot Question Mark or Ge'ez Stylized
        Question Mark Depending on Default Settings
 \? Ge'ez Stylized Question Mark or Ge'ez 3-Dot
        Question Mark Depending on Default Settings
 \. Ge'ez Stylized Dot
 \\ Latin Backslash
   0..9 Arabic Numerals
 \`1..`9 Ethiopic Numerals

Special Escapes

\   Change to next language of the defined primary-secondary pair.

\:;'.
    When followed by a punctuation list of one or more items the list is transcribed in the next language of the defined primary-secondary pair.

\!  The "Verbatim Mode Toggle". The switch turns the mode on-off treating all text as one script until the closing \! . This allows extended use of \ and \~ without the requirement for \ and \~ but at the cost of using only one script within the text region.

\~  If followed by a defined character, the appropriate event occurs. It is left to software houses to recognize each others' graphic escape sequences and provide filters. \~ is recommended as a means to denote in ASCII the nonstandard characters and glyphs of a font set.

\~xy
    Change to language or script ``xy''. ``xy'' MUST be followed by " ".

\~x Ignored if "x" is a " " or undefined in an application. A " " following "x" is the required terminator.

< > & ;
    Contents between remain in Latin script in HTML documents.

SEE ALSO
 mule(1), sera2any(1), sera2latex(1), fbanner(1), ecal(1)

MAINTAINERS

 dan'El ya`Iqob mekonn yacob@padis.gn.apc.org
 yTna biniyam frdywek ybf2u@curry.edschool.virginia.edu