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Right>left languages in western Word?
Thread poster: Jan Sundström
Jan Sundström
Jan Sundström  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 19:16
English to Swedish
+ ...
Dec 11, 2007

Hi all,

Can someone enlighten me about how Word handles right>left languages like Arabic or Persian?!

A translator has written a Persian translation in Word (I assume it's a localized Persian version of Office + Persian Windows). The text looks fine on the translator's screen.

When the .DOC is opened in a western version of Word (and western Windows), the numbers in the text are messed up, since they aren't parsed right>left the same way the alphabetical ch... See more
Hi all,

Can someone enlighten me about how Word handles right>left languages like Arabic or Persian?!

A translator has written a Persian translation in Word (I assume it's a localized Persian version of Office + Persian Windows). The text looks fine on the translator's screen.

When the .DOC is opened in a western version of Word (and western Windows), the numbers in the text are messed up, since they aren't parsed right>left the same way the alphabetical characters are. It's not strictly a font issue, since I have the Persian fonts installed.

I wonder if this behavior is by default in Word? Text in Arabic, Persian etc cannot be opened for editing in western Word? Or did I miss some setting?

I need to paste in some images in this Persian text. Is it possible, or would I need to install another version of Word?

Thanks a lot for clarifying!

/Jan ▲ Collapse
 
esperantisto
esperantisto  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:16
Member (2006)
English to Russian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
There is no “a western version” of Word, Dec 11, 2007

because MS Word since Word'97 is Unicode-based. As for that particular issue, what is your operating system? This is important. If it's Windows, go to Control Panel -> Languages and Regional Standards (or whatever it's in your language) and check, if support for right-to-left and complex scripts is enabled.
 
Shai Navé
Shai Navé  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 20:16
English to Hebrew
+ ...
Could it be a text direction problem? Dec 11, 2007

Maye you text direction is set to left>right.
I don't know what version of office you use, but if it's XP or 2003, there should be two icons to switch between the two directions. If not and if I'm not wrong you can also access it from the Edit menu
 
Juliana Brown
Juliana Brown  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 13:16
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
When I switch from English or Spanish to Hebrew Dec 11, 2007

occasionally within the document, I just type alt +shift (for language) and then ctrl + shift (for direction) on the left side of the keyboard to switch to Hebrew and then on the right side if I want to go back to the other language.
BTW, my Word is a garden variety XP..."western" if you like.

[Edited at 2007-12-11 21:03]
 
Jan Sundström
Jan Sundström  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 19:16
English to Swedish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Dec 12, 2007

esperantisto wrote:

because MS Word since Word'97 is Unicode-based. As for that particular issue, what is your operating system? This is important. If it's Windows, go to Control Panel -> Languages and Regional Standards (or whatever it's in your language) and check, if support for right-to-left and complex scripts is enabled.


Hi esperantisto and all,

You're absolutely right, "western Word" is an oxymoron. Somehow I knew this at the back of my head, but I just couldn't figure out why it didn't display OK. I found the settings in Windows, so I'm good now.

Also, the keyboard shortcuts and icons would be very useful. Cheers to all of you!

/Jan
 


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Right>left languages in western Word?






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