Frequently Asked Questions

Will the fonts work under Windows 95/98/2000 ME?

Yes and No! You will not be able to write Syriac under these platforms as they are not Unicode-compliant. But you can read Syriac texts and web pages using Internet Explorer 6.0.

Will the fonts work under Mac OS 9, Mac OS X?

Mac OS 9 will probably never support unicode since Apple has recently designated that operating system deprecated and focused its attention on Mac OS X. We don't know the degree of support Mac OS X provides for Syriac scripts.

Will the fonts work under Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD?

GNOME and KDE provide full support for international texts including Syriac. This means that our users can count on OpenType font support, script shaping (contextual), and phonetic and non-phonetic Syriac keyboards.

Specifically, this gives the end-user a wide range of applications to use Syriac with: word-processing, databases, Web pages, emails, presentations, and a myriad of other uses. This also means that programmers who wish to program special applications for Syriac will not have to do any special handling for Syriac text because GNOME and KDE handle it for them!

Which languages and dialects are supported in the fonts?

Classical Syriac, Swadaya (the Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialect of the Assyrians and Chaldeans), Turoyo (the Central Neo-Aramaic dialect of the Syriac Orthodox of Tur Abdin), Garshuni (Arabic written in Syriac), Christian Palestinean Aramaic (also called Palestinean Syriac).

Which scripts are supported?

Estrangelo, Serto (West Syriac), and East Syriac.

How many fonts are there?

Over a dozen and the list is growing.