@inproceedings{kakolu-ramarao-2026-keyboards,
title = "Keyboards for the Endangered Idu Mishmi Language",
author = "Kakolu Ramarao, Akhilesh",
editor = "Ojha, Atul Kr. and
Sakti, Sakriani and
Soria, Claudia and
Melero, Maite and
McCrae, John P. and
Lignos, Constantine and
Liu, Chao-Hong and
Claramunt, German Rigau and
Rehm, Georg",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the {SIGUL} 2026 Joint Workshop with {ELE}, {EURALI}, and {DCLRL}: Towards Inclusivity and Equality: Language Resources and Technologies for Under-Resourced and Endangered Languages",
month = may,
year = "2026",
address = "Palma, Mallorca, Spain",
publisher = "ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)",
url = "https://aclanthology.org/2026.sigul-1.5/",
doi = "10.63317/2furfw777daz",
pages = "49--53",
abstract = "We present mobile and desktop keyboards for Idu Mishmi, an endangered Trans-Himalayan language spoken by approximately 11,000 people in Arunachal Pradesh, India. A Latin-based orthography, the Idu Azobra, was developed in 2018, but no digital input tools existed to use it. The orthography requires characters absent from standard keyboards, including schwa ({\textschwa}), retracted vowels ({\textschwa}̱, o̱, u̱), nasalized vowels, and accented forms, several of which involve multi-codepoint Unicode sequences that default keyboards do not support. Developed with the Idu Mishmi community, the keyboards comprise: (1) an Android mobile keyboard, published on the Google Play Store, and (2) a Windows desktop keyboard distributed as a single portable executable. Both tools support the complete character inventory, and operate fully offline with zero network permissions. The Android keyboard has been adopted by community leaders and teachers who currently know and actively use the Idu Azobra orthography. The Windows keyboard is currently undergoing testing with community leaders. We describe the design, implementation, and deployment as a replicable model for other endangered language communities."
}<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<modsCollection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3">
<mods ID="kakolu-ramarao-2026-keyboards">
<titleInfo>
<title>Keyboards for the Endangered Idu Mishmi Language</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Akhilesh</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Kakolu Ramarao</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">author</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<dateIssued>2026-05</dateIssued>
</originInfo>
<typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource>
<relatedItem type="host">
<titleInfo>
<title>Proceedings of the SIGUL 2026 Joint Workshop with ELE, EURALI, and DCLRL: Towards Inclusivity and Equality: Language Resources and Technologies for Under-Resourced and Endangered Languages</title>
</titleInfo>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Atul</namePart>
<namePart type="given">Kr.</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Ojha</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Sakriani</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Sakti</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Claudia</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Soria</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Maite</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Melero</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">John</namePart>
<namePart type="given">P</namePart>
<namePart type="family">McCrae</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Constantine</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Lignos</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Chao-Hong</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Liu</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">German</namePart>
<namePart type="given">Rigau</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Claramunt</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<name type="personal">
<namePart type="given">Georg</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Rehm</namePart>
<role>
<roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">editor</roleTerm>
</role>
</name>
<originInfo>
<publisher>ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)</publisher>
<place>
<placeTerm type="text">Palma, Mallorca, Spain</placeTerm>
</place>
</originInfo>
<genre authority="marcgt">conference publication</genre>
</relatedItem>
<abstract>We present mobile and desktop keyboards for Idu Mishmi, an endangered Trans-Himalayan language spoken by approximately 11,000 people in Arunachal Pradesh, India. A Latin-based orthography, the Idu Azobra, was developed in 2018, but no digital input tools existed to use it. The orthography requires characters absent from standard keyboards, including schwa (\textschwa), retracted vowels (\textschwa̱, o̱, u̱), nasalized vowels, and accented forms, several of which involve multi-codepoint Unicode sequences that default keyboards do not support. Developed with the Idu Mishmi community, the keyboards comprise: (1) an Android mobile keyboard, published on the Google Play Store, and (2) a Windows desktop keyboard distributed as a single portable executable. Both tools support the complete character inventory, and operate fully offline with zero network permissions. The Android keyboard has been adopted by community leaders and teachers who currently know and actively use the Idu Azobra orthography. The Windows keyboard is currently undergoing testing with community leaders. We describe the design, implementation, and deployment as a replicable model for other endangered language communities.</abstract>
<identifier type="citekey">kakolu-ramarao-2026-keyboards</identifier>
<identifier type="doi">10.63317/2furfw777daz</identifier>
<location>
<url>https://aclanthology.org/2026.sigul-1.5/</url>
</location>
<part>
<date>2026-05</date>
<extent unit="page">
<start>49</start>
<end>53</end>
</extent>
</part>
</mods>
</modsCollection>
%0 Conference Proceedings
%T Keyboards for the Endangered Idu Mishmi Language
%A Kakolu Ramarao, Akhilesh
%Y Ojha, Atul Kr.
%Y Sakti, Sakriani
%Y Soria, Claudia
%Y Melero, Maite
%Y McCrae, John P.
%Y Lignos, Constantine
%Y Liu, Chao-Hong
%Y Claramunt, German Rigau
%Y Rehm, Georg
%S Proceedings of the SIGUL 2026 Joint Workshop with ELE, EURALI, and DCLRL: Towards Inclusivity and Equality: Language Resources and Technologies for Under-Resourced and Endangered Languages
%D 2026
%8 May
%I ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)
%C Palma, Mallorca, Spain
%F kakolu-ramarao-2026-keyboards
%X We present mobile and desktop keyboards for Idu Mishmi, an endangered Trans-Himalayan language spoken by approximately 11,000 people in Arunachal Pradesh, India. A Latin-based orthography, the Idu Azobra, was developed in 2018, but no digital input tools existed to use it. The orthography requires characters absent from standard keyboards, including schwa (\textschwa), retracted vowels (\textschwa̱, o̱, u̱), nasalized vowels, and accented forms, several of which involve multi-codepoint Unicode sequences that default keyboards do not support. Developed with the Idu Mishmi community, the keyboards comprise: (1) an Android mobile keyboard, published on the Google Play Store, and (2) a Windows desktop keyboard distributed as a single portable executable. Both tools support the complete character inventory, and operate fully offline with zero network permissions. The Android keyboard has been adopted by community leaders and teachers who currently know and actively use the Idu Azobra orthography. The Windows keyboard is currently undergoing testing with community leaders. We describe the design, implementation, and deployment as a replicable model for other endangered language communities.
%R 10.63317/2furfw777daz
%U https://aclanthology.org/2026.sigul-1.5/
%U https://doi.org/10.63317/2furfw777daz
%P 49-53
Markdown (Informal)
[Keyboards for the Endangered Idu Mishmi Language](https://aclanthology.org/2026.sigul-1.5/) (Kakolu Ramarao, SIGUL-EURALI-DCLRL 2026)
ACL
- Akhilesh Kakolu Ramarao. 2026. Keyboards for the Endangered Idu Mishmi Language. In Proceedings of the SIGUL 2026 Joint Workshop with ELE, EURALI, and DCLRL: Towards Inclusivity and Equality: Language Resources and Technologies for Under-Resourced and Endangered Languages, pages 49–53, Palma, Mallorca, Spain. ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA).