Remington Gail Keyboard Layout

Introduction

Remington gail keyboard is popular keyboard layout used for typing hindi in india. This layout is widely used in india and is accepted for many typing exams conducted by indian government. The layout is similar to the old remington keyboard layout which did not support unicode. It is popular since people used to typewriter layout don't find it difficult and it works with unicode.Since this keyboard works only with unicode fonts and by default mangal font is set in windows when using this keyboard people also call this keyboard layout as mangal font typing/layout or mangal font software which is not a correct name.

The name of the layout comes from the company that used to produce type writers. Remington is the same company which built the first devanagari typewriter introduced around 1930 which was designed by V.M Atre called Nagari Lekhan Yantra.

Their are other versions of Remington keyboard such as Remington CBI(supports unicode fonts), Remington PNB, Remington(typewriter) Hindi Keyboard (For Krutidev/Devlys etc.). But remington gail keyboard layout is the most used keyboard since it supports unicode typing and is used in most of the government typing exams.

Keyboard Layout

Features and Patterns

Below are some features and pattern in Remington Gail keyboard Layout which you need to know for easy, fast and accurate typing.

  1. Half forms/Half letters (आधे अक्षर) and full consonant letters(पूर्ण अक्षर) are present in same key. Half letters(आधे अक्षर) can be typed by using shift key.

    For example क and क्‍ are placed on same key. क्‍ can be typed by using shift. This is same for many others except for भ, श, फ, क्ष, थ, ह, र, ष, य, ध, घ, द, छ, ठ, ट, ढ, ड.

  2. Some consonant letters do not have dedicated keys for half letters. To get half letter we need to type halant ( ्) after full consonent letter. For example there is no key for typing छ्‍. we have to type छ and then ् to get छ्;

    Below is the table of letters that do not have dedicated key for half letters and how can they be typed.

    Half letter आधे अक्षर Letter Combination Key combination
    ह्‍ ह + ्
    द्‍ द + ्
    य्‍ य + ्
    ड्‍ ड + ्
    फ्‍ फ + ्
    ट्‍ ट + ्
    ठ्‍ ठ + ्
    छ्‍ छ + ्

  3. The are no dedicated full consonant letters (पूर्ण अक्षर) for some consonants. For example there is no dedicated key for भ, so you cannot type भ with just one single key. You need to type भ्‍ and then ा to get भ

    Below is a table of all such characters in remington gail keyboard.

    Full letter पूर्ण अक्षर Letter Combination Key combination
    श श्‍ + ा
    ध ध्‍ + ा
    ण ण्‍ + ा
    भ भ्‍ + ा
    घ घ्‍ + ा
    थ थ्‍ + ा
    ष ष्‍ + ा
    क्ष क्ष्‍ + ा

  4. The half letters(आधे अक्षर) that can be typed with just single key actually are made up of three unicode characters. This can be checked by doing back space after entering the key.

    For example if the key for भ्‍ is pressed there are three unicode character inserted भ + ् + ‍ So you need to press back space three times if you want to undo what you typed with the single key for भ्‍ You can test the similar behaviour in the following input box by doing back space.

  5. The full letters(पूर्ण अक्षर) that is formed by typing with two keys(first half letter and then ा) will become single character. So to undo you just need to press back space only once in this case.

    For example if you enter the key भ्‍ and then ा to get भ. You will need to press backspace only once to erase भ.

Typing special letter combinations, words

There are some words or letter combinations that are typed differently than you would normally do. Below some of the are explained how to type these letters and words.

  1. Typing फ after र or उ.

    When you type फ after र or उ it changes to रु and ऊ. After you type र or उ you need to press space and then back space and then you can type फ. Using this method you can type words such as रफ्तार, रफ, उफ.

    उफ → उ + फ →
  2. Typing रेफ (र्).

    To get रेफ first you need to type the letter on which रेफ is needed and then you have to type रेफ - र् ( z button/key) with shift ( the key is located beside the left shift key)

    कर्म → क + म + र् →
  3. Typing ्र

    To get ्र  first you need to type the letter below which ्र  is needed and then you have to type ्र ( z button/key)

    ट्र →ट + ्र →
  4. Typing ई

    To get ई first you need to type the letter इ then you have to type र् ( z button/key with shift key)

    ई →

Similarly Below is a table of some other complex letter formed by two keys/buttons

Complex letter Letter Combination Key combination
हृ ह + ृ
कृ क + ृ
ह्म ह + ् + म
ह्र ह + ् + र
ह्न ह + ् + न
द्द द + ् + द
द्भ द + ् + भ
क्त क + ् + त
त्त त + ् + त
द्व द + ् + व

Why use Remington Gail Keyboard Layout?

You should consider using this layout because of the following few reasons.

  1. Although this layout is not official layout of india, it is still as popular as the official layout(i.e inscript layout). For example CPCT supports remington gail for its typing test.
  2. Typing is done in unicode fonts which is very important in this age.
  3. This layout is easy to learn for people who already know typing in remington typewriter layout but want to move to unicode typing. But if you are new and want to learn typing in unicode you can choose from this layout, Remington CBI or Inscript Layout.
  4. This keyboard is used in most of the typing exams in india for government and private jobs. Some of them are SSC, CPCT, CRPF