# TeX/LaTeX and Greek/Hebrew fonts



## Casey (Jul 26, 2009)

Anyone here use TeX/LaTeX? I've recently been learning how to use LyX. So far I know how things work (and am attracted to the concept), but I can't figure out how to use Greek/Hebrew fonts. Specifically, I'd like to get the free BibleWorks fonts working (since that's the exegesis software I use). Probably a shot in the dark, but does anyone know how to use those fonts?


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## Semper Fidelis (Jul 26, 2009)

The last time I used LaTEX was for my MSEE thesis: _The Use of the Symmetrical Number System to Resolve Undersampling Aliases._ It was good for that purpose due to its ability to handle equations. I always thought it was more for technical writing though. Is there an advantage to using this for your purposes as opposed to Word or another Word Processor that has Greek and Hebrew fonts?


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## toddpedlar (Jul 26, 2009)

I use LaTeX daily (or almost so) - I don't know about whether the Bibleworks fonts are available, though. I would think without a graphical interface, it would be very tough to do much Greek composition. From the raw commandline, simple words like legw would be very unwieldy: \lambda\'{\epsilon}\gamma\omega. Using things like LyX or Scientific Workplace, you still have a lot you'd need to make things work out. I'm fairly certain that defining keys like a circumflexed omega would be hard if not impossible. If you're not reproducing long passages, but only throwing in a word or two here and there, then it's probably a good way to go - but otherwise, I'm not sure I'd put in the effort.


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## Semper Fidelis (Jul 26, 2009)

This help ought to get you what you need:
LyX wiki | Windows / LyXWinTips

Look at the section entitled *Using True-Type Fonts in LyX documents*

The Bibleworks fonts are TTF fonts. Just install them into Windows per the instructions on Bibleworks and you should be able to use them in Lyx.


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## Casey (Jul 26, 2009)

Thanks guys, and thanks for the link, Rich (though I'll have to look for a Linux version). Just as I conceptually say "this text is a footnote" and put it in and let LaTeX format it, so I should conceptually say "this text is Koine Greek" and plop it in there. Right? I just have to let it know to use a different font and I'm good to go.

From my Google-ing yesterday and a little this afternoon, it seems there are a lot of folk that use LaTeX for linguistic-related documents (SIL has a whole page on it). I've been using OpenOffice for a long time now, but the concept of separating content from formatting for all word processing seems like a no-brainer to me (just like separating HTML tags from CSS styling).

Hopefully I can get it to work.


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## Casey (Jul 26, 2009)

I've made a little bit of progress following the instructions here. I can now display one of the Greek fonts. Looks good when I view it, but it's not legible when I'm editing it (like copying a verse from BibleWorks Greek into a document and not changing the font). Maybe I can tweak it to get it working this week.  If I have any success and get stuff working smoothly, I'll give you an update. Seems like a great tool for paper-writing if these fonts could be supported decently.


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