Yiddish input method

[Raphael Finkel <raphael cs uky edu>]

I have built an input method (IM) for Yiddish that works well with the
GTK+ test program and a few other applications, such as Gaim.  My IM is
unusual in that the text it generates is always correct for the
keystrokes so far.  Further keystrokes can modify text that is already
emitted; it removes previous characters by emitting backspaces and
replaces them if necessary.  A small finite-state machine in my IM
governs this behavior. I don't know of any other IM that uses this
technique. 

Yiddish orthography has these peculiarities:

	1.  Several input keystrokes can produce a single code.  For
	instance, 'sh' produces \u05e9.

	2.  A single keystroke can produce multiple codes.  For instance,
	'a' produces \u05d0 \u05b7.

	3.  Five letters have different forms at word end.  The IM always
	generates the word-end forms, then erases/replaces if the word
	continues.

	4.  Some vowels are spelled with a prefix \u05d0 at the start of a
	word but not elsewhere.

An interesting example is the word "mentsh", meaning "human".  When I
have typed "men", I see three letters, including the final form of the
letter corresponding to "n".  I then type the "t", and the "n" converts
to ordinary form, and I see something pronounced "ment".  I then type
the "s".  Yiddish uses a single letter for the "ts" sound, and it has a
final form.  So the "t" disappears, replaced by a final "ts".  I then
type the last letter, "h", and the final "ts" disappears, replaced by
two letters: "t" and "sh".

I have used a version of this IM (old, unfortunately, with a bug) under
Gaim/Win32, and it works fine.  I use the current version (no more bug)
under Gaim/Linux, and have gotten it to work acceptably under
Abiword/Linux (problems there are all due to Abiword bugs).

I would like to add this IM to the source tree for GTK+.  It fits nicely
in modules/input, requiring a bit of magic in the configuration files.

What do I need to do to get my IM accepted into the source tree?

I have placed the source code for my IM in

	http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/private/imyiddish.c

Raphael Finkel