System and method of manipulating an inputted character string to a diacritic-modified character string using a single layout for a character entry device

A computer system for manipulating an inputted word to a diacritic-modified word using a keyboard having only a single layout of unique alphabetic keys for each letter of a Latin alphabet, the system comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the processor being configured for performing steps of:

• monitoring the keyboard for first and second limiters typed by a user of the keyboard, wherein the limiters include one of the space key and punctuation marks;
• identifying the inputted word between the first and second limiters;
• comparing the inputted word to a database containing a plurality of words and their respective diacritical replacements;
• determining if the database contains one or more diacritical replacements for the inputted word;
• if there is only a single diacritical replacement for the inputted word, then:
• automatically replacing the inputted word with the single diacritical replacement;
• monitoring the keyboard for a separately input trigger key consisting solely of a shift key of the keyboard, wherein the trigger key is the shift key pressed by itself;
• and
• in response to input received via the trigger key, reverting back from the diacritical replacement to the inputted word;
• and
• if there are multiple diacritical replacements for the inputted word, then:
• monitoring the keyboard for a separately input trigger key consisting solely of a shift key of the keyboard;
• prioritizing the multiple diacritical replacements based on pre-defined replacement rules;
• in response to sequential input received via the trigger key, sequentially replacing, in order of priority, the inputted word with each of the multiple diacritical replacements to thereby enable the user to cycle through all of the diacritical replacements corresponding to the inputted word;
• receiving user input setting a language that has tonal diacritical characters;
• in response to setting the language that has tonal diacritical characters, configuring a right shift key to enable user selection of a tonal base character having a first accent and configuring a left shift key to apply a second accent to the tonal base character to thereby provide an accented tonal character having two accents;
• receiving user input via the right shift key to select one of the tonal base characters;
• and
• receiving user input via the left shift key to select one of a plurality of accents to apply to a selected tonal base character.