Add Belarusan Cyrillic and Latin layouts

[Belarusan]

Created a Belarusan Cyrillic layout

What is it?

• Bugfix
• Feature
• Codebase improvement

Description of the changes in your PR

• Added Belarusan Cyrillic layout

Fixes the following issue(s)

• Fixes Add Belarusan layout #67

Acknowledgement

• I read the contribution guidelines.

[Aga-C]

Thanks for contributing, it's really helpful when native/advanced speakers can provide us more keyboard layouts, even if they're not familiar with Android development.

I've added a few comments, because right now the app doesn't compile, but fixes are simple ones. Also, I have two additional questions:

1. In the original issue, you wrote that it's only Cyrillic layout for now. I'm not Belarusian speaker, but doesn't it only have Cyrillic alphabet? I mean, even if Belarusian native would like to write Latin characters, wouldn't English keyboard be enough? Just asking to make sure, whether it's really needed. For other languages with Cyrillic alphabet (like Russian or Ukrainian) we don't have a separate version.
2. Here's how the layout looks like. Please check if it's how you wanted it to look:
   

[Aga-C]

This string doesn't exist. You should add it in Commons in https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Commons/blob/master/commons/src/main/res/values/strings.xml. When creating a pull request in Commons, please mention that it's for this one.

[Belarusan]

Done: FossifyOrg/Commons#60

Thank you for your instructions!

[Aga-C]

Suggested change

	LANGUAGE_BELARUSIAN_CYRL -> R.xml.keys_belarusian_cyrl
	LANGUAGE_BELARUSIAN_CYRL -> R.xml.keys_letters_belarusian_cyrl

[Belarusan]

Thanks for contributing, it's really helpful when native/advanced speakers can provide us more keyboard layouts, even if they're not familiar with Android development.

I've added a few comments, because right now the app doesn't compile, but fixes are simple ones. Also, I have two additional questions:

1. In the original issue, you wrote that it's only Cyrillic layout for now. I'm not Belarusian speaker, but doesn't it only have Cyrillic alphabet? I mean, even if Belarusian native would like to write Latin characters, wouldn't English keyboard be enough? Just asking to make sure, whether it's really needed. For other languages with Cyrillic alphabet (like Russian or Ukrainian) we don't have a separate version.
2. Here's how the layout looks like. Please check if it's how you wanted it to look:
   

Thank you very much!

The Belarusan language has two equivalent scripts: Cyrillic and Latin. Unlike Ukrainian and Russian, which use only Cyrillic, the Serbian language, for example, also has both scripts. Here is a bit more about Belarusan Latin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_Latin_alphabet.

Many Belarusans use the Latin script today (I won't go into details). However, the English keyboard layout contains many symbols that can interfere with convenient writing in Belarusan Latin, and it lacks certain essential symbols, such as ŭ. In my opinion, a dedicated Latin layout would be a wonderful option for Belarusans.

————

Yes, the layout looks correct, but it would be better if it were more balanced. Is there any way to achieve what is shown in my image? (Please look at the bottom row with the letters)

upd: I tried changing the width of the Shift and Backspace keys to 14%, but I'm not sure how it looks (the image below was made in a graphics editor as an example).

[Aga-C]

The Belarusan language has two equivalent scripts: Cyrillic and Latin. Unlike Ukrainian and Russian, which use only Cyrillic, the Serbian language, for example, also has both scripts. Here is a bit more about Belarusan Latin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_Latin_alphabet.

Thanks for explaining! If so, it makes sense to have two separate keyboard layouts.

upd: I tried changing the width of the Shift and Backspace keys to 14%, but I'm not sure how it looks (the image below was made in a graphics editor as an example).

Now it looks like this:

[Belarusan]

Thanks for explaining! If so, it makes sense to have two separate keyboard layouts.

I made a Latin layout file. Should I create a separate pull request or add it to the existing one?

Now it looks like this:

Thank you! It looks just like I imagined. Perfect.

[Aga-C]

 I made a Latin layout file. Should I create a separate pull request or add it to the existing one?

No need for a separate PR, you can add it here 🙂

[Belarusan]

I made a Latin layout file. Should I create a separate pull request or add it to the existing one?

No need for a separate PR, you can add it here 🙂

Thank you for the answer! It's done. I hope I did everything right 😬

[tenextractor]

@Belarusan For the Latin layout, wouldn't adding dedicated keys for the letters Ć Č Ł Ń Ś Š Ŭ Ź Ž be better? I have made a layout with dedicated keys in my keyboard.

[Belarusan]

@Belarusan For the Latin layout, wouldn't adding dedicated keys for the letters Ć Č Ł Ń Ś Š Ŭ Ź Ž be better? I have made a layout with dedicated keys in my keyboard.

Thank you for sharing. I didn't want to create anything new, so I focused on existing options. I added the symbols Ć, Č, Ł, Ń, Ś, Š, Ŭ, Ź, Ž, etc., to the popup. By the way, this approach is also used in Polish.

[tenextractor]

It does not need to be new, the letters can just be added above the existing layout. So something like this:

Ć Č Ź Ž Ń Ŭ Ś Š Ł ?
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
⬆ Z X C V B N M ⌫

[Belarusan]

It does not need to be new, the letters can just be added above the existing layout. So something like this:

Ć Č Ź Ž Ń Ŭ Ś Š Ł ?
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
⬆ Z X C V B N M ⌫

Thank you, I understand your point.

However, layouts are not just a random set of letters; they need to be systematic. For instance, the currently popular Cyrillic Belarusan layout „йцукен“ isn't actually a systematic one — it's simply a modified version of the Russian layout. That being said, I didn't want to take it upon myself to create something entirely new. This task should involve linguists, designers, and the wider community, not just me.