Patent ID: 6934564

Claim:
A method for operating a device having a keypad comprised of a plurality of keys, for inputting characters from a set of characters used for constructing words in a predetermined language, comprising: mapping a first subset of the set of characters to at least one predetermined key; wherein mapping said first subset of the set of characters to at least one predetermined key comprises mapping independent vowels to a first plurality of numeric keys; mapping a second subset of the set of characters to the same one of said at least one predetermined key; wherein mapping said second subset of the set of characters to at least one predetermined key comprises mapping dependent vowels to the same first plurality of numeric keys; mapping a third subset of the set of characters to at least one other key; and when activating said at least one predetermined key, automatically selecting for insertion into a character buffer a character from said first subset of the set of characters or from said second subset of the set of characters as a function of a content of the character buffer at a current insertion point into the character buffer; where activating one of said first plurality of numeric keys selects one of an independent vowel or a dependent vowel depending on the character preceding the current character insertion point in the character buffer, wherein if the character preceding the current character insertion point is a consonant a dependent vowel is selected, otherwise an independent vowel is selected, wherein the dependent vowel is changed to an independent vowel by activating in sequence a context shift key and the key associated with a dependent vowel, whereby the independent vowel is selected without regard for the character that precedes the current insertion point in the character buffer.