Re: Inputting characters with specialist diacritic marks in emacs

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> This is not ideal since it's quite difficult to type these bindings. In
> Linux I use Ibus mappings which involve double-tapping a similar key (e.g.,
> when I type "a-a" I get "ā", when I type "i-i" I get "ī" and so on.

You want to use a proper input method, yes.
AFAIK it should be possible to use your OS's input method (e.g. Ibus
under GNU/Linux), but you can also use one of Emacs's own input methods.

I'm not sure what's the best input method for your use-case, but at
least you can start with the TeX input method, which tends to be a bit
verbose but has the advantage of offering a reasonably good coverage.

   C-u C-\ TeX RET

after which you can type "\=a" to input an "ā" or "\~n" to input an "ñ",
"\d{d}" to input a "ḍ" (not sure why the method does not allow the use
of something shorter like \dd here).

You can use M-x describe-input-method RET TeX RET to see a complete
description.  And C-u C-x = on a character will tell you things like «to
input: type "\d{t}" with TeX input method» if the TeX input method
is enabled.


        Stefan


PS: Personally, I most often use my OS's input method, where I rely on
the "compose" key for most things.  See also
https://github.com/kragen/xcompose for an example of what you can do on
that front.