Is it possible to extend the compose character inventory?

[demetris]

Not Fedora related, but this is the only Linux forum I follow and I hope fellow Fedora users can help


There is a nice feature in GNOME (I suppose it's provided by the X text input subsystem), the Compose Key that allows the user to attach diacritics over the letters without using a special keyboard layout. This could be the very common "c cedille" (ç) or this not so common ǭ which is an o with a macron and a "tail". That's good.

What I want is to compose a non-standard character in a different script, the modern Greek alphabet.
In Greek, there are only 2 standard diacritics. The acute accent mark that can be placed over the vowels α ε ι η υ ο ω and the diaeresis mark that goes over the vowels ι and υ. These characters are available as precomposed in every font with proper Greek support and we use a "dead key" to input them.

Now, what many people want is to be able to input some diacritics over consonants, which is non-standard but people who speak and write in their dialects (such as Cypriot Greek or Pontic Greek. In academical publications a "caron" (ˇ) goes over consonants with special pronunciation such as κ, σ, ζ, χ. In everyday writing, it's up to the writer to came up with an adhoc spelling that will show the special pronunciation) or want to clarify if a consonant cluster is to produce a new phoneme or to be pronounced individually (for example the cluster -ντ- which varies between -nd- and -nt- with no way to tell which should be used. A diaeresis mark is argued to be helpful by professional writers and everyday people alike).

Given that no font or keyboard layout offers these combinations, is it possible to use the compose function to input, let's say, κ with a caron and how can I achieve that?