Add languages to international

Greetings,

I apologize if this query has been addressed before. I am in a bit of a pickle - my hard drive failed several weeks ago, and so I am starting from scratch. I work with several languages that use different scripts, and I am trying to reinstall/activate them on my mac. I have gotten Urdu to work well, but I am unable to get Hindi or Punjabi (or any Indic script, for that matter) to display, despite having successfully activated the keyboards (I can see their respective flags on the upper right of my monitor). When I go to websites (such as BBC Hindi), all I see are question marks in lieu of letters. I run OS 10.5.8. I went to System Preferences, International, and while in the Languages Tab, I tried to add "Hindi" and "Punjabi" to the list. They were not listed in "Edit list."

I don't know how to add Hindi and Urdu to this list, as that is not option. Any suggestions? I appreciate your help. I don't have my system CDs (should they be needed) as I am out of town.

Best wishes,
Panjabigator

I just stumbled upon this.

Is there a way to do this without the CDs?

Some languages, such as Hindi and Armenian, require fonts that are not automatically installed when you install Mac OS X.

To install additional fonts for your language, insert the appropriate Mac OS X Install disc into your optical drive and double-click “Fonts for Additional Languages” or the Additional Asian Fonts package.

Click to expand...

Without the original install media you won't be able to add those fonts which you need to activate Hindi or Punjabi.

However, there are several sites which these fonts may be freely downloaded from. I can't verify whether or not it will work so you'll have to try for yourself. Make sure you have a backup of your data before proceeding.

Go here.

Regards.