Re: But E0000 Custom Language Tags Are Actually *Required* For Use By Unicode

From: UList@dfa-mail.com
Date: Thu Mar 03 2005 - 21:29:04 CST

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    > Greek lambda, Coptic lambda and Gothic lambda (or whatever the exact
    > names are) are also "clearly the same characterhood", and even have the
    > same basic shape although the languages are different. But they are now
    > considered distinct Unicode characters.

    No, they're *not* clearly the same characterhood because they are members of
    separate scripthoods.

    "Scripthood" is a higher conceptual class than the four classes I was
    discussing: "characterhood", "basic presentation form", "typeface", and "typeface
    styling".

    Exactly defining scripthood can be difficult in some cases. But once defined
    there is no longer any relationship between characterhoods in two separate scripts.

    Any historical relation is no more signifant -- within the classification
    system -- than some random coincidence by which two characters in unrelated
    scripts might resemble each other.

    But none of that is relevant to the local variations of Cyrillic script, and
    the ancient local variations of Greek script -- both of which have the same,
    absolutely blatant and unambiguous, identities as being distinguished at the
    "basic presentation form" level.

    Which, getting back to my very original point, means that in a regular,
    coherent Unicode system, they should be dealt with by the same mechanism.

    Doug



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