Re: SS symbol -- was: Re: Uppercase ß is coming? (U+1E9E)

From: Mark E. Shoulson (mark@kli.org)
Date: Tue May 08 2007 - 11:51:35 CDT

  • Next message: Mark E. Shoulson: "Re: Uppercase ß is coming? (U+1E9E)"

    Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote:

    > On May 8, 2007, at 8:43 AM, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
    >
    >>
    >> When this has been suggested, the answer usually given is that this
    >> is to be considered a pair of (variant) U+16CB RUNIC LETTER SIGEL
    >> LONG-BRANCH-SOL S (ᛋ). I think that was the rune suggested.
    >
    > That may well be correct. It does square with the glyph's origin, and
    > it may make sense to encode it as an optional ligature.
    Maybe, though I'm not sure it has to be a ligature when two characters
    will do (were the wartime fonts and typewriters equipped with an ᛋ key
    to be hit twice, or a ᛋᛋ key? I suspect the latter, actually).

    OTOH, it could be argued that the sets of acceptable glyphs are
    different. To be sure, the SS-letter is (or can be considered) a SIGEL,
    but the ᛋ symbol, at least in the fonts I've seen it, would not have
    been acceptable for the SS, unless it was the particular glyph variant
    with the vertical lines more slanted.
    >> Similarly, years ago, I noted that I thought—and still think—that the
    >> Nazi swastika should be encoded, for similar historic reasons. It was
    >> not just an important symbol of the times, but I seem to think it
    >> found its way into text uses as well (as a dingbat, to be sure, but
    >> still used).
    > [...]
    >
    > How about MANJI and a variant selector? That should do the trick, and
    > do so more elegantly than a separate code point.
    No, no, no. The Nazi swastika isn't a MANJI and never was one. They
    look vaguely alike, but they aren't the same character, any more that
    Latin "a" and Greek "α" are. They differ in appearance, usage, and
    meaning. I doubt there's even any overlap in acceptable shapes. The
    MANJI is upright and usually thin-stroked, and for that matter the CJK
    ones normally show brushstrokes on them. (Tibetan ones would be
    smoother, when they're proposed, but they're also the wrong orientation
    and proportion). The Nazi swastika is tipped forty-five degrees and the
    arms are 1:3 rectangles. And it isn't any kind of kanji.

    ~mark

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