From: Marnen Laibow-Koser (marnen@marnen.org)
Date: Tue May 08 2007 - 15:14:50 CDT
On May 8, 2007, at 12:51 PM, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
> 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).
As far as I know, you are correct.
>
> 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.
Right. According to Wikipedia, this Sigel variant was taken from
an...er...*idiosyncratic* futhark. Whether it should be considered
more than a font variation is another question.
[...]
>> 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.
I would guess that there's plenty of overlap, disregarding the
mirroring (manji points CCW, Nazi swastika points CW).
> The MANJI is upright and usually thin-stroked, and for that matter
> the CJK ones normally show brushstrokes on them.
I have *never* seen a CJK manji with brushstrokes evident. Never
once. This is true even if the surrounding Chinese characters are
written in a style where brushstrokes are evident.
[...]
> The Nazi swastika is tipped forty-five degrees and the arms are 1:3
> rectangles.
The 45-degree tilt is what makes the big difference in my opinion.
> And it isn't any kind of kanji.
Neither is the manji, any more than the onsen symbol. It just sort
of got lumped in with the kanji for lack of a better place.
>
> ~mark
>
Best,
-- Marnen Laibow-Koser marnen@marnen.org
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