From: Julian Bradfield (jcb+unicode@inf.ed.ac.uk)
Date: Wed Apr 13 2011 - 03:12:36 CDT
On 2011-04-12, Asmus Freytag <asmusf@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> (Mathematics has agreed upon semantics for black letter forms, that are
> independent of an actual font choice, hence the decision to encode these
> as symbols).
I disagree (speaking as a mathematician in a field prone to extensive
use of semantically distinct letterforms). There is no agreed
semantics for black letter forms, though there are a number of fields
and subfields where general conventions have been established, and
there's a kind of general woolly feeling that if you need a type style
for something big and complicated (relative to your setting), then
black letter is appropriate.
Nobody would bat an eyelid if someone chose to use both a simple German
fraktur typeface, and also (for something even more complicated)
a fancy traditional "Old English" black letter. Maybe I'll do it in my
next paper!
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