L2/18-287

Subject: Further remarks on the encoding model of Vedic gomukha characters
Author: Shriramana Sharma, samjnaa-at-gmail-dot-com, India
Date: 2018-Sep-05

Refs:
L2/17-098 Indic editorial updates, Srinidhi et al
L2/18-035 Encoding model issues with Vedic gomukha characters, Sharma

L2/17-098 shows a combination of a bahirgomukha U+1CEA ᳪ with a bindu ं and
U+1CED tiryak attested in Bengali. In L2/18-035 I noted that the Bengali Vedic
anusvara encoded at U+09FC is used in similar contexts, so effectively at least
in Bengali this gomukha combination is merely an alternate form of writing the
same. If however it is desired to use the gomukha form in Bengali, I raised the
question of how it, specifically the bindu used in it, should be encoded.

My further feedback is as follows:

On this issue, we do not have any strong requirement voiced by the native
Bengali user community to encode any new characters or even to say that this
exact gomukha shape should be accurately represented in their script as well.
Speaking purely as an Indic script expert and Vedic scholar, I do not see a
problem with using the Bengali Vedic anusvara for this use and in fact in my
document I have shown the use of that character for similar Sama Vedic contexts.

However the larger question of how the generic Vedic gomukha characters should
be handled remains, as the usage of the Devanagari anusvara for this is
problematic. I do not have data on whether the dot above in combination with the
gomukha is found in scripts other than Devanagari and have sent out an inquiry
for the same, but any replies will take time.

Personally I am not a fan of encoding lookalike characters but had earlier
proposed Vedic characters graphically identical to existing “European”
diacritics only because committee members had expressed reservations with using
the “European” characters for this purposes for reasons best known to them.

As such the best solution seems to me to be #6 which is why I had given it last.
As I said there, the dot above will also complement the dots below 1CDD~1CDF.
Once such a character is encoded, the recommendation can be to use GOMUKHA +
GENERIC DOT ABOVE/SCRIPT-SPECIFIC CANDRABINDU (+ TIRYAK).

-o-