[Michael]:
>>>>Be that as it may, the French use the DEGREE SIGN and they compose it with
>>>>N or n + �. It even looks like that in _Lexique des r�gles typographiques_.
>>>
>>>[Alain] :
>>>Correct.
>>
>>[Michael]:
>>Bad typographic taste if you ask me. I mean "n�" might well mean 'en
>degrees'.
>
>[Alain] :
>With all due respect, it is like saying that a red wall is white just
>because it is lighted by a red light in the dark. (;
I don't follow the logic. The raised circle is a LETTER O. It's an
abbreviation for "num�ro". Why should it be drawn, in a Times font, with a
perfectly round degree sign, and not with a small LETTER O? C'est illogique.
>If one wants to say N DEGREES, in French, like in English, one will
>explicitly writes so, not write "n�"
That's not true. Isn't "n" used as an algebraic indefinite number in
French? We talk in English about "the nth degree" ('� la puissance n', 'la
�ni�me fois'), but if it was just incredibly cold we might say "it was n�
below zero".
>(btw in French, when we want to write
>two words, we write a space in between, i.e. "n �" could, very
>hypothetically, mean EN DEGREES).
In ordinary temperatures, however, you don't write a space, just e.g. 39�.
So you might be able to say that "il avait n� au-dessous de z�ro"?
>"N�" or "n�" is definitely used only to indicate "num�ro" in French. But if
>one wants to use a red light in the dark to understand something else in
>limited and absolutely out-of-this-world conditions, this situation is
>always theoretically possible, and part of the [sci-]fiction domain (;
My point was that, given the nature of the abbreviation, I don't see why n�
or N� (with a degree sign) should be considered superior to n� or N� (with
the ordinal indicator).
Assuming of course that you are limited to Latin 1. I notice in _Les
caract�res de l'Imprimerie Nationale_ that a superscript o, not a degree
sign, is used to indicate "num�ro".
But in _Lexique des r�gles typographiques_ it also says "Il convient de
rappeler que 1�, 2�, 3� ... sont les abbr�viations de primo, secundo,
tertio..., le signe sup�rieur �tant un o et non un z�ro". Surely the same
applies to num�ro?
-- Michael Everson, Everson Gunn Teoranta ** http://www.indigo.ie/egt 15 Port Chaeimhghein �ochtarach; Baile �tha Cliath 2; �ire/Ireland Guth�n: +353 1 478-2597 ** Facsa: +353 1 478-2597 (by arrangement) 27 P�irc an Fh�ithlinn; Baile an Bh�thair; Co. �tha Cliath; �ire
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