Re: Hebrew Vav Holam

From: Peter Kirk (peter.r.kirk@ntlworld.com)
Date: Wed Jul 30 2003 - 16:01:08 EDT

  • Next message: Ted Hopp: "Re: From [b-hebrew] Variant forms of vav with holem"

    On 30/07/2003 12:07, John Cowan wrote:

    >
    >When you say "it", which glyph do you mean? I would like a description
    >of what the two glyphs look like and how they are to be distinguished,
    >please.
    >
    >
    See the reference glyph for U+FB4B. One form looks like this with the
    dot above further to the left, the other like it with the dot a little
    further to the right. This glyph with the centred dot is a compromise
    between the two.

    >
    >
    >>the marks follow the base character.
    >>
    >>
    >
    >This is a universal Unicode rule, and may get us into trouble someday when
    >we run into a script that attaches vowel marks to the following consonant.
    >(Still worse, if it does so in some uses but not others: "A Elbereth
    >Gilthoniel" won't be very processable if it must be encoded "A Lebrethe
    >Glithnoile".)
    >
    >
    >
    I think that someday is today! Some Hebrew vowel marks are attached to
    the consonant which logically follows. This applies in several cases in
    Hebrew orthography, holam above the right of holam and alef, holam
    sometimes merging with a following shin dot, and furtive patah which is
    encoded following the base character (always word final) but pronounced
    before it.

    One way round the problem, in this specific case and more generally, is
    to treat the vowel marks as combined with the preceding base character
    even if graphically they are displaced on to the following character.
    (At least, in Hebrew they don't modify the shape of the following
    character.)

    -- 
    Peter Kirk
    peter.r.kirk@ntlworld.com
    http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/
    


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