Re: mixed-script writing systems

From: John Cowan (jcowan@reutershealth.com)
Date: Thu Nov 21 2002 - 11:11:41 EST

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    Dean Snyder scripsit:

    > What are the properties which will trigger separate Unicode encodings for
    > characters typically or always represented by identically shaped glyphs?

    Well, whyn't you say so?

    The normative ones, exactly and precisely. Casing is normative, so
    if language A claims that <squiggle> is upper case, and language B that it
    is lower case, then they must have distinct Unicode representations.
    Case *mapping* is informative, and it's perfectly all right for language
    A to claim that the lower-case form of <squiggle> is <squoggle> whereas
    language C makes it <squaggle> instead. Just another entry in SpecialCasing.

    At present, the most comprehensive list of normative vs. informative properties
    appears to be in http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/UnicodeData.html and
    http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/PropList.html jointly. 

    -- 
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