Re: Characters consisting of vertical lines; Possible attempts to encode tally marks

From: Guy Steele (Guy.Steele@Sun.COM)
Date: Thu Mar 01 2007 - 09:59:11 CST

  • Next message: Marion Gunn: "Re: Characters consisting of vertical lines; Possible attempts to encode tally marks"

    On Mar 1, 2007, at 5:41 AM, Andrew West wrote:

    > Guy Steele wrote on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 7:53 PM
    >>
    >> While you all are at it, you may want to investigate the other
    >> two systems of tally marks described in the Wikipedia article
    >> on tally marks:
    >>
    >
    > The tally method of writing the strokes of the five-stroke
    > character 正
    > zheng (U+6B63) is very widely used in China and Japan, but I don't
    > really see any necessity to encode a series of characters:
    >
    > ZHENG STROKE 1
    > ZHENG STROKES 1 AND 2
    > ZHENG STROKES 1 2 AND 3
    > ZHENG STROKES 1 2 3 AND 4

    Allow me to suggest (with some diffidence) that they might
    be useful in exactly the sorts of situations that citing Western
    tally marks in running text might be useful.

    > But how about encoding an ENEMY KILL TALLY MARK:
    >
    > <http://ww2-aviation.net/polavhist/aces.html>
    > <http://home.pacbell.net/mkirwan/Fighter%20Ace.jpg>

    Clever, but, I must conclude, facetious; these are not distinct
    tally symbols, but rather mere repetitions of some other already
    existing symbol that represents the enemy.

    --Guy Steele

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