Typophile

Indigenous Script OpenType.

A. Scott Britton

Can someone help me out with a potential OpenType problem? I say potential because I really don't want to go the OT route unless absolutely necessary (because, 1. I know nothing about it, and 2. I can't even afford to upgrade from TypeTool to Fontlab right now). Here's the problem...

I want to work with an indigenous script that is prone to be written with continuous connecting bottom segments, like a retro-style, futuristic, boxy script (think Fontdiner.com logo). Each letter has two forms: 1. within the word (that is, connected to the letters appearing before and after it), and 2. terminal position (a connection line to the preceeding letter, but no terminal line after the final letter).

I could simply design two entire sets, and this writing system has no UC/lc distinction so using the shift key to vary between forms is not out of the question. Of course, a standard keyboard layout has yet to be established for this language (it has only just recently entered the final stages of Unicode assignment).

Anyway, how does OpenType work in this situation? Will it be practical, or should I just resort to typographic tricks? (The script has a connecting device similar to Arabic Tatweel--a solution perhaps, but I'd hate to make someone type this ancilliary character after every single letter in a word.)

Thanks.

John Hudson

There are a number of issues to consider. What is the script?

If it is not yet finalised in Unicode, I think your best bet is to discuss this question with someone at Microsoft Typography (I can put you in touch with someone, if you like), since they are likely to be the first people supporting the script using OpenType Layout, and what you need to do is figure out with them what approach they will take to the layout. There is some flexibility, of course, in how you make a particular OpenType font work, but you need to understand what the shaping engine model will be for the script, as this will determine what OTL features will be applied when an application encounters characters from this script.

A. Scott Britton

Good, John, I was hoping you'd see this.

The script is N'ko. It's West African in origin (and only a little over 50 years old!) with somewhere around 20 million users. As a side note, the Vai script and language was granted Unicode assignment (and attention from SIL) before N'ko--go figure, just under 100,000 speakers.

Yes, I'd greatly appreciate you putting me in contact with Microsoft Typography on this one.

Thanks John.

A.

John Hudson

Drop me an e-mail at and I'll put you in touch with Paul Nelson and Peter Constable.

Regarding priorities in Unicode encoding, it all depends on someone submitting a proposal for a script encoding, not on the number of speakers of a language. Also, scripts with fewer users are sometimes easier to get proposed and approved than those with more speakers, because there are fewer bodies with a stake in the encoding. As I understand it, the N'ko encoding involved considerable academic and government activity, which is a good thing but also time consuming and expensive. A script like Vai can be proposed by one or two experts and make its way through the review and approval processes relatively quickly and inexpensively.

A. Scott Britton

Hey John,

Typophile won't let me send you an email right now, or maybe it's just a setting in your profile. If you want to drop me a line, that'd work too.

Thanks.

A.

John Hudson

Just send me a regular e-mail to tiro[at]tiro.com

By the way, Peter Constable notes that the N'ko proposal has been approved for inclusion in Unicode, but corrects your remark above re. Vai. Vai has not yet been approved; indeed, a proposal has not been submitted yet, but is in the works.

A. Scott Britton

"indeed, a [Vai] proposal ... is in the works"

I'll bet Michael Everson has a hand in it--he's really on the ball.

A.

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