These subscript letters and subscript '/' really don't look like plain text to me. The examples quoted, e.g.
*hxC(V)- ~ *shxC(V)- [the x's to be subscripted]
are more like mathematical formulae than text.
They are not mathematical formulae. It is a kind of linguistic (though not phonetic) notation. Other encoded subscripts are already in use for the laryngeals, which is why this has been proposed.
I would suggest that consideration is given to an extension of the Unicode Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block to include a full range of subscript letters etc, and that such letters be used for applications such as this one.
There is no evidence that mathematicians have such a requirement. Indo-Europeanists do.
If such a proposal is considered unacceptable because it goes beyond what is plain text, then so should this proposal be.
I disagree. -- Michael Everson * * Everson Typography * * http://www.evertype.com
