Shemayah Phillips has kindly given permission to forward this response to a question about Hebrew range palaeo- fonting along to our public list.
Best regards, James Kass ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shemayah Phillips" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "James Kass" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 7:21 PM Subject: Re: Palaeo-Hebrew, Phoenician, and Unicode (Phoenician Unicode proposal) > Shalom James, > > I have a number of Hebrew fonts or transliteration fonts. The first ones > were assigned to the same keys as some fonts I used in the old > MegaWriter (ChiWriter) program. I was a means of using Hebrew, Palaeo, > and transliteration on our website beginning in 1996. > > But I assume you are talking about a Palaeo font which used the standard > Hebrew keyboard assignments. I'll be honest and tell you that I am not > up to speed on unicode. > > The reason for doing this was a project among us and the Karaites. They > asked me to do this in order that they could use a Hebrew encoded Tanak > text which would be available online, and readable in Internet Explorer. > So I am thinking this is your second scenario. > > I have no problem with a reassignment of my palaeo in order to > accommodate as many Hebrew glyphs as possible. > > In the Internet Explorer situation above it was possible to display > either Palaeo or Asshuri (square script) depending on what the html > asked for because of the I was asked to assign the font characters. > > The design of the characters was my attempt to capture the most typical > and classical forms after comparing a number of references. I have seen > a number of fonts since then which appear to me to atypical or just > importation of scanned examples from particular inscriptions, and a wide > variety of fonts from inscriptions. As a teacher (former at this point), > I used this font design also to show the similarities and history of > "our" Graeco-Latin characters' in Canaanite/Punic/Palaeo characters, and > so strokes needed to be clear and representative to younger students but > realistic as well. > > "rather lively discussion"? That sounds interesting. Are you interested > in the design of the characters for the standard? If so, as long as they > publically available to all, I would be receptive concerning their use. > I would like acknowledgement for the design/rendering of the glyphs. > > You can forward my reply if it is of interest. > > Shemayah > > > > James Kass wrote: > > >Greetings, > > > >There is currently a proposal to include the ancient Phoenician > >script in Unicode/ISO. > > > >Are you in contact with anyone who cares to express an opinion > >on the merits of the proposal? It is available on-line in PDF > >format at: > >http://wwwold.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n2746 > > > >Also, a question has come up in the rather lively discussion of this > >topic on the Unicode public list about a Palaeo Hebrew font > >offered on the Ebionite web pages. It seems that the font > >uses Palaeo Hebrew glyphs in conjunction with the Hebrew > >range of code points in Unicode. We wonder if the reason > >for this is because your community considers the ancient > >Palaeo Hebrew writings to be the same script as, or only a > >stylistic variant of, the square-style modern Hebrew letters... > >-or- > >...is the reason behind this because using the modern Hebrew > >range to display Palaeo Hebrew guarantees that the layout of > >the text will be right-to-left as expected and, in the absence > >of a Unicode range for Phoenician/Palaeo-Hebrew, using the > >Hebrew range seems to be the best choice? > > > >I am hoping that you are Shemayah ben-Avraham, who created > >the fonts, and that you can help us by sharing your understanding > >of this important writing system. > > > >If you choose to reply, may I forward your reply to the Unicode > >public list? (This is a list open to the public for the purpose of > >discussing matters relating to Unicode and is hosted by The > >Unicode Consortium. Please see this link... > >http://www.unicode.org/consortium/distlist.html > >...for more information about the Unicode public list.) > > > >With best regards, > > > >James Kass
