Luke asked: > Given this scenario, is it proper to encode perhaps one set of TONAL MODIFIER > LETTER SMALL _ suitable for use,
No. > are we stuck using these mismatching existing > encodings, No, although if I were representing this data, that is probably what I would use. > or perhaps someone has better advice for handling the conflicting > uses? 1. You can define your own styles and then simply use the various ASCII characters with the appropriate styling. This is rather simple, compared to the corresponding issues involved in appropriate styling for exponentiation representation for mathematics in general, which among other things has scoping issues and recursive application issues. 2. You can simply develop a font that displays the existing modifier letters precisely the way you want them for the Tonal notation. That would seem appropriate for such a specialized application. What you cannot expect is that system fonts are going to follow your exact expectations about layout of exponentiation notations for a very specific and marginal use system, when the modifier letters see far more widespread usage in language orthographies and in international phonetic systems such as IPA and UPA. What you also cannot expect is that Tonal is going to be laid out as precisely as you expect using such a broad and imprecise a markup system as HTML on the Web. If you want to post up *exact* representations of Tonal, laid out according to precise rules of placement, then you should use a *real* layout system, with custom fonts, and then post up pdf versions of the resulting pages. --Ken
