Unicode: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Unicode sample.png|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|right|200px|Many modern applications can render a substantial subset of the many [[scripts in Unicode]], as demonstrated by this screenshot from the [[OpenOffice.org]] application.]]<!-- screenshot fair use rationale: this screenshot is used specifically to illustrate the Unicode-related capabilities of modern desktop applications and the breadth of supported Unicode scripts -->

{{As of|September 2024}}, a total of 168<ref>{{Cite web |title=Supported Scripts |url=https://www.unicode.org/standard/supported.html |access-date=16 September 2022 |website=Unicode}}</ref> currently[[Script covers(Unicode)|scripts]] ([[alphabet]]s, [[abugida]]s and [[syllabary|syllabaries]]) are included in Unicode, covering most major [[writing system]]s in use today.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Otung |first=Ifiok |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4OMXEAAAQBAJ&q=unicode+covers+almost+all+characters |title=Communication Engineering Principles |date=2021-01-28 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-27407-0 |language=en|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Unicode FAQ |url=https://home.unicode.org/basic-info/faq/ |access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> There are still scripts that are not yet encoded, particularly those mainly used in historical, liturgical, and academic contexts. Further additions of characters to the already encoded scripts, as well as [[Symbol|symbols]], in particular for mathematics and [[musical notation|music]] also occur.

=== Proposals for adding scripts ===

{{As of|September 2024}}, a total of 168 [[Script (Unicode)|scripts]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Supported Scripts |url=https://www.unicode.org/standard/supported.html |access-date=16 September 2022 |website=Unicode}}</ref> are included in the latest version of Unicode (covering [[alphabet]]s, [[abugida]]s and [[syllabary|syllabaries]]), although there are still scripts that are not yet encoded, particularly those mainly used in historical, liturgical, and academic contexts. Further additions of characters to the already encoded scripts, as well as [[Symbol|symbols]], in particular for mathematics and [[musical notation|music]] (in the form of notes and rhythmic symbols), also occur.

The Unicode Roadmap Committee ([[Michael Everson]], Rick McGowan, Ken Whistler, V.S. Umamaheswaran)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roadmap to the BMP |url=https://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/bmp/ |access-date=30 July 2018 |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]]}}</ref> maintain the list of scripts that are candidates or potential candidates for encoding and their tentative code block assignments on the Unicode Roadmap<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/|title=Roadmaps to Unicode|website=Unicode |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231208091250/http://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/ |archive-date= Dec 8, 2023 }}</ref> page of the [[Unicode Consortium]] website. For some scripts on the Roadmap, such as [[Jurchen script|Jurchen]] and [[Khitan large script]], encoding proposals have been made and they are working their way through the approval process. For other scripts, such as [[Numidian language|Numidian]] and [[Rongorongo]], no proposal has yet been made, and they await agreement on character repertoire and other details from the user communities involved.

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There is also a [[Medieval Unicode Font Initiative]] focused on special Latin medieval characters. Part of these proposals has been already included in Unicode.

=== {{anchor|Script Encoding Initiative}} Script Encoding Initiative ===

The Script Encoding Initiative (SEI),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sei.berkeley.edu/ |title=Script Encoding Initiative |website=Script Encoding Initiative |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325131114/https://linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei/ |archive-date= Mar 25, 2023 }}</ref> a project created by Deborah Anderson at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], was founded in 2002 with the goal of funding proposals for scripts not yet encoded in the standard. Now run by Anushah Hossain, SEI has become a major source of proposed additions to the standard in recent years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About The Script Encoding Initiative |url=https://www.unicode.org/pending/about-sei.html |access-date=4 June 2012 |publisher=The Unicode Consortium}}</ref> Although SEI collaborates with the Unicode Consortium and the ISO/IEC 10646 standards process, it operates independently, supporting the technical, linguistic, and historical research needed to prepare formal proposals. SEI maintains a database of scripts that have yet to be encoded in the Unicode Standard on the project's website.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scripts to Encode |url=https://sei.berkeley.edu/scripts-to-encode/ }}</ref>