Script (Unicode): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:19, 13 May 2007

Revision as of 13:59, 26 July 2007

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{{Unicode_scripts}}

In [[Unicode]], a '''script''' is an abstract coherent and unified [[writing system]] supporting one or more concrete writing systems which in turn support the written forms of one or more languages.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

For example the [[Latin_characters_in_UnicodeLatin characters in Unicode|Latin]] script supports alphabets such as: [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] and many others. Some scripts support one and only one writing system and language, for example: [[Armenian language|Armenian]]. Other scripts, like [[Latin_characters_in_UnicodeLatin characters in Unicode|Latin]], support many different writing systems: [[English_alphabetEnglish alphabet|English]], [[French_alphabetFrench alphabet|French]], [[German_alphabetGerman alphabet|German]], [[Italian_alphabetItalian alphabet|Italian]], and [[Latin_alphabetLatin alphabet|Latin]] to name just some of the alphabets supported by the Latin script. Some languages also make use of multiple alternate writing systems. [[Turkish language|Turkish]], for example, used [[Ottoman_Turkish_alphabetOttoman Turkish alphabet|Arabic]] script before the 20th century and transitioned to Latin in the early part of the 20th century. For a list of languages supported by each script see the [[List_of_languages_by_writing_system|list of languages by writing system]].

When multiple languages make use of the same script, there are frequently some differences: particularly in diacritics and other marks. For example, Swedish and English both use the Latin script. However, [[Swedish_alphabet|Swedish]] includes the character ‘å’ (sometimes called a “Swedish O”) while English has no such character. Nor does English make use of the diacritic combining circle above for any character. In general the languages sharing the same scripts share many of the same characters. Despite these peripheral differences in the Swedish and English writing systems they are said to use the same Latin script. So the Unicode abstraction of scripts is a basic organizing technique. The differences between different alphabets or writing systems remain and are supported through Unicode’s flexible scripts, combining marks and collation algorithms.

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While all characters have the property of belonging to a script, many characters, such as symbols, indicate “common” or “inherited” for their script property. The unified diacritical characters and unified punctuation characters frequently have the “common” or “inherited” script property. However, the individual scripts often have their own punctuation and diacritics. So many scripts include not only letters, but also diacritic and other marks, punctuation, numerals and even their own idiosyncratic symbols and space characters.

Unicode already includes over 60 scripts supporting hundreds or even thousands of languages throughout the World. Unicode is actively working on many more as indicated by its [[Unicode#Unicode_roadmapUnicode roadmap|roadmap]].

== Writing system ==

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| [[Syllabary|Syllabic]] || syllable || Japanese ''[[kana]]''

|-

| [[Alphabet|Alphabetic]]ic || [[phoneme]] (consonant or vowel) || [[Latin alphabet]]

|-

| [[Abugida]] || phoneme (consonant+vowel) || Indian ''[[Devanāgarī]]''

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| [[Abjad]] || phoneme (consonant) || [[Arabic alphabet]]

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| [[Featural_alphabetFeatural alphabet|Featural]] || phonetic feature || Korean ''[[hangul]]''

|}

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== Character categories within scripts ==

{{UCS_characters}}

Unicode provides a general category property for each character. So in addition to belonging to a script every character also has a general category. Typically scripts include letter characters including: uppercase letters, lowercase letter and modifier letters. Some characters are considered titlecase letters for a few [[Precomposed_characterPrecomposed character|precomposed]] ligatures such as Dz (U+01F2). Such titlecase ligatures are all in the Latin and Greek scripts and are all compatibility characters and therefore Unicode discourages their use by authors. Its unlikely newt titlecase letters will be added in the future.

Most writing systems do not differentiate between uppercase and lowercase letters. For those scripts all letters are categorized as “other letter” or “modifier letter”. Ideographs such as Unihan ideographs are also categorized as “other letters”. A few scripts do differentiate between uppercase and lowercase however: Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, and Deseret. Even for these scripts there are some letters that are nether uppercase nor lowercase.