INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (U C S) ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N 1217 ====== Date: 1995-05-21 Subject: Further clarifications regarding WG2 N1195 Source: The Standards Institution of Israel (SII) Action: WG2 Resolution Distribution: ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 members _________________________________________________________________ In its April '95 meeting (see N1203 par. 6.1.8), WG2 asked for some clarifications regarding N1195 (this is the request of Standards Institution of Israel to include additional characters of the Hebrew language in ISO/IEC 10646-1). Here is SII's answer: 1) The Hebrew characters are of the following types: LETTER = a character which is part of the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 letters and 5 final letters. POINT = a character, normally made up of dots or small lines placed over, below or within a letter, intended to ease the reading of text. Points are used as vowels and for pronunciation purposes (such as dagesh). ACCENT = a character used for the cantillation of biblical texts. Accents are also known as cantillation marks. They are normally placed above or below letters. PUNCTUATION = traditional or modern Hebrew punctuation character. MARK = any other character used with traditional or modern Hebrew texts and "none of the above". 2) Error in N1195: The character 0597 - HEBREW ACCENT REVIA has a different shape (see table attached). 3) The character 05C4 is a combining one (!). Even though it looks similar to 05B9, it has a different meaning. It is used in biblical texts to mark up some words without affecting the reading (see attached table and example). 4) The representation of the characters in N1195 (TABLE 14 of ISO/IEC 10646-1) is correct - except for 05C4 (which misses the dotted-circle) and 0597 (see par. 2). Table 1 of our national standard IS 1311.2, as included in N1195, was only for information. IS 1311.2 is, at this time, before publishing - subject to editorial corrections. 5) Attached is a table with the 31 new characters only - as requested by WG2 (N1203 - par. 6.1.8 -2). 6) The positioning of points and accents against basic characters as represented in N1195 is the "standard" position. With some letters, or when more then one such mark is attached, they can move slightly according to complex rules that are not subject of the standard. 7) In Hebrew, combining characters may be used with every letter. In reference to question C8 of the "proposal summary form" N1116F included in N1195, the number of possible composite sequences is very large and there is no complete set of corresponding glyphs (answer to N1203 - par. 6.1.8 - 5). Some are included in Table 113 (ISO/IEC 10646-1): characters FB2A to FB4E. 8) There are more combining characters in Hebrew than those proposed for inclusion in the standard. Also, some of the proposed ones have alternate names - according to different schools and periods. The SII decided to standardize only the characters included in N1195. Our sources include The Hebrew Encyclopedia, vol. XVIII p.866 to 872 (in Hebrew, attached) and contemporary editions of the Bible. 9) Aramaic in Hebrew texts is written in Hebrew characters. The SII does not wish at this point in time to address Aramaic. 10) The right half of the table in national standard IS 1311.2 contains all the characters of ISO/IEC 10646-1 TABLE 14 - Row 05, except for 05F0 to 05F4, and additionally two characters: 10/00 - NBSP (00A0 in ISO/IEC 10646-1) 13/15 - DOUBLE LOW LINE (2017 in ISO/IEC 10646-1) The characters 05F0 to 05F2 in ISO/IEC 10646-1 are relevant to Yiddish only. These are not part of any Israeli standard. SII does not wish at this point in time to address Yiddish. 11) SII is not yet ready to comment on the different views expressed in WG2 N1130, N1164 regarding the naming of some Yiddish characters (ligatures). SII will consider a possible contribution in the future. 12) Character 20AA - NEW SHEQEL SIGN of ISO/IEC 10646-1 is not part of any Israeli standard. 13) The Israeli standard IS 1489 - "Architecture for implementation of the Hebrew language in telematic systems" is in the process of translation to English and will be available to WG2 after its publication. 14) SII is considering a possible contribution relating to Hebrew Braille. 15) Following is the list of characters from N1195 proposed to be included in ISO/IEC 10646-1 and their coding (row 05): 145 91 HEBREW ACCENT ETNAHTA 146 92 HEBREW ACCENT SEGOL 147 93 HEBREW ACCENT SHALSHELET 148 94 HEBREW ACCENT ZAQEF QATAN 149 95 HEBREW ACCENT ZAQEF GADOL 150 96 HEBREW ACCENT TIPEHA 151 97 HEBREW ACCENT REVIA 152 98 HEBREW ACCENT ZARQA 153 99 HEBREW ACCENT PASHTA 154 9A HEBREW ACCENT YETIV 155 9B HEBREW ACCENT TEVIR 156 9C HEBREW ACCENT GERESH 157 9D HEBREW ACCENT GERESH MUQDAM 158 9E HEBREW ACCENT GERSHAYIM 159 9F HEBREW ACCENT QARNEY PARA 160 A0 HEBREW ACCENT TELISHA GEDOLA 161 A1 HEBREW ACCENT PAZER 163 A3 HEBREW ACCENT MUNAH 164 A4 HEBREW ACCENT MAHAPAKH 165 A5 HEBREW ACCENT MERKHA 166 A6 HEBREW ACCENT MERKHA KEFULA 167 A7 HEBREW ACCENT DARGA 168 A8 HEBREW ACCENT QADMA 169 A9 HEBREW ACCENT TELISHA QETANA 170 AA HEBREW ACCENT YERAH BEN YOMO 171 AB HEBREW ACCENT OLE 172 AC HEBREW ACCENT ILUY 173 AD HEBREW ACCENT DEHI 174 AE HEBREW ACCENT ZINOR 175 AF HEBREW MARK MASORA CIRCLE 196 C4 HEBREW MARK UPPER DOT 16) SII will submit a proposal of entries for the new Annex Q of ISO/IEC 10646-1 (see par.8 above). 17) SII decided to change the level of implementation for the 31 characters in N1195 to level 3. Please modify accordingly question B4 of the "proposal summary form" of N1195. 18) Please include this contribution in the agenda of WG2 meeting # 28 - possibly a new line under N1211 par. 6.4. Attachments: ---------------- Attachements will be distributed in Helsinki. --