ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N1688
DATE: 1998-01-18

DOC TYPE:Expert contribution
TITLE:Proposal to encode Sinaitic in Plane 1 of ISO/IEC 10646-2
SOURCE:Michael Everson, EGT (IE)
PROJECT:JTC1.02.18.02
STATUS:Proposal.
ACTION ID:FYI
DUE DATE:--
DISTRIBUTION:Worldwide
MEDIUM:Paper and web
NO. OF PAGES:3 (printed at 80%)

A. Administrative

1. TitleProposal to encode Sinaitic in Plane 1 of ISO/IEC 10646-2
2. Requester's nameMichael Everson
3. Requester typeExpert request
4. Submission date1998-01-18
5. Requester's reference 
6a. CompletionThis is a complete proposal.
6b. More information to be provided?No

B. Technical -- General

1a. New script? Name?Yes. Sinaitic
1b. Addition of characters to existing block? Name?No.
2. Number of characters19
3. Proposed categoryCategory D
4. Proposed level of implementation and rationaleLevel 1
5a. Character names included in proposal?Yes
5b. Character names in accordance with guidelines?Yes
5c. Character shapes reviewable?Yes
6a. Who will provide computerized font?Michael Everson
6b. Font currently available?Michael Everson
6c. Font format?TrueType
7a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts, etc.) provided?Yes.
7b. Are published examples (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources) of use of proposed characters attached?No
8. Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing?Yes

C. Technical -- Justification

1. Contact with the user community?No.
2. Information on the user community?Sinaitic enjoys mostly scholarly use, though it is often shown in books about the history of alphabets.
3a. The context of use for the proposed characters?Used to write ancient Semitic languages (Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite).
3b. ReferenceSee below.
4a. Proposed characters in current use?Yes, by enthusiasts of various kinds.
4b. Where?By scholars and enthusiasts.
5a. Characters should be encoded entirely in BMP?No. Plane 1
5b. RationaleAccordance with the Roadmap.
6. Should characters be kept in a continuous range?Yes
7a. Can the characters be considered a presentation form of an existing character or character sequence? No.
7b. Where? 
7c. Reference 
8a. Can any of the characters be considered to be similar (in appearance or function) to an existing character?No
8b. Where? 
8c. Reference 
9a. Combining characters or use of composite sequences included?No.
9b. List of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images provided?No.
10. Characters with any special properties such as control function, etc. included?No

D. SC2/WG2 Administrative

To be completed by SC2/WG2
1. Relevant SC 2/WG 2 document numbers: 
2. Status (list of meeting number and corresponding action or disposition) 
3. Additional contact to user communities, liaison organizations etc. 
4. Assigned category and assigned priority/time frame 
Other Comments 

The Sinaitic script is the prototypical alphabetic Semitic script, ancestor of Hebrew, Ethiopic, Arabic, Phoenician, Greek, Latin, and Brahmic scripts. Many of its characters are recognizable images of the names of the characters (ALPU is an ox, BETU is a doorway), and there is some evidence that these were borrowed from Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Sinaitic default directionality is RTL.

Issues:

  • The names are reconstructed, but sources available did not provide all of them. I made an educated guess at five of them based on the evidence of the others. Anyway we need an expert to speak to this topic.
  • The script could be layed out parallel to Hebrew and other ancient Semitic scripts, with gaps. Would there be any advantage to this?
    U+0001xx00	SINAITIC LETTER ALPU
    U+0001xx01	SINAITIC LETTER BETU
    U+0001xx02	SINAITIC LETTER gimel (GIMLU?)
    U+0001xx03	SINAITIC LETTER daleth (DALTU?)
    U+0001xx04	SINAITIC LETTER he
    U+0001xx05	SINAITIC LETTER WAWWU
    U+0001xx06	SINAITIC LETTER zain (ZENU?)
    U+0001xx07	SINAITIC LETTER heth (HETU?)
    U+0001xx08	SINAITIC LETTER YADU
    U+0001xx09	SINAITIC LETTER KAPPU
    U+0001xx0A	SINAITIC LETTER LAMDU
    U+0001xx0B	SINAITIC LETTER MAYYUMA
    U+0001xx0C	SINAITIC LETTER NAHASHU
    U+0001xx0D	SINAITIC LETTER ENU
    U+0001xx0E	SINAITIC LETTER san
    U+0001xx0F	SINAITIC LETTER qoppa (QAPPU?)
    U+0001xx10	SINAITIC LETTER RASHU
    U+0001xx11	SINAITIC LETTER shin
    U+0001xx12	SINAITIC LETTER TAWWU
    U+0001xx13	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx14	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx15	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx16	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx17	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx18	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx19	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx1A	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx1B	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx1C	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx1D	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx1E	(This position shall not be used)
    U+0001xx1F	(This position shall not be used)

    Bibliography

  • Haarmann, Harald. 1990. Universalgeschichte der Schrift. Frankfurt/Main; New York: Campus. ISBN 3-593-34346-0
  • Healey, John F. 1990. The early alphabet. (Reading the Past) Trustees of the British Museum: British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-8073-4
    HTML Michael Everson, everson@indigo.ie, http://www.indigo.ie/egt, Dublin, 1998-01-18