RE: Unicode is optimal for Chinese/Japanese multilingual texts

[Edward Cherlin <edward.cherlin.sy.67@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:48 AM +0900 4/3/01, Tomohiro KUBOTA wrote:
> Hi,
>
> >  What we need are a few complete unifonts in consistent styles with no
> >  differentiation between regions.  If there is a regional bias, then one
> >  bias per font, not a mixture.
> >
> >  However, Japanese users might prefer a different unifont than Chinese
> >  readers, and in case of multilingual mixed text, as in C+J textbooks, tags
> >  can be used to load different fonts for different languages.
>
> I suspect you don't understand difference between Variant and typeface.

I am thoroughly familiar with the difference, and I am sure that most 
others here are clear on this as well. I have lived in Japan and 
Korea, and visited Singapore, Malaysia, and China. I read Chinese, 
Korean, and Japanese books and Web pages and watch TV in all three 
languages with subtitles. The font and character set differences are 
quite clear.

> IMO, CJK people can have a common typeface (i.e., boldness, serif
> policy, and so on).  However, CJK people cannot have a common Variant.
> "Variant" is a technical term to indicate a nature of Han Ideogram,
> not a daily noun.

It has been asserted here several times that a font using variants 
preferred by Japanese readers would be quite acceptable to Chinese, 
Korean, and other readers. In that case, a common font is possible.

> If we were have a common typeface _and_ common Variant, we could
> have a common font for CJK.  However, this is not true.

It is not clear to me that your assertion is correct. If we could 
show agreement from Chinese and Korean readers on usability of a 
Japanese-style font, would you accept their opinions?

> Sure, I agree with your sentence, with using proper term to avoid
> confusion and substituting "Japanese users might prefer" with "Japanese
> users need".
>
> For example, a Chinese textbook for Japanese people will have a
> sentence like:
>
>    <U+76F4 in Japanese style> is written as <U+76F4 in Chinese style>
>    in Chinese.
>
> A Japanese textbook for non-Japanese people will have a sentence like:
>
>    <U+76F4 in Japanese style> means straight or immediate.  Please
>    note you should not use <U+76F4 in Chinese style> if you'd like
>    to communicate with Japanese people because they cannot read it.
>
> Such texts can be written using language tags.

I am glad that we all agree on some points.

> --0w ntdc-
> Tomohiro KUBOTA <kubota@xxxxxxxxxx>
> http://surfchem0.riken.go.jp/~kubota/
> "Introduction to I18N"
> http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/
> -
> Linux-UTF8:   i18n of Linux on all levels
> Archive:      http://mail.nl.linux.org/lists/

--

Edward Cherlin
Generalist
"A knot!" exclaimed Alice. "Oh, do let me help to undo it."
Alice in Wonderland
-
Linux-UTF8:   i18n of Linux on all levels
Archive:      http://mail.nl.linux.org/lists/