Re: Word-breaking in complex scripts (was Re: supporting XIM)

[Miikka-Markus Alhonen <Miikka-Markus.Alhonen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lainaus Pablo Saratxaga <pablo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> Kaixo!
> 
> On Mon, Mar 31, 2003 at 09:08:23PM -0800, Edward Cherlin wrote:
> 
> > Word breaking is not required in Indic writing systems. When a 
> > word with a final consonant is followed by a word with an 
> > initial vowel, the consonant and vowel are combined. A final 
> > consonant and a following initial consonant form a conjunct. But 
> > it is permitted to write the words separately on successive 
> > lines.
> 
> Indic writing systems don't use spaces between words?

Traditionally, no. AFAIK, this used to be the case with every Brahmi derived 
script until very recent times. Visible spaces have been succesfully introduced 
by Westerners to most scripts which are used in modern-day India, but older 
texts and many of the more distant Brahmi derivatives even now, such as Thai, 
Lao and Khmer, use no word-separating spaces at all (sometimes there are spaces 
between sentences, though).

If you look at texts written in Sanskrit, the authentic ones use no spaces, 
while their Western editions do so for Europeans' ease in a limited 
environment, i.e. when a conjunct which Edward is describing does _not_ occur. 
This, however, happens quite rarely, which is why many Sanskrit "words" look 
very long. See, for instance the images at http://www.devyani.com/mt/vaidya1.htm

In reality, most of the long ones are actually sequences of many words, which 
are just pronounced so that the final sound of a word gets into the same 
orthographical syllable with the initial sound of the next word, and this is 
why they are written without an intervening space even here, outside India.

Best regards,
Miikka-Markus Alhonen

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