Description of the Kannada Language

46
Kannada Unicode Design Guide (Version 1.0/March 2002) Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions - Kannada Department of Management Studies Indian Institute of Science Bangalore 560 012 Sponsored by Technology Development for Indian Languages Mission

Transcript of Description of the Kannada Language

Page 1: Description of the Kannada Language

Kannada Unicode Design Guide(Version 1.0/March 2002)

Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions - KannadaDepartment of Management Studies

Indian Institute of ScienceBangalore 560 012

Sponsored byTechnology Development for Indian Languages Mission

Ministry of Communications and Information TechnologyGovernment of India

Page 2: Description of the Kannada Language

Kannada Unicode Design Guide(Version 1.0)

Abstract: This document provides general information about the Kannada language and conventions

of its usage in computers. It provides information about the Input, Storage, Display and Printing of

Kannada Characters. We strongly feel that this information gathered from various standards is

necessary for the correct usage of the language in various applications of Kannada Language

Computing. It also includes the sorting sequence for Kannada in Unicode.

Electronic version of this document will also be made available on the following websites:

– http://www.kannudi.org/ilts

– http://mgmt.iisc.ernet.in/~nanitha/

Note 1: This document contains Unicode characters and can be viewed using MS Office XP on

Windows XP or equivalent

Note 2: The Convention followed in Unicode (Version 3.0) Chapter 9 (South and Southeast Asian

Scripts) is used in this document and might differ from the notation commonly used in the Kannada

Script.

Contact Information:

Chief InvestigatorResource Centre for Indian Language Technology Solutions- Kannada Department of Management StudiesIndian Institute of ScienceBangalore – 560 012

Phone : 91-80-346 6022 / 394 2377 (Dir) 91-80-394 2378 / 394 2567Fax : 91-80-346 6022 / 3600683 / 3600085Email : [email protected]

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Table of Contents1. History of Kannada Language 5

1.1 Description of Kannada Language 5

1.2 Brief introduction to Kannada language 6

1.2.1 Vowels 6

1.2.2 Anuswaras 6

1.2.3 Visarga 6

1.2.4 Avagraha 6

1.2.5 Consonants 6

1.2.6 Basic Language Rule in Kannada 7

2. Technical Characteristics 9

2.1 Kannada Alphabet Characteristic 9

2.1.1 Consonant Letters 9

2.1.2 Independent Vowel Letters 9

2.1.3 Dependent Vowel Signs 9

2.1.4 Virama (Halant) 11

2.1.5 Consonant Conjuncts 11

2.1.6 Visarg 12

2.1.7 Avagrah 12

2.1.8 Numerals 12

2.1.9 Punctuation Marks 12

2.1.10 Ancient Signs 12

2.2 Fonts 12

2.2.1 Font developing Tools 12

2.3 Keyboard 13

2.4 Presentation and Storage Considerations 14

2.5 Rendering Rules 14

2.5.1 Dead Consonant Rule 15

2.5.2 Consonant RA Rules 15

2.5.3 Ligature Rules 16

2.6 Sorting issues in Kannada 17

2.6.1 Sorting of Nukta characters 17

2.6.2 Sorting the data records containing anuswara and visarga 17

2.6.3 Sorting of words with dead consonants 18

2.6.4 Sorting of Conjuncts having two different display forms 19

2.6.5 Sorting of Diacritic characters 19

2.6.6 Conclusion 19

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3. References 20

Appendix 1: Unicode chart and the Collation chart if deletion and relocation are not allowed 21

Appendix 2: Unicode chart and the Collation chart if deletion and relocation are allowed 24

Appendix 3: Output from FontLab displaying all glyphs in the glyph set standardised by KGP 27

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1. History of Kannada Language

Kannada is a south Indian language spoken in Karnataka state of India.Kannada is originated from

the Dravidian Language. Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam are the other South Indian Languages originated

from Dravidian Language. Kannada and Telugu have almost the same script. Malayalam and Tamil

have resemblance. Kannada as a language has undergone modifications since BCs. It can be

classified into four types-

Purva Halegannada (from the beginning till 10th Century)

Halegannada (from 10th Century to 12th Century)

Nadugannada (from 12th Century to 15th Century)

Hosagannada (from 15th Century)

1.1 Description of Kannada Script

Kannada script is the visual form of Kannada language. It originated from southern Bramhi lipi of

Ashoka period. It underwent modifications periodically in the reign of Sathavahanas, Kadambas,

Gangas, Rastrakutas, and Hoysalas. Even before seventh-Century, the Telugu-Kannada script was

used in the inscriptions of the Kadambas of Banavasi and the early Chalukya of Badami in the west.

From the middle of the seventh century the archaic variety of the Telugu-Kannada script developed a

middle variety. The modern Kannada and Telugu scripts emerged in the thirteenth Century. Kannada

script is also used to write Tulu, Konkani and Kodava languages.

Kannada along with other Indian language scripts shares a large number of structural features. The

writing system of Kannada script encompasses the principles governing the phonetics and a syllabic

writing systems, and phonemic writing systems (alphabets). The effective unit of writing Kannada is

the orthographic syllable consisting of a consonant and vowel (CV) core and optionally, one or more

preceding consonants, with a canonical structure of ((C) C) CV. The orthographic syllable need not

correspond exactly with a phonological syllable, especially when a consonant cluster is involved, but

the writing system is built on phonological principles and tends to correspond quite closely to

pronunciation. The orthographic syllable is built up of alphabetic pieces, the actual letters of Kannada

script. These consist of distinct character types: Consonant letters, independent vowels and the

corresponding dependent vowel signs. In a text sequence, these characters are stored in logical

phonetic order.

The Kannada block of Unicode Standard (0C80 to 0CFF) is based on ISCII-1988 (Indian Standard

Code for Information Interchange). The Unicode Standard (Version 3) encodes Kannada characters

in the same relative positions as those coded in the ISCII-1988 standard.

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1.2 Brief introduction to Kannada language

1.2.1 Vowels (Swaras) Vowels are the independently existing letters which are called Swaras. They

are-

ಅ ಆ ಇ ಈ ಉ ಊ ಋ ಎ ಏ ಐ ಒ ಓ ಔ

There are two types of Swaras depending on the time used to pronounce. They are Hrasva Swara

and Deerga Swara.

Hrasva Swara

A freely existing independent vowel which can be pronounced in a single matra time (matra kala) also

called as a matra. They are-

ಅ ಇ ಉ ಋ ಎ ಐ ಒ ಔ

Deergha Swara A freely existing independent vowel which can be pronounced in two matras. They are-

ಆ ಈ ಊ ಏ ಓ

1.2.2 Anuswaras ಅಂ

1.2.3 Visarga ಅಃ

1.2.4 Avagraha Also called as Plutha, which is used for the third matra either in a consonant or a

vowel.

1.2.5 Consonants (Vyanjanas) These are dependent on vowels to take a independent form of the

Consonant.These can be divided into Vargeeya and Avargeeya.

Vargeeya Vyanjanas

ಕ � ಖ � ಗ � ಘ � ಙ �ಚ � ಛ � ಜ � ಝ � ಞ �ತ � ಥ � ದ � ಧ � ನ �ಟ � ಠ � ಡ � ಢ � ಣ �ಪ � ಫ � ಬ � ಭ � ಮ �

Avargeeya Vyanjanas

ಯ � ರ � ಲ � ವ � ಶ � ಷ � ಸ � ಹ � ಳ �

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1.2.6 Basic Language Rule in Kannada

When a dependent consonant combines with an independent vowel, a Akshara is formed.

Consonant (Vyanjana) + Vowel (matra) ---> Letter (Akshara)

Example: ಕ � + ಅ ---> ಕ

Based on this rule we can combine all the Consonants (Vyanjanas) with the existing Vowels (matra)

to form Kagunitha for Kannada alphabet.

ಕ ಕಾ ಕ ಕ7 ಕು ಕೂ ಕೃ ಕ ಕ7 ಕ< ಕೂ ಕೂ7 ಕ ಕಂ ಕಃಖ ಖಾ ಖ ಖ7 ಖು ಖೂ ಖೃ ಖ ಖ7 ಖ< ಖೂ ಖೂ7 ಖ ಖಂ ಖಃಗ ಗಾ ಗ ಗ7 ಗು ಗೂ ಗೃ ಗ ಗ7 ಗ< ಗೂ ಗೂ7 ಗ ಗಂ ಗಃಘ ಘಾ ಘ ಘ7 ಘೃ ಘ ಘ7 ಘ< ಘೊ ಘೊ ಘೊ7 ಘ ಘಂ ಘಃಙ ಙಾ ಙ ಙ7 ಙು ಙೂ ಙೃ ಙ ಙ7 ಙ< ಙೊ ಙೊ7 ಙ ಙಂ ಙಃಚ ಚಾ ಚ ಚ7 ಚು ಚೂ ಚೃ ಚ ಚ7 ಚ< ಚೂ ಚೂ7 ಚ ಚಂ ಚಃಛಾ ಛ ಛ7 ಛು ಛೂ ಛೃ ಛ ಛ7 ಛ< ಛೂ ಛೂ7 ಛ ಛಂ ಛಃಜ ಜಾ ಜ ಜ7 ಜು ಜೂ ಜೃ ಜ ಜ7 ಜ< ಜೂ ಜೂ7 ಜ ಜಂ ಜಃಝ ಝಾ ಝ ಝ7 ಝು ಝೂ ಝೃ ಝ ಝ7 ಝ< ಝೂ ಝೂ7 ಝ ಝಂ ಝಃಞ ಞಾ ಞ ಞ7 ಞು ಞೂ ಞೃ ಞ ಞ7 ಞ< ಞೊ ಞೊ7 ಞ ಞಂ ಞಃತ ತಾ ತ ತ7 ತು ತೂ ತೃ ತ ತ7 ತ< ತೂ ತೂ7 ತ ತಂ ತಃಥ ಥಾ ಥ ಥ7 ಥು ಥೂ ಥೃ ಥ ಥ7 ಥ< ಥೂ ಥೂ7 ಥ ಥಂ ಥಃದ ದಾ ದ ದ7 ದು ದೂ ದೃ ದ ದ7 ದ< ದೂ ದೂ7 ದ ದಂ ದಃಧ ಧಾ ಧ ಧ7 ಧು ಧೂ ಧೃ ಧ ಧ7 ಧ< ಧೂ ಧೂ7 ಧ ಧಂ ಧಃನ ನಾ ನ ನ7 ನು ನೂ ನೃ ನ ನ7 ನ< ನೂ ನೂ7 ನ ನಂ ನಃಟ ಟಾ ಟ ಟ7 ಟು ಟೂ ಟೃ ಟ ಟ7 ಟ< ಟೂ ಟೂ7 ಟ ಟಂ ಟಃಠ ಠಾ ಠ ಠ7 ಠು ಠೂ ಠೃ ಠ ಠ7 ಠ< ಠೂ ಠೂ7 ಠ ಠಂ ಠಃಡ ಡಾ ಡ ಡ7 ಡು ಡೂ ಡೃ ಡ ಡ7 ಡ< ಡೂ ಡೂ7 ಡ ಡಂ ಡಃಡ ಢಾ ಢ ಢ7 ಢು ಢೂ ಢೃ ಢ ಢ7 ಢ< ಢೂ ಢೂ7 ಢ ಢಂ ಢಃಣ ಣಾ ಣ ಣ7 ಣು ಣೂ ಣೃ ಣ ಣ7 ಣ< ಣೂ ಣೂ7 ಣ ಣಂ ಣಃಪ ಪಾ ಪ ಪ7 ಪು ಪೂ ಪೃ ಪ ಪ7 ಪ< ಪೊ ಪೊ7 ಪ ಪಂ ಪಃ

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ಫ ಫಾ ಫ ಫ7 ಫು ಫೂ ಫೃ ಫ ಫ7 ಫ< ಫೊ ಫೊ7 ಫ ಫಂ ಫಃಬ ಬಾ ಬ ಬ7 ಬು ಬೂ ಬೃ ಬ ಬ7 ಬ< ಬೂ ಬೂ7 ಬ ಬಂ ಬಃಭ ಭಾ ಭ ಭ7 ಭು ಭೂ ಭೃ ಭ ಭ7 ಭ< ಭೂ ಭೂ7 ಭ ಭಂ ಭಃಮ ಮಾ ಮ ಮ7 ಮು ಮೂ ಮೃ ಮ ಮ7 ಮ< ಮೊ ಮೊ7 ಮ ಮಂ ಮಃಯ ಯಾ ಯ ಯ7 ಯು ಯೂ ಯೃ ಯ ಯ7 ಯ< ಯೊ ಯೊ7 ಯ ಯಂ ಯಃರ ರಾ ರ ರ7 ರು ರೂ ರೃ ರ ರ7 ರ< ರೂ ರೂ7 ರ ರಂ ರಃಲ ಲಾ ಲ ಲ7 ಲು ಲೂ ಲೃ ಲ ಲ7 ಲ< ಲೂ ಲೂ7 ಲ ಲಂ ಲಃವ ವಾ ವ ವ7 ವು ವೂ ವೃ ವ ವ7 ವ< ವೊ ವೊ7 ವ ವಂ ವಃಶ ಶಾ ಶ ಶ7 ಶು ಶೂ ಶೃ ಶ ಶ7 ಶ< ಶೂ ಶೂ7 ಶ ಶಂ ಶಃಷ ಷಾ ಷ ಷ7 ಷು ಷೂ ಷೃ ಷ ಷ7 ಷ< ಷೂ ಷೂ7 ಷಸ ಸಾ ಸ ಸ7 ಸು ಸೂ ಸೃ ಸ ಸ7 ಸ< ಸೂ ಸೂ7 ಸ ಸಂ ಸಃಹ ಹಾ ಹ ಹ7 ಹು ಹೂ ಹೃ ಹ ಹ7 ಹ< ಹೂ ಹೂ7 ಹ ಹಂ ಹಃಳ ಳಾ ಳ ಳ7 ಳು ಳೂ ಳೃ ಳ ಳ7 ಳ< ಳೊ ಳೊ7 ಳ ಳಂ ಳಃ

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2. Technical Characteristics

Note: The Convention followed from this section of the document is same as the Unicode Chapter 9

(South and Southeast Asian Scripts) and might not be grammatically correct.

2.1 Kannada Alphabet Characteristic

2.1.2 Consonant Letters

Each of the consonant represents a single consonantal sound but also has the peculiarity of having

inherent vowel, generally the short vowel ಅ (U+0C85). Thus, U+0C95 Kannada letter KA represents

not just K (ಕ ) but KA (ಕ). In the presence of the dependent vowel, however, the inherent vowel

associated with a consonant letter is overridden by the dependent vowel. The different Consonants in

Kannada are:

ಕ ಖ ಗ ಘ ಙ

ಚ ಛ ಜ ಝ ಞ

ತ ಥ ದ ಧ ನ

ಟ ಠ ಡ ಢ ಣ

ಪ ಫ ಬ ಭ ಮ

ಯ ರ ಲ ವ

ಶ ಷ ಸ ಹ ಳ

2.1.3 Dependent Vowel Signs (Matras)

The dependent vowels, also known as Swaras in Kannada, serve as the common manner of writing

non-inherent vowels and are generally referred to as Swara Chinhas in Kannada or Matras in

Sanskrit. The dependent vowels do not appear stand-alone; rather, they are visibly depicted in

combination with a base-letter form (generally a consonant). A single consonant or a consonant

cluster may have a dependent vowel applied to it to indicate the vowel quality of the syllable, when it

is different from the inherent vowel. Explicit appearance of a dependent vowel in a syllable overrides

the inherent vowel ಆ (U +0C85) of a single consonant letter.

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There are several variations with which the dependent vowels are applied to the base letterforms.

Most of them appear as non-spacing dependent vowels signs when applied to base letterforms;

above to the right side of a consonant letter or a consonant cluster. The following are the exceptions

and variations for the above rule:

The two dependent vowel signs (U+0CCC3 & U+0CC4) appear one level below and to the right

of the consonant or the consonant cluster, separated by a small white space.

Each of the five dependent vowels (U+0CC0, U+0CC7, U+0CC8, U+0CCA & U+0CCB) are

depicted by two or three glyph components (two part or three part vowel signs ) with one

component appearing with a space to the right of the consonant or the consonant cluster.

i) In the case o f three the above-mentioned two/three-part dependent vowels (at U+0CC0,

U+0CC7, U+0CCB), the non-spacing components of each of them is (are) the same as the

vowel sign(s) of the corresponding preceding short vowels. The spacing component for each

of these dependent vowels is the same ‘length mark U+0CD5 given in Unicode version 3.

The logic for this is that these dependent vowels are nothing but the long forms (independent

and phonetically distinct) of the preceding short vowels.

ii) The first component of the dependent vowel (U+0CC8) mentioned above, is the same as

the dependent vowel ( ¹, U+0CC6) with the second component (U+0CD6) defined

independently in Unicode version 3. The second part appears slightly below and to the right

of the consonant or the consonant clusters.

In view of this, it is important to note that the two glyphs (the length mark and the second

component of ¹<) represent with the codes at U+0CD5 and U+0CD6 in Unicode version 3 have no

independent existence and do not play any part as independent codes in the collation algorithm.

Unlike Devanagari, the Kannada script does not have any character with a left-side dependent

vowel sign.

A one-to-one correspondence exists between independent vowels and dependent vowel signs.

The Matras are-

ಾ º º7 ು ೂ ೃ ¹ ¹7 ¹< ¹ೂ ¹ೂ7 ಂ ಃ

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2.1.4 Virama (Halant)

Like Devanagari, Kannada script also employs a sign known as Halant or vowel omission sign. A

halant sign ( �, U+0CCD) nominally serves to cancel (or kill) the inherent vowel of the consonant to

which it is applied. It functions as a combining character. When a consonant has lost its inherent

vowel by the application of halant, it is known as a dead consonant. The dead consonants are the

presentation forms used to depict the consonants without an inherent vowel. Their rendered forms in

Kannada resemble the full consonant with vertical stem replaced by the halant sign, which marks a

character core. The stem glyph (U+0CBB) is graphically and historically related to the sign denoting

the inherent /a/ (ಅ) vowel (U+0C85). In contrast, a live consonant is a consonant that retains its

inherent vowel or is written with an explicit dependent vowel sign. The dead consonant is defined as a

sequence consisting of a consonant letter followed by a halant. The default rendering for a dead

consonant is to position the halant as a combining mark bound to the consonant letterform. The

Halant in Kannada is �

2.1.5 Consonant Conjuncts

Like any other Indian script, Kannada is also noted for a large number of consonant conjunct forms

that serve as orthographic abbreviations (ligatures) of two or more adjacent forms. This abbreviation

takes place only in the context of a consonant cluster. An orthographic consonant cluster is defined

as a sequence of characters that represent one or more dead consonants (denoted by C d) followed

by a normal live consonant (denoted by Cl).

Corresponding to each Kannada consonant, there exists a separate and unique glyph, which is

specially used to represent the corresponding consonant in a consonant cluster. Most of these

conjunct consonant glyphs resemble their original consonant forms (many without the implicit vowel

sign, wherever applicable).

In Kannada, there is only one type of conjunct formation (consonant cluster) and it is depicted as

follows:

The first consonant of the consonant cluster is rendered with the implicit or a different

dependant vowel appearing as the terminal element of the consonant cluster.

The remaining consonants (consonants in between the first consonant and the terminal

vowel element) appear in conjunct consonant glyph forms in the phonetic order. They are

generally depicted directly below or sometimes below but to the right of the first consonant.

Thus, the systematically designed Kannada script font contains the conjunct glyph components, but

they are not encoded as Unicode characters, because they are the resultant of ligation of distinct

letters. Kannada script rendering software must be able to map appropriate combinations of

characters in context to the appropriate conjunct glyphs in fonts.

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2.1.6 Visarg

Comes after a vowel sound and represents a sound similar to /h/.

2.1.7 Avagraha

Avagraha sign is a spacing mark used while rendering Sanskrit text. This is located at U+0CBD.

2.1.8 Numerals

Kannada numerals are located from U+0CE6 to U+0CEF

2.1.9 Punctuation Marks

All Punctuation mark in Kannada is borrowed from English.

These characters are not included in the range for Kannada in the Unicode Character set.

2.1.10 Ancient Signs

Some of he Halegannada characters are placed at U+0C8C, U+0CB1, U+0CE1.

2.2 Fonts

There are a number of TrueType fonts available for Kannada among which some of them follow an

encoding standard (like ISCII) and others do not follow any encoding standard and is tied to a

proprietary encoding. The Kannada Ganaka Parishat has standardised the glyph set to be used by all

the Software that support Kannada. Annexure-1 displays the glyphs standardised by KGP. Microsoft

has released an OpenType font (with TrueType outlines) for Kannada – “Tunga.ttf” that follows

Unicode as its encoding standard.

2.2.1 Font Developing Tools

The OpenType font format is an extension of the TrueType font format, adding support for PostScript

font data.The following tools can be used for designing of the OpenType Font.

FontLab version 4.0 (A trial version for Windows is available for download at

http://www.fontlab.com/html/fontlab.html#downloads)

Font Creator Program version 3.0 (A trial version is available for download at

http://www.high-logic.com/download.htm)

Fontographer version 4.1 (No trial version is available. For more information -

http://www.macromedia.com/software/fontographer/)

Microsoft Visual OpenType Layout Tool "VOLT" provides an easy-to-use graphical user

interface to add OpenType layout tables to fonts with TrueType outlines. It is licensed free

and can be downloaded from the online community

http://communities.msn.com/MicrosoftVOLTuserscommunity

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2.3 Keyboard

Inputting Kannada or any other Indian language needs Keyboard driver / Input Method, which is a

Software Component that interprets user operations such as typing keys. There are many Keyboard

Drivers/Input Methods available in the market for Windows Operating Systems like Baraha, Sreelipi,

Akruthi, Kalitha etc. They follow different encoding methods (glyph codes) and support different

keyboard layouts like INSCRIPT, English Phonetic, Typewriter 1, and Typewriter 2.

Microsoft supports Input Methods for nine Indian languages (including Kannada) in Office XP on

Windows XP with INSCRIPT keyboard layout, which is common to all Indian languages and uses

Unicode as the encoding Standard.

Government of Karnataka (Kannada Ganaka Parishat) has proposed a Standard Keyboard layout for

Kannada. In this layout only 26 keys which are painted with English characters on a Keyboard can be

used to represent 51 basic alphabets and special symbols in Kannada (13 swaras, 34 consonants

and 4 special symbols). This is possible as each key has a dual function of representing the small

case (normal key) and Capital case (Shift key) letters in English, as shown in the figure 2.1

Fig. 2.1: Keyboard Layout proposed by Kannada Ganaka Parishath.

Since the 51 keys have been used while the keyboard provides 52 possibilities, that option (key X is

not assigned) can be used to represent foreign sounds such as combination of Nukta and ಫ.

Besides, there is a need to represent the old ಱ. The combination of X with consonant ರ yields ಱ.

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2.4 Presentation and Storage Considerations

The order for storage of plain text in Kannada generally follows the phonetic order, that is, a CV

syllable with a dependant vowel is always encoded as a consonant letter C followed by a vowel sign

V in the memory representation. This order is employed by the ISCII standard and corresponds with

phonetic and keying order of textual data. Unlike Devanagari and some other Indian scripts, all the

dependent vowels in Kannada are depicted to the right of their consonant letters. Hence there is no

need to reorder the elements in mapping from the logical (character) store to the presentation (glyph)

rendering and vice versa.

Character order Glyph order

KA + I KA + I

ಕ + ಇ ಕ

Further, Kannada script does not allow half-consonants, ligatures and half ligature forms.

2.5 Rendering Rules

(Based on Microsoft Uniscribe-OpenType implementation of the UNICODE Rendering Rules)

2.5.1 Notation. In the next set of rules, the following notation applies:

Cn Nominal glyph form of a consonant C as it appears in the code charts.

Cl A live consonant, depicted identically to Cn.

Cd Glyph depicting the dead consonant form of a consonant C.

Ch Glyph depicting the half-consonant form of a consonant C.

Ln Nominal glyph form of a conjunct ligature consisting of two or more component

consonants. A conjunct ligature composed of two consonants X and Y is also

denoted by X.Yn.

RAsub A non-spacing combining mark glyph form positioned below the base glyph form.

Vvs Glyph depicting the dependent vowel sign form of a vowel V.

Viraman The nominal glyph form non-spacing combining mark depicting U+0CCD Kannada

sign Virama.

A virama character is not always depicted; when it is depicted, it adopts this non-spacing mark form.

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2.5.1 Dead Consonant Rule. The following rule logically precedes the application of any other rule to

form a dead consonant. Once formed, a dead consonant may be subject to other rules described

next.

R0: When a consonant Cn precedes a VIRAMAn, it is considered to be a dead consonant Cd. A

consonant Cn that does not precede VIRAMAn is considered to be live consonant Cl.

TAn + VIRAMAn TAd

ತ + ತ

(Based on Microsoft Uniscribe-OpenType implementation of the UNICODE Rendering Rules)

2.5.2 Consonant RA Rules:

R1: If the dead consonant RAd precedes either a consonant or an independent vowel, then it is

replaced by the postscript ARKAVATTU, which is positioned so that it applies to the logically

subsequent element in the memory representation.

RAd + KAl KAl + ARKAVATTU Displayed Output

ರ + ಕ ಕ +ARKAVATTU ಕ�

R2: Except for the dead consonant RAd, when a dead consonant Cd precedes the live consonant RAl,

then Cd is replaced with its nominal form Cn , and RA is replaced by the subscript non-spacing mark

RAsub , which is positioned so that it applies to Cn.

THAd + RAl THAn + RAsub Displayed Output

ಠ + ರ ಠ + RAsub ಠರ

R3: If a dead consonant (other than RAd) precedes RAd, then the substitution of RA for RAsub is

performed as described above; however, the VIRAMA that formed RAd remains so as to form a dead

consonant conjunct form. A dead consonant conjunct form that contains an absorbed RAd may

subsequently combine to form a multipart conjunct form.

TAd + RAd TAn + RAsub + VIRAMAn T.RAd

ತ + ರ ತ + RAsub + ತರ

A dead consonant conjunct form that contains an absorbed RAd may subsequently combine to form a multipart conjunct form.

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T.RAd + YAl T.R.YAn

ತರ + ಯ ತರಯ

Ligature Rules: Subsequent to the application of the rules just described, a set of rules governing

ligature formation apply. The precise application of these rules depends on the availability of glyphs in

the current font(s) being used to display text.

R4: If a dead consonant immediately precedes another dead consonant or a live consonant, then the first

dead consonant may join the subsequent element to form a twopart conjunct ligature form.

JAd + NYAl J.NYAn

ಜ + ಞ ಜಞ

R5: A conjunct ligature form can itself behave as a dead consonant and enter into further, more complex

ligatures.

SAd + TAd + KAl S.T.KAn

ಸ + ತ + ಕ ಸತಕ

R6: If a nominal consonant or conjunct ligature form precedes RAsub as a result of the application of rule

R2, then the consonant or ligature form may join with RAsub to form a multipart conjunct ligature (see rule

R2 for more information).

KAl + RAd K.RAn

ಕ + ರ ಕರ

R7: In some cases, other combining marks will also combine with a base consonant, either attaching at a

nonstandard location or changing shape. In minimal rendering there are only two cases, RAl with Uvs or

UUvs .

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RAl + Uvs RUn RAl + UUvs RUUn

ರ + � ರ� ರ + � ರ�

R8: When the dependent vowel Ivs is used to override the inherent vowel of a syllable, it is always written

to the extreme left of the orthographic syllable. If the orthographic syllable contains a consonant cluster,

then this vowel is always depicted to the left of that cluster.

THAd + RAl + Ivs T.RIn

ತ + ರ + � ತರರ

2.6 Sorting issues in Kannada

The sorting sequence for Kannada Unicode is as per the collation chart given as an annexure.

However, the following are some important issues, which have to be addressed separately for proper

sorting of data in Kannada.

ISCII – 91 provides direct sorting through its codes. It is the natural sorting method just based on

code values. There are no special algorithms for language specific issues for sorting the data. This

results in non-conventional sorting in some specific cases. The scholars in Kannada have specified

the sorting standards in Kannada. These standards are being followed in all dictionaries and other

documents in Kannada. With this in view, the following four special cases have been identified.

2.6.1 Sorting of Nukta characters

The modifying mark or Nukta located at U+0CBC and included in the collation table is enough to take

care of the sorting issues of characters ಜ + (U+0CBC) (modified ಜ) and ಫ + (U+0CBC) (modified

ಫ). It also takes care of any other consonant, which may be modified using Nukta.

2.6.2 Sorting the data records containing anuswara and visarga

In case of sorting a data set containing words terminating with anuswara, visarga together with other

words, words without terminating dependent vowels are placed in wrong positions.

Sorting sequence as per the Unicode is according to the specified standards if the anuswara

and visarga appear within a word.

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2.6.3 Sorting of words with dead consonants

Sorting of words terminating with dead consonants

Sorting in this case also violates the sorting rules of Kannada. The Unicode sorting places the

word terminating with the dead consonant at the end of the list. The following list compares

the sorting of a sample data using Unicode table and the acceptable sorting for this case.

Sorted data as per Unicode Acceptable sorting

ರಾಕ ರಾಕ

ರಾಕ ರಾಕ

ರಾಗ ರಾಗ

ರಾಗೋ�# ರಾಗ

ರಾಗ ರಾಗೋ�#

Dead consonants within words

Proper sorting of data with such words can be achieved by using the invisible zero width

consonant just after the dead consonant.

To circumvent unacceptable situations mentioned in 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 above, the Unicode Standard

character U+200C (Zero width Non-Joiner) can be used appropriately in the preprocessor and

collation algorithms.

2.6.4 Sorting of Conjuncts having two different display forms

Two such conjuncts are rendered in Kannada at present.

Conjuncts with (U+0CB0) as the first consonant

This has been explained at an earlier section as Consonant RA rules (section 2.5.2)

Words containing both the display forms of the same consonant cluster with ರ (U+0CB0) as the first

consonant of the cluster had to be sorted as follows. Even though the display rendering are different,

both are identical in all respects. It is therefore natural that they should appear at consecutive

positions. Even though a separate glyph and a corresponding glyph code are present in the

display/storage codes such an arrangement in Unicode will not render for proper sorting.

The only alternative is to represent both the display forms by the same set of codes with a

distinguishing code (U+0CF5) within the string for the second display form. In Unicode form, the

distinguishing code value within the string of the consonant sorting. This can be achieved through

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preprocessing software, with specific functions to generate proper glyph codes, storage codes and

Unicode at different levels. Such a situation–specific code representation guarantees proper sorting

of data containing consonant clusters with two different display forms by ignoring the code U+0CF5

for . This condition has to be incorporated at the appropriate place in the sorting algorithm.

The second case of rendering a same character in two different display forms is the dead

consonant ನ . It is also written in a second form as U+0CF5. Sorting issue in regards to this case

is also dealt with the same way as in the previous case.

The zero width Non-Joiner at U+200C cannot be used instead of (U+0CF5),as the same sequence of

characters appear both with Zero width Non-Joiner and with U+0CF5, the two sequences

representing two different syllables (conjuncts).

2.6.5 Sorting of Diacritic characters

Diacritic characters formed using symbols located at 0CD1, 0CD2, 0CD3, 0CD4 and 0CF9 to render

accents to consonants, are considered to be equivalent to the corresponding consonants for sorting

purposes and hence the above procedure can be adopted in such cases also.

2.6.6 Conclusion

The sorting issues mentioned above may have multiple solutions. Similar issues might have been

solved by different methods in respect of other Indian languages. Hence, it is desirable to evolve

uniform procedures for issues common to all Indian languages. However, solutions for sorting

problems mentioned here with respect Kannada have been obtained by considering all consonants

from U+0C95 to U+0CB9 and the consonant U+0CDE when they appear independently in a data field

as pure consonants (i.e. as two part coded[Ex:0C95=(0C95,0CBB)]). The sorting of a data field is

achieved by the indexing method. All these can be elaborated to give the actual algorithms and floe

charts, if need be.

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References:

1. “South and South East Asian Scripts”, Chapter 9 of The Unicode Standard (Version 3.0),

http://www.unicode.org/

2. “Creating and Supporting Open Type Fonts for Indic Scripts”,

http://www.microsoft.com/typography

3. “Unicode for Kannada Script” (written by Dr. CV Srinatha Sastry), Directorate of Information

Technology, Government of Karnataka

4. “User-Friendly Keyboard Layout for Kannada”, Kannada Ganaka Parishat

5. “Standards for Kannada in Computers prescribed by the Government of Karnataka”, Kannada

Ganaka Parishat.

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Appendix – 1

Unicode Chart and Collation if the suggested deletion and relocation of characters are not allowed

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Suggested Unicode for Kannada if deletion and relocation of Characters are not allowed

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0C8 0C9 0CA 0CB 0CC 0CD 0CE 0CF

0 ▓▓ ಐ ಠ ರ º7 ▓▓ ೠ ▓▓

1 ▓▓ ▓▓ ಡ ಱ ು ೡ ▓▓

2 ಂ ಒ ಢ ಲ ೂ ▓▓ ▓▓

3 ಃ ಓ ಣ ಳ ೃ ▓▓ ▓▓

4 ▓▓ ಔ ತ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓

5 ಅ ಕ ಥ ವ ▓▓ 7 ▓▓

6 ಆ ಖ ದ ಶ ¹ < 0 ▓▓

7 ಇ ಗ ಧ ಷ ¹7 ▓▓ ೧ ▓▓

8 ಈ ಘ ನ ಸ ¹< ▓▓ ೨ ▓▓

9 ಉ ಙ ▓▓ ಹ ▓▓ ▓▓ ೩

A ಊ ಚ ಪ ¹ೂ ▓▓ ೪ ▓▓

B ಋ ಛ ಫ ¹ೂ7 ▓▓ ೫ ▓▓

C ಜ ಬ ▓▓ ೬ ▓▓

D ▓▓ ಝ ಭ � ▓▓ ೭ ▓▓

E ಎ ಞ ಮ ಾ ▓▓ ೮ ▓▓

F ಏ ಟ ಯ º ▓▓ ▓▓ ೯ ▓▓

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Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5

0C82ಂ

0CCD �

0C96ಖ

0CA6ದ

0CB9ಹ

0C83ಃ

0CBB 0C97ಗ

0CA7ಧ

0CB3ಳ

0C85ಅ

0CBEಾ

0C98ಘ

0CA8ನ

0CB4

0C86ಆ

0CBFº

0C99ಙ

0CAAಪ

0CBC

0C87ಇ

0CC0º7

0C9Aಚ

0CABಫ

0C88ಈ

0CC1ು

0C9Bಛ

0CACಬ

0C89ಉ

0CC2ೂ

0C9Cಜ

0CADಭ

0C8Aಊ

0CC3ೃ

0C9Dಝ

0CAEಮ

0C8Bಋ

0CC4Ç

0C9Eಞ

0CAFಯ

0CE0ೠ

0CC6¹

0C9Fಟ

0CB0ರ

0C8Eಎ

0CC7¹7

0CA0ಠ

0CB1ಱ

0C8Fಏ

0CC8¹<

0CA1ಡ

0CB2ಲ

0C90ಐ

0CCA¹ೂ

0CA2ಢ

0CB5ವ

0C92ಒ

0CCB¹ೂ7

0CA3ಣ

0CB6ಶ

0C93ಓ

0CCC

0CA4ತ

0CB7ಷ

0C94ಔ

0C95ಕ

0CA5ಥ

0CB8ಸ

Collating sequence of Kannada Unicode characters, if additions and relocations are not allowed. The sequence is column wise, top to bottom

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Appendix – 2

Unicode Chart and Collation if the suggested deletion and relocation of characters are allowed

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Suggested Unicode for Kannada if deletions and relocation of characters are allowed

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0C8 0C9 0CA 0CB 0CC 0CD 0CE 0CF

0 ▓▓ ಐ ಠ ರ º7 ▓▓ ೠ ▓▓

1 ▓▓ ▓▓ ಡ ಱ ು ▓▓ ▓▓

2 ಂ ಒ ಢ ಲ ೂ ▓▓ ▓▓

3 ಃ ಓ ಣ ಳ ೃ ▓▓ ▓▓

4 ▓▓ ಔ ತ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓

5 ಅ ಕ ಥ ವ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓

6 ಆ ಖ ದ ಶ ¹ ▓▓ 0 ▓▓

7 ಇ ಗ ಧ ಷ ¹7 ▓▓ ೧ ▓▓

8 ಈ ಘ ನ ಸ ¹< ▓▓ ೨ ▓▓

9 ಉ ಙ ▓▓ ಹ ▓▓ ▓▓ ೩

A ಊ ಚ ಪ ¹ೂ ▓▓ ೪ ▓▓

B ಋ ಛ ಫ ¹ೂ7 ▓▓ ೫ ▓▓

C ▓▓ ಜ ಬ ▓▓ ೬ ▓▓

D ▓▓ ಝ ಭ � ▓▓ ೭ ▓▓

E ಎ ಞ ಮ ಾ ▓▓ ▓▓ ೮ ▓▓

F ಏ ಟ ಯ º ▓▓ ▓▓ ೯ ▓▓

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Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5

0C82ಂ

0CCD �

0C96ಖ

0CA6ದ

0CB9ಹ

0C83ಃ

0CBB 0C97ಗ

0CA7ಧ

0CB3ಳ

0C85ಅ

0CBEಾ

0C98ಘ

0CA8ನ

0CB4

0C86ಆ

0CBFº

0C99ಙ

0CAAಪ

0CBC

0C87ಇ

0CC0º7

0C9Aಚ

0CABಫ

0C88ಈ

0CC1ು

0C9Bಛ

0CACಬ

0C89ಉ

0CC2ೂ

0C9Cಜ

0CADಭ

0C8Aಊ

0CC3ೃ

0C9Dಝ

0CAEಮ

0C8Bಋ

0CC4Ç

0C9Eಞ

0CAFಯ

0CE0ೠ

0CC6¹

0C9Fಟ

0CB0ರ

0C8Eಎ

0CC7¹7

0CA0ಠ

0CB1ಱ

0C8Fಏ

0CC8¹<

0CA1ಡ

0CB2ಲ

0C90ಐ

0CCA¹ೂ

0CA2ಢ

0CB5ವ

0C92ಒ

0CCB¹ೂ7

0CA3ಣ

0CB6ಶ

0C93ಓ

0CCC

0CA4ತ

0CB7ಷ

0C94ಔ

0C95ಕ

0CA5ಥ

0CB8ಸ

Collating sequence of Kannada Unicode characters, if additions and relocations are allowed. The sequence is column wise, top to bottom.

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Appendix – 3

Output from FontLab displaying all glyphs in the glyph set standardised by KGP

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