1 / 35

Evolution of Alphabets & Bidirectional Scripts Support

Explore the development of alphabets, from hieroglyphics to modern scripts, and the challenges of bidirectionality in text layout and processing. Learn about the implementation aspects and GUI mirroring for diverse languages.

davidlyons
Download Presentation

Evolution of Alphabets & Bidirectional Scripts Support

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Alphabets of Languageswith Bidirectional Scriptsand their Support Israel Ervin Gidali IBM Globalization Centre of Competency- Complex Text Languages

  2. Agenda • The predecessors of the first true alphabets • The first alphabets • Direction of writing • The “modern” RTL scripts • Bidirectionality • Bidi– some of the challenges • Implementation aspects

  3. The Alphabet Predecessors The predecessors of the first true alphabets: The Egyptian hieroglyphics (since 3000 BCE) The Mesopotamian cuneiforms (since 3100 BCE)

  4. The Egyptian Hieroglyphs Pictograms Logograms Phonograms

  5. The Cuneiform Writing Systems logo-syllabic syllabic words

  6. The First Alphabets

  7. The First Semitic Alphabets Proto-Sinaic and Proto-Canaanite. • Originated around the 18th or 17th centuries BCE, under the influence of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

  8. The First Semitic Alphabets • The revolution: purely phonetic (only consonants without vowels). • Influenced originally by the polyphony practice in hieroglyphic and cuneiform scripts.

  9. Proto-Canaanite • Limit the set of sounds to 22 consonants only, still without vowels. • Acrophonic. • Letters easy to distinguish and remember (their shapes resemble familiar objects).

  10. Proto-Canaanite Descendents

  11. The alphabet success Proto-Canaanite, Phoenician and Greek

  12. Ancient Hebrew and Samaritan

  13. South Arabian

  14. Aramaic

  15. The Square Hebrew Script

  16. Nabatean

  17. Direction of Writing • Hieroglyphs were written in both directions. • Starting from the 11th century BCE, the writing direction of all Semitic scripts (except Ethiopic) is from right to left.

  18. The “Modern” RTL scripts אין כל-חדש תחת השמש (קהלת פרק א פסוק ט') There is nothing new under the sun. (Qohelet/Ecclesiastes 1/9)

  19. Arabic

  20. Arabic Script – the Script of Islam The Arabic script, the script of Quran, used for: • Arabic • Persian (Farsi) • Urdu • Ottoman Turkish (until 1929) • Uighur, Kazakh,Uzbek, Tajik, Kirghiz, • Old Malay, Swahili, Hausa, Baluchi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Pashto, Lahnda,Dargwa,Morrocan Arabic, Adighe, Ingush, Berber,Kurdish, Jawi/Javanese……

  21. Arabic Vowels

  22. Hebrew Script עברית שפה יפה • Used for: • Hebrew • Yiddish • Ladino (Judezmo) • Arabic • Karaite/Karaim • Turkish

  23. Hebrew Script

  24. Hebrew script and diacritics Hebrew text: בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ Vocalized with “points” and cantillation marks:

  25. Syriac

  26. Thaana

  27. Decimal digits forms European digits (Arabic digits): (Used in Hebrew script and in some Arabic countries) Arabic-Indic digits: (Used in Arabic) Numbers are written from left to right regardless of their form and regardless of regional variety

  28. Bidirectionality • National language (Arabic, Hebrew, etc...) text is written from Right to Left TXET CIBARA • Numbers and English (or French,Russian, etc.) text is written from Left to Right english text 123 TXET CIBARA

  29. Bidi Appearance Aspects- Directionality • Mixed direction of text segments: • Page alignment on the right • Book binding on the right • Mirroring of GUI elements (only when translated)

  30. Bidi Data Processing Aspects – some of the challenges • Bidirectional text data entry • Visual versus Logical text type • The Paragraph Orientation • Arabic script cursiveness: shaping and ligatures • Variety of text layouts in use

  31. The Bidi Layout Challenges • Bidirectional text in different systems and applications has multiple possible layouts • In heterogeneous environments proper layout transformations should be performed • Higher order protocols integration

  32. The Challenge of GUI Mirroring • When translating the interface of an application to a language with Bidirectional script, provisions must be made to ensure that the GUI is properly mirrored.

  33. Implementation Aspects • Almost all platforms and Operating Systems provide support for Bidirectional text entry and processing • New platforms should react to this challenge too • Except for adequately engraved keyboards, there is no need for special hardware for Bidi text support.

  34. Last Word • RTL scripts are not a novelty. As a matter of fact they have preceded the current Western world scripts • Their support is different but not necessarily much more complex, as long as one is prepared for it.

  35. The End Thank You

More Related