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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fonts
Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions inMalayalam fonts
Rajeesh & Aravind
July 25, 2020
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Malayalam script & Rachana
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Malayalam, the mother tongue of 45 million people of Kerala,southern most state in India is one of the 22 official languages ofIndia. It is 1600 years old Dravidian language and its script isclassified as Abugida, or alphasyllabary.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Unicode chart for Malayalam
https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0D00.pdf
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Old vs. New script
‘New lipi’ (alphabet) of Malayalam that appeared in 1970’s andlater popularized in DTP with 140 characters is a subset of theoriginal script with 900 conjuncts standardised by Benjamin Baileyin 1824. New lipi could easily be accommodated in fonts withRoman dimensions.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Rachana
When the language campaign named ‘Rachana’ began in 1999strongly advocating traditional script in Malayalam computing theorthography demanded more space below baseline for verticalconjuncts. Particularly after the advent of Unicode Malayalam in2004, the traditional script (Original Script), popularly known as‘Old Script’ is becoming more and more used in web publishing andprinting. Designing of fonts of original script satisfying dimensionsof Roman fonts exerts loads of pressure on the part of designers.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Rachana font
Here in this discussion Original Script (Old Lipi) is considered,since it is the super set of all other variations of New Lipi thatexist in various fonts used for word-processing and desktoppublishing (DTP).Original script consists of 51 basic characters which combine toform more than 900 conjuncts (ligatures).Rachana Font first designed in 1999 for the campaign fortraditional script underwent major modifications in 2000 andespecially in 2006 when the font became Unicode compliant anddistributed with GNU-GPL.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & RachanaSelected
Size:36 Font:racnew4Overlapped0 Text:yz{|}~ €‚ƒ„…†‡ˆ‰Š‹ŒŽ‘’“”•–—˜™š›œžŸ ¡¢£¤¥¦§¨©ª«¬-®¯°±²³´µ¶·¸¹º»¼½¾¿ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈ
� � �ÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñò 0 P Text:Printed by Fontographer 5.2 on 04-07-2020 at 18:45
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & RachanaSelected
Size:36 Font:racnew4Overlapped0 Text:yz{|}~ €‚ƒ„…†‡ˆ‰Š‹ŒŽ‘’“”•–—˜™š›œžŸ ¡¢£¤¥¦§¨©ª«¬-®¯°±²³´µ¶·¸¹º»¼½¾¿ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈ
� � �ÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñò 0 P Text:Printed by Fontographer 5.2 on 04-07-2020 at 18:45
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & RachanaSelected
Size:36 Font:racnew4Overlapped0 Text:yz{|}~ €‚ƒ„…†‡ˆ‰Š‹ŒŽ‘’“”•–—˜™š›œžŸ ¡¢£¤¥¦§¨©ª«¬-®¯°±²³´µ¶·¸¹º»¼½¾¿ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈ
� � �ÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñò 0 P Text:Printed by Fontographer 5.2 on 04-07-2020 at 18:45
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & RachanaSelected
Size:36 Font:racnew4Overlapped0 Text:yz{|}~ €‚ƒ„…†‡ˆ‰Š‹ŒŽ‘’“”•–—˜™š›œžŸ ¡¢£¤¥¦§¨©ª«¬-®¯°±²³´µ¶·¸¹º»¼½¾¿ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈ
� � �ÉÊËÌÍÎÏÐÑÒÓÔÕÖ×ØÙÚÛÜÝÞßàáâãäåæçèéêëìíîïðñò 0 P Text:Printed by Fontographer 5.2 on 04-07-2020 at 18:45
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsMalayalam script & Rachana
Now, after a long period of 15 years all 1000 plus glyphs inRachana are totally redesigned taking more graphical liberties withless constraints exerted by Roman typography.The paper explores new possibilities in Malayalam typography inthe light of possible distancing away from Roman typography.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConjuncts
Conjuncts
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConjuncts
Ligatures/Conjuncts
These considerations (i.e., moving away from Roman) are surfacedmainly related to Conjuncts (Ligature) in Malayalam whichamounts to nearly 20 times basic characters.Similar to Roman types Malayalam also have Ligatures, known asConjuncts. They are formed combining basic charactersAside from Roman fonts there exist two kinds of ligatures:Horizontal and Vertical conjuncts.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConjuncts
Ligatures/Conjuncts
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConjuncts
Conjuncts: Horizontal and VerticalConjuncts in Malayalam are formed in two ways —horizontal andvertical. For example, Basic characters ത (tha) and സ (sa)combine horizontally to form (thsa) i.e., ത + സ → , whereas സ and ത combine vertically, സ + ത → (stha).
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsBelow base Characters
Below base Characters
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsBelow base Characters
AChar and BChar
There are two parts in vertical conjuncts —Above Character(AChar) and Below Character (BChar). AChar is placed abovebase line filling x-height. BChars are always small in size w.r.t.AChars in handwriting, calligraphy and printing.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsBelow base Characters
Geometry of BChar
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsBelow base Characters
Below-base and BChar
Parts of glyphs in below base occur both in Roman and Malayalamglyphs. Basic characters in Malayalam (adopted to MalayalamUnicode Chart) are well fitted in above and below Spaces normallyallocated in Roman types.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsBelow base Characters
Roman Above-Below Spaces
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsBelow base Characters
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsObjective of the Paper
Objective of the Paper
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsObjective of the Paper
When it comes to Vertical conjuncts in Malayalam adaptations tobelow base space in Roman types poses serious inconveniences.Main objective of the paper is to show the peculiar property ofvertical conjuncts in Malayalam which is in perpetual collision withthe Roman Below base and how this is circumvented in thetypography of Rachana based on traditional script.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsObjective of the Paper
Bchar Out of Boundary
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Levels
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Levels in Below-base
Owing to consonant-vowel pairing, BChars have got 18 differentheights that constitutes different levels unheard in Roman fonts.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Levels 1–3
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Levels 4 & 5
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Levels 6–8
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Level 9
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Levels 10–12
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Levels 13–15
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Below-base Levels 16–18
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Treating BChar Levels
The height in between baseline and descent allotted for normalRoman fonts becomes too little for accommodating BChars invertical conjuncts. Often Malayalam fonts demand more heightbelow than in above. Below base space can not be compensatedby taking from the above space since some vowel signs takecap-height.i.e., Space above base is similar and equal as in Roman font butspace below base is hopelessly in-sufficient which needs unusualtreatments to handle with.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
One of the solutions to accommodate BChars in Roman-Below issqueeze all levels in to a single level. This is possible graphicallybut will produce distorted characters totally unacceptable toMalayalam aesthetics. In fact it will be unacceptable to typographyof any script in the world.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Varying vs. Constant levels
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Equalising similar heights
Compressing all levels into a single one obviously distorts the shapeof around 700 vertical conjuncts. Reducing the number of levelswas achieved by another method.In earlier Rachana font versions, attempts were made to reduce thenumber of levels by equalling near-heights. This resulted inreducing 18 levels to 6. By this it was hoped to attain an evenbelow-base form of characters in text. It might be a way also tocontain the unusual leading caused by vertical conjuncts.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Equalising levels 1, 4 and 6
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Equalising levels 7, 8 and 9
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Equalising levels 10 and 13
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsLevels
Equalising levels 11, 12, 14 and 15
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Deviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Typographic Deviations of BChar
Though vertical conjuncts have got two parts, above and below,they are integral parts of a single character. Naturally one mayexpect the same typographic characteristics in both parts, but inreality they differ (actually made to differ). Practically it is foundimpossible to keep the same types in above and below. Thesedifferences result in violations of basic rules of typography.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Let us consider creating the vertical conjunct using the samecharacter സ in above and below.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
When the same AChar is placed below,the conjunct produced is unbelievablydisproportional. The same type with thesame size produces visually oversizedBChar. BChar should be invariablysmall in Malayalam orthography.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
A 60% uniformly scaled Bcahr strictlyadheres to the typography, but producesan unbalanced shape.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
A more balanced shape is achieved withnon-uniform scaling. Let BChar is madewith horizontally 70% and vertically60% scaling. It produces a morepleasing effect compared to uniformscaling, at the same time not increasingthe vertical size. This proportion isapplied in Rachana to keep the heightof the below part as minimum aspossible, but a wider BChar to achievelegibility at lower point size (10 pt. or11 pt.) while typesetting.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Obviously, non-uniform scalingproduces a different type.This can be noticed by superimposingthe same sized AChar and BChar.In the next figure, the curve of BChar(gray in colour) often deviates fromAChar (red). This is a clear instance oftypographic deviation.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
This kind of typography with two kinds of types in the same shapeis improbable in Roman types. But Rachana takes liberty todeviate from accepted norms.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Extreme cases
Some vertical conjuncts are shaped deviating more from the usual70%–60% proportion.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
If 70%–60% scaling is applied BChar extends extremely beyondLeft bearing and Right bearing resulting in collision with neighbourcharacters. If kerning is adjusted to avoid this, white space left andright to AChar produce ‘Space effect’.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Only solution to these extreme cases is to apply a differentproportion to BChar. In Rachana 45%–50% scaling instead ofusual 70%–60% is used in designing these types of verticalConjuncts. It preserves normal character space.This kind of elasticity breaking all standard rules is perhaps notseen in typography of other Indic scripts.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
All these show that Malayalam fonts can not be designed acceptingthe dimensional calculations of Roman typography. This is more orless the case with all other Indic scripts due to the abundance ofconjuncts. Malayalam poses extreme cases of divergence whiledealing with vertical conjuncts.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsDeviations
Applying different proportions to different conjunct formations inthe same font is in no way in conformity with principles oftypography formulated for Roman types.The complexity here is comparable to typesetting mathematics inLatin.
Monotype 4-line system for typesetting mathematics. Source: Daniel Rhatigan.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConclusions
Conclusions
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConclusions
To keep the ‘leading’ (line space) as minimum as possible also putsconstraints on Malayalam font designers due to many levels ofBChars. Holding a fixed proportion in BChar also hurts leading.Adjustments in proportion can often be expected in BChars. Thisresults in different calculations for Ascent-Descent and point sizeestimates applied in Roman fonts. Malayalam font makers areoften forced to explore and apply different computation. OtherIndic scripts with moderate below-base characters/ diacriticalmarks are lucky in this aspect. Deviating from Roman calculationsposes problems while typesetting documents using Malayalam andEnglish fonts together.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConclusions
Vertical conjuncts in Malayalam are unique compared to Romanscripts and other indic scripts. Designing vertical conjuncts resultsin many deviations from the principles of Roman typography.Even within a font, difficult situations arise when following a singlerule for all conjuncts.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConclusions
Rachana in earlier versions attempted to group and equalize manybelow base levels but later promoted natural proportions in shapesinstead of ‘forced’ proportions.Vertical conjuncts in Malayalam affect different settings in‘Leading’ and ‘Point Size’ in contrast with Roman calculations.
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Beyond Roman fonts: Extra dimensions in Malayalam fontsConclusions
For all intents and purposes Malayalam typography deviates fromdimensions and geometry of Roman Typography.It seeks different aesthetics and composition that can only beachieved by embarking a mindset beyond Roman typography.
