Thank you very much for your following email. 

>> modifying Unicode charset.<< 
I am aware that to accommodate Marathi we need not have to do any modifications to the Unicode Character set.  The solution is much simpler. But somebody has to do that. 

>>And I'm discovering that (OpenType) fonts allow far more things that I would have believed. <<

If you help me understand this, I will be obliged. I have 10 Devanagari Open Type fonts which need improvement for Marathi.  

>>So it seems on Windows you have a default Devanagari font which looks bad, is technically incorrect and isn't even free, whereas there are 
free fonts available which don't have these problems! <<

I 100 % agree with you. 

>> Most of them just look like minor design differences. However if it really matters, OpenType (used in most modern font types) allow a font 
to have different versions (shapes) of a same character, as well as to have different kind of ligatures, matching given languages. <<

Yes they are minor from technical point of view, however it has significance, particularly for wide acceptance across the community. Moreover the proprietary font makers, who have vested interests, highlight these differences to misguide a common man who is not technical savvy. I am experiencing this in Marathi. Even today after 9 years of existence, UNICODE is little understood by common man, decision makers (bureaucracy), politicians whose support is needed to avoid avoidable simple problems.  If you go to www.maharashtra.gov.in which is state government site, which is in English but is not able to speak common man's language.

>>OpenType (used in most modern font types) allow a font to have different versions (shapes) of a same character, as well as to have different kind of ligatures, matching given languages <<

I will appreciate if you could help me understand this. But to do this, first, somebody has to Modify the given font. Am I right? 

>>http://www.omkarananda-ashram.org/Sanskrit/sanskrit2003.zip Do you have any idea of this font's license? It's not written inside the 
font file and their web site doesn't give information either. <<

Best way will be to inquire with them. I will do that and will inform you. 

Warm regards,

Nitin Nimkar









From: Bernard Massot <bernard@free.fr>
To: fuel-discuss@lists.fedorahosted.org
Sent: Sat, January 23, 2010 5:33:53 PM
Subject: Re: (ir)relevence of English words in translations

Thank you for your answer. I asked you to do so because I've started to
learn how fonts work (from a technical point of view) in order to try to
improve Indic fonts. And I'm discovering that (OpenType) fonts allow far
more things that I would have believed. So I felt problems with Marathi
can be solved in a simpler way than modifying Unicode charset.

Nitin Nimkar wrote:
> I am attaching a PDF file "Mangal and Marathi script.pdf"  which lists
> some of the differences in the Mangal Font and Marathi Script.
I never use Windows so I almost didn't know the Mangal font. My first
impression is subjective : this font looks bad in term of design, I mean
from an artistic point of view. Then the way conjunctions with ट, ठ, ड
and ढ don't work is unbearable.
So it seems on Windows you have a default Devanagari font which looks
bad, is technically incorrect and isn't even free, whereas there are
free fonts available which don't have these problems!

> These are some of the examples of differences between Devanagri Script
> in Mangal and Standard Marathi Script.
Most of them just look like minor design differences. However if it
really matters, OpenType (used in most modern font types) allow a font
to have different versions (shapes) of a same character, as well as to
have different kind of ligatures, matching given languages.
The program used to type or to render text have to inform the font
renderer what language is being used. I guess it's possible through
language settings in OpenOffice.org for instance.

> Some Script symbols which are used by Marathi scripts to write foreign
> words like apple in marathi are absent.  In Mangal when you write
> apple in Marathi (Transliterated) you cannot write it because अ + ऍ
> together appears अऍ which is not correct. Marathi has this symbol
> which is absent in Hindi. I would like to clarify here that I am not
> the script expert for Marathi, but I know few friends who are expert
> calligraphers in Marathi whom I can consult if the need arises.
This one is not clear at all to me. Can you draw the expected character
by hand or scan a newspaper piece? Just in order to make us understand,
not to actually design a font.

> I would like to inform that Sanskrit 2003 Font which is UNICODE
> compliant, developed by Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas which is the
> closest to what Marathi scripts needs with some changes and additions.
> I have prepared above table using Mangal and Sanskrit 2003 which is
> available at
> http://www.omkarananda-ashram.org/Sanskrit/sanskrit2003.zip
Do you have any idea of this font's license? It's not written inside the
font file and their web site doesn't give information either.

Regards,
--
Bernard Massot
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