JTC1/SC2/WG2 N2617

Dated: September 14, 2003
Title:
Proposal to add TAMIL LETTER SHA
Source:International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil (INFITT)
Action:For consideration by UTC and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2Distribution:
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2 members and Liaison organizations

1. Introduction
Currently Unicode Tamil range does not include the Tamil grantha[1] character SHA. This document
proposes addition of this character in Unicode character set, within the current Tamil range U+0B80 toU+0BFF.
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2 Proposal summary form N2352-F accompanies this document.

1.1. Character proposed in this document
Shape of proposedcharacter

Proposed name

Position

TAMIL LETTER SHA

0BB6

1.2. About INFITT and INFITT WG02
International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil (INFITT) is a non-governmental organization, withcooperation from various state and national governments in the Tamil speaking countries. It also has
participation from industry representatives and individuals with expertise in Information Technology andTamil language.
Working Group 2 (WG02) of INFITT deals with definition and implemenation of Unicode in Tamil. WG02 also
has a Liaison relationship with Unicode Consortium. Members of this working group are derived from variousnations around the world, and represent interests of IT industry, governments, Tamil scholars, educatorsand other Tamil IT enthusiasts. This proposal has been prepared with the consensus of members of thisworking group.

1.3. Demographics
Tamil is the state language of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is also a national language in Sri Lanka andSingapore (Source: CIA World Factbook - http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html).
Total population of Tamil speakers around the world is estimated to be around 74 million (1999 estimate) as
per the Ethnologue index prepared by Summer Institute of Linguistics. See the Ethonologue page for Tamil
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=TCV which provides details about the population anddistribution of Tamil diaspora.

2. TAMIL LETTER SHAThis document proposes to encode Tamil grantha character SHA in unicode Tamil range at U+0BB6.

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2.1. Usage of Tamil letter SHA
Devanagari and other indian scripts have a character named SHA in their Unicode block. However in Tamilthe corresponding slot is left vacant. While not in popular use, there does exist a character for letter SHA inTamil. This document proposes to add Tamil letter SHA in Unicode Tamil range at U+0BB6.
American Library Association-Library of Congress (ALA-LC) Romanization scheme includes this character intheir list. ( http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/tamil.pdf)
Digital South Asia Library of Univ of Chicago and other American Universities also use the same ALA-LC
scheme that recognizes this "sa" as one of the grantha characters repertoire.
(http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/southasia/transliteration-tamil.html)
See also "Transliteration of Indic scripts; How to use ISO 15919", (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm) Table 3, shown as example 5 under section 3.

2.2. Data Processing for SHA
SHA behaves similar to other Tamil grantha letters, when combined with vowel signs. Specifically, U and UU
vowels signs for SHA are similar to other grantha letters. In terms of other Unicode properties, the proposedcharacter has properties similar as U+0BB8 (TAMIL LETTER SA). Property values are:
0BB6;TAMIL LETTER SHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;SHA is usually sorted after the Tamil letter NNNA and before all the grantha characters. However, minor
differences might exist in this behaviour between various sort orders.
Inclusion of character SHA in Tamil range will also help in transliteration from other indic scripts into Tamil.

2.3. Ligature SRI[2]While the base character SHA is not widely used in modern literature and communications, its ligature form
SRI is used widely. The character sequence of SRI is as below:
Proposed TAMIL LETTER SHA+TAMIL LETTER RA (U+0BB0)+TAMIL VOWEL SIGN II (U+0BC0)This usage corrensponds with the sequence of SRI in other indic scripts.
Current implementations of unicode define SRI in Tamil as follows:
TAMIL LETTER SA (U+OBB8)+TAMIL LETTER RA (U+0BB0)+TAMIL VOWEL SIGN II (U+0BC0)This is incorrect combination of SRI. This error is due to lack of TAMIL LETTER SHA in current unicoderepertoire.
Proposed character SHA may also form various other ligatures in combination with MA, YA, RA, and VA.
However, these ligatures are archaic and are not widely recognized. Contemporary publications only use
disjoint forms.

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3. Published Usage Examples
Example 1: Pronounciation of SHA
This example explains the pronounciation of the proposed character SHA.

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Example 2: Transliteration of SHA
This example gives the transliteration of proposed character SHA in Devanagari.

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Example 3: Shankarar
Name of Shankarar is spelt with this proposed SHA. The trasnliteration of the verse also uses SHA.

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Example 4: Vishnu sahasranaamam
First verse of Vishnu sahasranaamam uses SHA in several places.

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Example 5: Transliteration of Indic Scripts: How to use ISO 15919
Translateration of proposed character SHA is shown as "s<acute>a" in the table below.

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Example 6: Ligature SRIThis wedding invitation contains the letter SRI (also transliterated in English as SHRI or SHREE).

Notes:[1] Grantha
Grantha characters are part of Tamil script. Historically these characters are not considered to be partof proper Tamil Language, but are used to write non-Tamil words and names. These were first
introduced by rulers of Pallava dynasty during 6-7th centuries A.D. These characters are widely usedby Tamils in Indian subcontinent and the Tamil diaspora in other countries.
[2] Sri
Also written as SHRI or SHREE. Sri in Sanskrit means wealth. Hindu goddess of wealth is called"SRIDEVI". The prefix SRI is often added to many gods and goddesses and also while formallyaddressing elders.

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ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2
PROPOSAL SUMMARY FORM TO ACCOMPANY SUBMISSIONSFOR ADDITIONS TO THE REPERTOIRE OF ISO/IEC 10646
Please fill all the sections A, B and C below.
(Please read Principles and Procedures Document for guidelines and details before filling this form.)
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/summaryform.html for latest Form.
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/principles.html for latest Principles and Procedures document.
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/roadmaps.html for latest roadmaps.
(Form number: N2352-F (Original 1994-10-14; Revised 1995-01, 1995-04, 1996-04, 1996-08, 1999-03, 2001-05, 2001-09)

A. Administrative

1. Title:_______Addition of Tamil character SHA___________

2. Requester’s name: _International Forum for Information Technology_________in Tamil (INFITT)_____________________________________
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution): __Liaison___4. Submission date:__2003-03-10___
5. Requester’s reference (if applicable): _____WG02 SHA Proposal_____________
6. (Choose one of the following:)
This is a complete proposal:_____YES_______or, More information will be provided later:_______________
B. Technical - General
1. (Choose one of the following:)
a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters):_____NO______
Proposed name of script: _________________________________________________
b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block: _YES_Name of the existing block: ___Tamil__Range: 0B80-0BFF____________________
2. Number of characters in proposal:______1_______
3. Proposed category (see section II, Character Categories):______A_______
4. Proposed Level of Implementation (1, 2 or 3)(see clause 14, ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000):_______1_______Is a rationale provided for the choice?
______YES_____
If Yes, reference: __See attached proposal________________________________
5. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
______YES_____
a. If Yes, are the names in accordance with the ’character naming
guidelines in Annex L of ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000?
__YES__
b. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
__YES__
6. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font (ordered preference:True Type, or PostScript format) for publishing the standard?
_____Mr.Muthu Nedumaran (muthu@murasu.com)________________________________
If available now, identify source(s) for the font (include address,e-mail, ftp-site, etc.) and indicate the tools used:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. References:a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptivetexts etc.) provided?
_____YES______
b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers,magazines, or other sources) of proposed characters attached? ___YES____
8. Special encoding issues:
Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing

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_____YES. See attached proposal._____________________________
9. Additional Information:
Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties ofthe proposed Character(s) or Script that will assist in correct understanding ofand correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.
Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information,
Currency information, Display behaviour information such as line breaks, widths
etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directional behaviour, Default
Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalenceand other Unicode normalization related information. See the Unicode standard at
http://www.unicode.org for such information on other scripts. Also see Unicode
Character Database
http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/UnicodeCharacterDatabase.html andassociated Unicode Technical Reports for information needed for consideration by
the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.
C. Technical - Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before? _NO_If YES explain ___________________________________________________________
2. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example:National Body, user groups of the script or characters,other experts, etc.)?
_____YES______
If YES, with whom? __INFITT WG02__________________________________________
If YES, available relevant documents: __See section 1.2 of attached_______proposal________________________
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters(for example: size, demographics, information technology use, orpublishing use) is included?
_____YES______
Reference: __See section 1.3 of attached proposal________________________
4. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use;common or rare)____Common____Reference: __See attached proposal.______________________________________
5. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community? __YES___If YES, where? Reference: __See attached proposal________________________
6. After giving due considerations to the principles in Principles andProcedures document (a WG 2 standing document) must the proposedcharacters be entirely in the BMP?
_____YES______
If YES, is a rationale provided?
_____YES______
If YES, reference: __See section 2.1 of attached proposal________________
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range(rather than being scattered)?
_____YES______8. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an
existing character or character sequence?
_____NO_______
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ______________________________________________________
9. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character
sequence of either existing characters or other proposed characters? _NO__If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ______________________________________________________
10. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (inappearance or function) to an existing character?
_____NO_______
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ______________________________________________________
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use ofcomposite sequences (see clauses 4.12 and 4.14
in ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)?
____YES______
If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
_____YES______
If YES, reference: __See attached proposal section 2.3__________________Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images(graphic symbols) provided?
_____YES______
If YES, reference: __See section 2.3 and example 6_______________________
12. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as

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control function or similar semantics?
_____NO_______
If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary) _____________
13. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)? _NO
If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s)identified?
____________
If YES, reference: ______________________________________________________

A.1 Submitter’s Responsibilities
The national body or liaison organization (or any other organization or an individual) proposing new
character(s) or a new script shall provide:
1. Proposed category for the script or character(s), character name(s), and description of usage.
2. Justification for the category and name(s).
3. A representative glyph(s) image on paper:
If the proposed glyph image is similar to a glyph image of a previously encoded ISO/IEC 10646
character, then additional justification for encoding the new character shall be provided.
Note: Any proposal that suggests that one or more of such variant forms is actually a distinct
character requiring separate encoding, should provide detailed, printed evidence that there is actual,contrastive use of the variant form(s). It is insufficient for a proposal to claim a requirement to encode
as characters in the Standard, glyphic forms which happen to occur in another character encodingthat did not follow the Character-Glyph Model that guides the choice of appropriate characters forencoding in ISO/IEC 10646.
Note: WG 2 has resolved in Resolution M38.12 not to add any more Arabic presentation forms to thestandard and suggests users to employ appropriate input methods, rendering and font technologies
to meet the user requirements.
4. Mappings to accepted sources, for example, other standards, dictionaries, accessible publishedmaterials.
5. Computerized/camera-ready font:Prior to the preparation of the final text of the next amendment or version of the standard a suitablecomputerized font (camera-ready font) will be needed. Camera-ready copy is mandatory for final textof any pDAMs before the next revision. Ordered preference of the fonts is True Type or PostScript
format. The minimum design resolution for the font is 96 by 96 dots matrix, for presentation at or near
22 points in print size.
6. List of all the parties consulted.
7. Equivalent glyph images:
If the submission intends using composite sequences of proposed or existing combining andnon-combining characters, a list consisting of each composite sequence and its corresponding glyph
image shall be provided to better understand the intended use.
8. Compatibility equivalents:
If the submission includes compatibility ideographic characters, identify the equivalent unified CJK
Ideograph character(s).
9. Any additional information that will assist in correct understanding of the different characteristics andlinguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.

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