JTC1/SC2/WG2 N2741

Dated: February 1, 2004
Title:
Proposal to add Tamil Digit Zero (DRAFT)
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
Unicode Tamil range encodes Tamil numerals. However it doesn’t include the number zero. 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
Shapes of proposedcharacters

Proposed namePosition

TAMIL DIGIT ZERO

0BE6

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 DIGIT ZERO
Tamil digit zero is not currently encoded in Unicode range. This document proposes to encode thischaracter in Unicode Tamil range at position U+0BE6.

2.1. Tamil number system
Ancient Tamil number system did not include the digit zero. It had separate glyphs for numbers 10, 100, and1000. However in modern practice, Tamil numerals are used in the same way as decimal numbers, with azero that looks similar to the digit zero in international form of indian numerals.

2.2. Tamil numerals in Unicode
Currently unicode encodes Tamil numerals 1 to 9, 10, 100, and 1000. The proposed position in the Tamil
Unicode range (U+0BE6) is reserved and has the comment as equalent to digit zero (U+0030). It is
proposed that Tamil zero be encoded at this position.

2.3. Compatibility between other Indic scripts
Digit zero is available in all other indic scripts encoded in Unicode. Having the digit in Tamil block would help
during transliteration between the indian languages.

2.4. Usage of Tamil Digit Zero
Even though the Tamil Digit Zero is not widely used, it is often used in some traditional publications,especially in Tamil calendars. Examples in section 4 give various areas this digit is used.

3. Data processing for Tamil Digit Zero
Data processing for digit zero is same as other Tamil digits.
Property values are:
0BE6;TAMIL DIGIT ZERO;Nd;0;L;;0;0;0;N;;;;;

4. Published Usage Examples
Example 1: Tamil Calendar
Page from calendar for Tamil month markazi (December 2001- January 2002). Gregorian dates are shownin the bottom right corner, while the Tamil dates are shown in the center in Tamil numerals, withinternational form of indian numerals in the inset.

Example 2: Book: pirapantat tirattu
Tamil numerals including Tamil number zero are used in the page numbers, and verse numbers in thefollowing example from the book pirapantat tirattu by makAvitvAn mInATcicuntaram piLLai, compiled andedited by U.Ve. cAminAta Aiyar.

Example 3: List of Tamil numbers and how to read themThis page lists Tamil numbers in both traditional and decimal notations.

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 Digit Zero _ ______________

2. Requester’s name: _International Forum for Information Technology_________in Tamil (INFITT)_____________________________________
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution): __Liaison___4. Submission date:__2004-02-01___
5. Requester’s reference (if applicable): _____WG02 Zero 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, descriptive
texts 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

(if applicable) such as input, presentation, sorting, searching, indexing,
transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)?
______NO______________________________________________________
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 2.3 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 anexisting 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?
_____YES______
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ______See attached proposal___________________________
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use ofcomposite sequences (see clauses 4.12 and 4.14in ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)?
_____NO_______
If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
______________
If YES, reference: _____________________________________________________Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images(graphic symbols) provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ______________________________________________________
12. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as

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.