ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2N2655

2003-10-10

Universal Multiple Octet Coded Character Set
International Organization for Standardization
Organisation internationale de normalisationМеждународная организация по стандартизации

Doc Type:
Title:
Source:Status:Action:Related:Working Group Document
Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
Asmus Freytag
Expert contribution
For consideration by JTC1/SC2/WG2 and UTC
N2656. Responding to N2645, N2647, N2587, and other proposals

Several recent documents propose characters that are used in dictionaries, or relate topractices used in dictionaries. This document intends to extend the research on some ofthese issues, document additional instances, and propose additional characters.
Note: A significant amount of information about use of already encoded special characters in dictionaries can also be found in Unicode Standard Annex #14, “Line Breaking
Properties”, which can be accessed at http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr14/.
Use of symbols for subject classification in dictionaries
Document N2587 proposes a set of characters for genealogical purposes. One of thecharacters (for ‘killed in action’) is part of a larger set of characters used in dictionaries.
This document extends the research to complete coverage of that usage.
Dictionaries often need a shorthand notation to classify terms by subject matter or byother usage. A system of using iconic symbols for subject matter classification is fairly
widespread, especially on the European continent. However, there are both differences inelaboration as well as some differences in particular symbols chosen.
Dictionaries represent a category of texts that are in common and active use and which
are not infrequently cited in other works. Being able to represent the contents of a dictionary entry in plain text increases the robustness and portability of such usage.
In this context, it is less important that all dictionaries be ‘normalized’ to using the same
symbol for the same semantic, or even just the same set of symbols. What matters forplain text is that the usage of a given source finds a recognizable representation in Uni-

Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
code. The symbols used for this classification are dingbats, but their function is to serve
directly as a shorter and more easily recognizable stand-in for one or more words orabbreviations.
Where glyphs are equivalent depictions of the same object, and can stand for each otherin more than one context, unification to a set of generic dingbats would be appropriate.
However, where the representative object for a category is different, for example a hypothetical use of both ship and anchor to indicate nautical terms, both symbols should
remain distinct. In other words, what would be encoded in this hypothetical situation
would be a symbol for a ship and a symbol for an anchor. The fact that they are both used
to indicate ‘nautical term’ is an externally applied convention.
The set of proposed characters derived from the examples below are based on that underlying analysis of the issue.
Note: some of the symbols are more traditional and are both used, and readily recognizedoutside the context of the notation for a given publication. The symbols are arranged inthat order in the table of proposed symbols.
Examples of subject classification symbols
The following examples show sets of symbols actually used for classification of subject
matter in dictionaries.

Sample 1

The electric arrow can probably be unified with U+21AF ණ even though the representative glyph in the standard is less canonical than the glyph here. The musical note can be
unified with U+266A ♪.

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
A nearly identical set of symbols has been identified by Michael Everson in an EnglishTurkish dictionary.

Sample 2

A slightly more elaborate set of symbols was located by Michael Everson in an Icelandic
dictionary). See Sample 3 below. All three samples show a different design for the symbol for aviation. That clearly indicates that the aviation symbol, as one would have expected, can be unified with a generic depiction of an airplane, so a unification with 2708
AIRPLANE seems allowable.
The three-leaf clover from the sample below can be unified with a Shamrock. Such asymbol is already proposed in N2586R, and has been reviewed favorably by UTC. Therefore it is not listed separately in the Table of Proposed Symbols. Should N2586R not beapproved, then the shamrock character should be considered part of this proposal.

3Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries

Sample 3

Sample 4
A sample from a Danish-Islandic dictionary, showing a glyph variant on the anchor.

Sometimes only a subset of these symbols are used, but as can be seen, with very consistent representation. The following excerpt is form the list of symbols used in an EnglishSwedish dictionary. In addition to the symbols shown here, that dictionary also uses thesans-serif capital letters F and V with the same meanings as in the sample above. We may

4Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
consider this as pointing towards an overall pattern of usage that transcends individual
editors’ or publishers’ style, but is fairly common.

Sample 5

Here is a sample from a typical page of the English-German dictionary showing thesymbols as they are used in an actual entry:

Sample 6

Three other canonical subject classification symbols, not documented here, include themask for theater, the film clip for cinematic, or cinematography and the palette for art.
Other symbols used in dictionaries
There are a number of symbols in widespread use in dictionaries that are missing fromthe Unicode standard. For pronunciation-related symbols see a separate document(N26xx).

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
The use of some form of tilde to repeat terms is common. Where the capitalization
changes in the new context, a circle is added:

Sample 7

As can be seen in this sample, the tilde is not the ordinary tilde, but a low tilde that restson the baseline. The symbol that combines the tilde with the circle is only topologicallysimilar to the combination of U+007E TILDE and U+030A COMBINING CIRCLEABOVE, but in actual practice such a combination (å̊) looks noticeably different (and thecircle, which is a distinguishing feature appears de-emphasized). Note that while the text
mentions the tilde by name, not describe it as a tilde with a circle added, rather treating it
as a symbol of its own.
The following is a sample from Duden Rechtschreibung, a work usually considered theauthority on German orthography, containing three further symbols not yet encoded inUnicode.

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries

Sample 8The first is a series of four dots, spanning the height of the entire line and used in
the cited work to indicate places for emergency word breaks.
The second is based on the German word for trademark and is used where an
English language work might use ® or ™. [Indirect evidence for the use of thissymbol in online reference works for Microsoft Office 2000 comes from the factthat the enclosed ‘Verdana Ref’ font contains a glyph for this symbol – see table.]
The third is used to split a term into two parts, one of which can then be repeatedby an ellipsis. (…). Other dictionaries use a vertical bar and low tilde for the same
purpose.

Use of geometrical shapes

Many dictionaries use geometrical shapes as symbols, cf. the use of □ in sample 6 above.
Most of these symbols directly correspond to an existing symbol or geometric shape,
already encoded in Unicode. For example the shapes ● and  are widely used, exceptthat the size of ● usually correspond to the ‘medium circle’ not yet encode in Unicode,
but proposed in document N2687r. In some cases, the white square has a deliberately
heavy outline, which gives the symbol a different character. The use of  can be attested,
but so can the use of a 90 degree rotated version of this symbol, which is not encoded inUnicode, as in the following two samples. Those samples also show the use of a symbolthat is superficially similar to U+25EB  WHITE SQUARE WITH VERTICAL BISECTING LINE, but deliberately emphasizes the dividing line, rather than the two rectangular halves of the square.

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries

Sample 9

Sample 10
Here is a second sample from the same source, completing the set of symbols used.

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
Table of Proposed Symbols
The table is divided into three sections corresponding to the sections in the preceding discussion

Code
26A2
26A3
26A4
26A5

Glyph

Suggested NameHAMMER AND CHISEL
mining, working day(in timetables)
ANCHOR
nautical term
CROSSED SWORDS
military term, battleground (on maps), killed in action
ROD OF AESCLEPIUS
medical termThis is not U+2624 CADUCEUS (see below). An inclined rendering of
this symbol is common.

26A6
26A7
26A8

SCALES
legal term, jurisprudence
ALEMBIC
chemical term, chemistry
FLOWER
botanical termThis is distinct from shamrock (proposed in N2586R)

26A9

GEAR
technology, tools
An alternate glyph appears to besymbol is proposed

26AA

for which unification with this

STAFF OF HERMES
commercial
A herald’s staff with a winged wheel. See discussion on caduceus
below.

26AB
26AC
26AD
26AE
26AF
26B0
26B1
26B2

LOKOMOTIVE
railway
HORN
postal term
TRIANGLE WITH PLUMB LINEarchitectural term
BUILDING
COMPASSmathematical term
SPADE
agricultural term, agricultur
LIVESTOCKSWIMMING
sports9

Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
26B3

RUNNING
sportsVERTICAL FOUR DOTS

205A

2B18
205B



Used a.o. to indicate legal, but undesirable mid-word line break opportunities in dictionaries, glyph extends the whole height of the line.
Allows a line break after (properties: lb=BA; gc=Po; eaw=N).

WARENZEICHEN
trademark (German)

Certain German dictionary usage instead of either ® or TM

BOGEN
Unlike U+203F  UNDERTIE this symbol rests on top of the baseline
and is quite narrow. It is used a.o. to indicate part of a term which will
be marked by … later in the entry. It is normally used at a syllable orother intra-word boundary, and therefore, unlike U+203F allows aword-break after (properties: lb=BA; gc=Po; eaw=N)<007E, FE00>

LOW TILDE
repeated termThis tilde sits low on the baseline to accommodate the large circle forthe circled variant. As it is not used in contrast to a midline symbol, it
might be better to consider it as a variation rather than a character.

205C

LOW TILDE WITH CIRCLE
repeated term with difference in capitalization
The shape looks noticeably different from the one achieved by a
combination of ~ and combining ̊: å̊ – instead it looks like combination of a lowered ~ and a degree sign °.

2B12

SQUARE WITH TOP HALF BLACK
used contrastively to 25E7 SQUARE WITH LEFT HALF BLACK and
U+25E8 SQUARE WITH RIGHT HALF BLACK

2B13

SQUARE WITH BOTTOM HALF BLACK
This is proposed as an obvious completion

2B14

WHITE SQUARE WITH BLACK OUTLINE
used contrastively to WHITE SQUARE

2B15

WHITE SQUARE WITH TOP BLACK LINE

2B16

WHITE SQUARE WITH BOTTOM BLACK LINE

2B17

SQUARED VERTICAL LINE
At first glance this appears to be a legitimate glyph alternate for
U+25EB  WHITE SQUARE WITH VERTICAL BISECTING LINE,but the centerline here is deliberately emphasized.

Note on character properties
Unless otherwise noted all characters are of general category “So”, EAW “N”, LineBreaking “AL”, and all other properties assigned appropriately. BidiMirrow=N and
CC=0 for all characters.

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
On Caduceus and Rod of Asclepius
The Wikipedia contains two interesting articles on Caduceus and Rod Of Asclepius,which are cited here in excerpt:

A caduceus (kerykeion in Greek) staff with two snakes
wrapped around it.
The caduceus is a symbol of commerce and is associated with
the Greek god Hermes. It was originally a herald's staff,
sometimes with wings, with two white ribbons attached. The
ribbons eventually evolved into snakes in the figure-eight
shape.
In modern times it is often mistakenly used interchangeably
with the Rod of Asclepius (particularly in the United States),although the two symbols have distinct and unrelated
meanings.

The Rod of Asclepius is an ancient Greek symbol associatedwith medicine. It consists of a serpent entwined around astaff. Asclepius was the god of healing in the ancient Greek
pantheon. He was instructed in medicine by the centaur
Chiron.
The Rod of Asclepius symbolizes the healing arts bycombining the serpent, which in shedding its skin is a symbolof rebirth and fertility, with the staff, a simple tool.
A similar symbol, Nehushtan, is mentioned in the Bible as
having been used for healing of snakebite.
The Rod of Asclepius is frequently confused with thecaduceus, which is a symbol of commerce associated with thegod Hermes.
For more information on the distinction between these two symbols see: Blayney, Keith.
The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius, found at http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html,
from which the picture of the rod is taken.
About the use of oblique double hyphen in dictionaries
A lot has been written recently about the use of Fraktur hyphen (“oblique double hyphen”). See for example document N2639. For completeness, here is a citation of the useof this symbol in a dictionary context.
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, ISBN 0-87779-508-8
Copyright 1989 by Merriam-Webster Inc.

Explanatory Notes, End-of-line division (p11)11

Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
A double hyphen at the end of a line in this dictionary (as in the definition at indexation) stands fora hyphen that belongs at that point in a hyphenated word and that is retained when the word iswritten as a unit on one line.

And the definition of indexation reads (line breaks indicated by | ):a system of economic control |in which certain variables (as wages and interest) are tied to a cost-of<double-> |living index so that both rise of fall...

Graphically, the double hyphen is slanted upward.

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Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
References
Note that a large number of additional dictionaries were researched, but since they either
use no symbols, or other symbols already encoded in Unicode, or simply duplicate the setof symbols proposed here, they have not been cited here.

Akdikmen, Resuhi. 1992. Langenscheidt’s pocket Turkish dictionary: Turkish-English
English-Turkish. Berlin & München: Langenscheidt. ISBN 0-245-60405-7
Árni Böðvarsson. 1992. Íslensk orðabók. Reykjavík: Mál og menning. ISBN 9979-30446-4
Engelsk-svensk ordbok, skoluplaga, Esselte Herzogs, Nacka 1976, ISBN 91-24-19070-2
Der Große Duden, Band 1, Rechtschreibung, Bibliographisches Institut, 1968,
Mannheim, Zürich.
Langenscheidt’s New College German Dictionary, German-English© 1973 Langensheidt KG, Berlin and Munich, ISBN:0-88729-018-3
NTC’s New Japanese-English Character Dictionary, Jack Halpern ed., Tokyo 1993.
The Random House College Dictionary, revised edition, Random House, New York
1975, ISBN 0-394-436008-8
Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second College Edition, Williams Collins, Cleveland
1979, ISBN 0-529-05234-1
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, ISBN 0-87779-508-8
Copyright 1989 by Merriam-Webster Inc.

Web sites referenced
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius

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PROPOSAL SUMMARY FORM TO ACCOMPANY SUBMISSIONS
1
FOR 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.

A. Administrative
1. Title:
Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
2. Requester's name: ____________________________Asmus Freytag___________________________________
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution):___ Individual Contribution ______________
4. Submission date:__2003-10-15___
5. Requester's reference (if applicable): _____________________________________________________________
6. (Choose one of the following:)
This is a complete proposal:____X_________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):_____________
Proposed name of script: ________________________________________________________.
b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block:_____X_______Name of the existing block:_____Various______________________________________
2. Number of characters in proposal:____29_______
3. Proposed category (see section II, Character Categories):_____________
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?
____No_______
If Yes, reference: _______________________________________________________________
5. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
_____________
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? ___________________proposer_____________________________________
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?
Nob. 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)?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
9. Additional Information:
Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) …
C. Technical - Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before?
_____No_______
If YES explain _________________________________________________________________________

1

Form number: N2352-F (Original 1994-10-14; Revised 1995-01, 1995-04, 1996-04, 1996-08, 1999-03, 2001-05, 2001-09)

Proposal — Symbols used in Dictionaries
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? ___Irish NB, Michael Everson______________________________________
If YES, available relevant documents: ________________________________________________
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example:
size, demographics, information technology use, or publishing use) is included?
______________
Reference: ___Publishers and users of common, widely available dictionaries of several languages______
4. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)___common____Reference: ___In active use, see references section___________________________________________
5. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
_____yes______
If YES, where? Reference: ___see references section______________________________________
6. After giving due considerations to the principles in Principles and Procedures document (a WG 2 standing
document) must the proposed characters be entirely in the BMP?
_____no________
If YES, is a rationale provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)?
__no___
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 (in appearance
or function) to an existing character?
_____yes_______
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
_____yes_______
If YES, reference: _________see attached_____________________________________
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences(see clauses 4.12 and 4.14 in 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: ________________________________________________________

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