Medieval Unicode Font Initiative
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A proposal for supplementary characters in Unicode: Medieval Nordic
Subrange 11: Metrical symbols From a graphical point of view, metrical symbols can be divided into two categories: (1) Symbols which typically are placed above ordinary characters, such as the breve and macron, and (2) symbols which appear as base line characters of their own, typically in metrical schemes. The majority of diacritics needed for the first type are included in Unicode, while symbols of the latter type (to my knowledge) has not yet been accepted by Unicode. This chapter discusses both types.
11.1 Metrical symbols of a diacritical type Symbols of this type are found in Unicode 3.2 in the range Combining Diacritical Marks.
11.1.1 Characters with a breve The breve is used over vowels to indicate that the vowel in question is short. In addition to metrical analysis, this convention is also frequently found in linguistic literature, especially in diachronic linguistics. Recommendation: characters with a breve are encoded with the combining breve (0306).
11.1.2 Characters with a macron and a breve A combination of a macron and a breve is used over vowels to indicate that the vowel in question can be either long (macron) or short (breve). In addition to metrical analysis, this convention is also frequently found in linguistic literature, especially in diachronic linguistics. Recommendation: characters with a macron and a breve are encoded with the combining macron (0304) and the combining breve (0306).
11.1.3 Characters with a macron and an acute A combination of a macron and an acute accent is used over vowels to indicate that the vowel in question is long (macron) and has stress (accent). This convention is most frequently found in metrical analysis. Recommendation: characters with a macron and an acute are encoded with the combining macron (0304) and the combining acute accent (0301).
11.2 Metrical symbols on the base line This is the type of symbols used by Eduard Sievers in his Altgermanische metrik (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1893). They are still frequently used in text books, monographs and articles on Medieval Nordic metrics Thesaurus Linguae Grecae has recently proposed a set of metrical symbols for Greek. This proposal has been approved by the Unicode Technical Committee, but not yet by ISO-10646 (according to information on David J. Perry's web site, Fonts for scholars).
This proposal includes symbols for the short syllable (breve) and for the combination of a short and long syllable (metrical short over long). The default character (anceps) is identified with MULTIPLICATION SIGN (00D7) in the range Latin-1 Supplement, and the symbol for long syllable (longum) is identified with FIGURE DASH (2012) or EN DASH (2013) in the range General Punctuation. Combinations of anceps, breve, longum and grave or acute accent can presumably be achieved by using COMBINING ACUTE ACCENT (0300) and COMBINING GRAVE ACCENT (0301) in the range Combining Diacritical Marks. However, it is not entirely clear that the use of these already exisiting symbols will result in acceptable characters, in which the horisontal and vertical positiong is adequate. Comment: Andreas Heusler, Deutsche Versgeschichte, vol. 1 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1956) adds a number of signs based on the same repertoire as Sievers's symbols, e.g. an upturned breve, double accents etc. They have (so far) not been included here.
Glyph Entity Unicode Descriptive
name &anc; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL ANCEPS (*) (*) This
symbol is almost identical to the
MULTIPLICATION SIGN (00D7) in the range
Latin-1
Supplement,
but I believe that the anceps should be
placed slightly lower, touching the base
line and wholly within the x height of the
font. &ancac; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL ANCEPS WITH PRIMARY
STRESS &ancgr; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL ANCEPS WITH SECONDARY
STRESS &sht; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL SHORT SYLLABLE &shtac; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL SHORT SYLLABLE WITH PRIMARY
STRESS &shtgr; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL SHORT SYLLABLE WITH SECONDARY
STRESS &lng; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL LONG SYLLABLE (*) (*) This
symbol is similar to FIGURE DASH (2012) or
EN DASH (2013) in the range
General
Punctuation,
but usually positioned closer to the base
line. FIGURE DASH seems to have the same
graphical properties as EN DASH.
&lngac; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL LONG SYLLABLE WITH PRIMARY
STRESS &lnggr; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL LONG SYLLABLE WITH SECONDARY
STRESS &shtlng; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL SHORT OR LONG SYLLABLE &shtlngac; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL SHORT OR LONG SYLLABLE WITH PRIMARY
STRESS &shtlnggr; 0000 METRICAL
SYMBOL SHORT OR LONG SYLLABLE WITH
SECONDARY STRESS |
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Version 2.0, 5 February 2003 OEH |