Re: CHAT: KOPPA (was: Value of Latin _x_)

At 5:26 pm -0400 17/4/01, John Cowan wrote:
[snip]
>
>Apparently the lightning-flash form is that actually used in Modern Greek
>texts when enumerating paragraphs, document sections, etc.  It is considered
>analogous to Roman numerals.  Since many font creators model themselves on
>the Unicode charts, Unicode 3.x changed the glyph to the forms that are
>actually
>needed for modern use.
Right - so it's the _heading_ of that section that's wrong, since the
lightning-flash form is not archaic.

>In the *next* release of Unicode, 3.2, a distinct pair of characters,
>CAPITAL and SMALL ARCHAIC KOPPA (wedged between KAI SYMBOL and STIGMA)
>will be specifically dedicated to non-numerical use in archaic texts.
>The glyphs for this will have the lollipop shape.  In addition, Unicode 3.2
>will add a REVERSED LUNATE EPSILON SYMBOL at U+03F6.  The tentative new chart
>is at http://www.unicode.org/charts/draftunicode32/U32-0370.pdf .
Sounds better.

>> The other archaic letters listed - 03DA thru 03E1 are needed as numerals.
>> But I see this noted only against 03DD.  In fact stigma was mistaken by
>> those who'd forgotten digamma, as the symbol used for six & was in later
>> times the symbol normally used.  Koppa was used for 90 and sampi for 900.
>
>The Unicode tables unfortunately do not systematically supply the numeric
>values for Greek or Hebrew letters.
Yep - but if it's noted for one of the "archaic letters", really 'obsolete
letters retained as numerals', maybe at least the other letters in that
section ought to have numeric values noted.

Ray.

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A mind which thinks at its own expense
will always interfere with language.
                   [J.G. Hamann 1760]
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