Re: IPA Null Consonant

Peter_Constable@xxxxxxx writes:

> > >Yes, I think you're right that an annotation is best -- but only
> > >if EMPTY SET is indeed the right character.  I'm increasingly of
> > >the opinion that a different character might be needed.
> > 
> > I would disagree.
> 
> As would I.

Oh dear, if you both disagree with me, my chances of getting through
with this look slim indeed... :-)

But I'm wondering why.

I think we all agree on the following:

- Ø [LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH STROKE] and ø [LATIN SMALL LETTER O
  WITH STROKE] are both ruled out as their semantics is totally wrong.

- 0 [DIGIT ZERO] is also ruled out because it looks wrong in most
  fonts (and one might argue that the semantics isn't exactly right,
  either).

- ∅ [EMPTY SET] is the best choice if a single character has to be
  chosen from the current Unicode repertoire.

- But while ∅ [EMPTY SET] is normally just as wide as it is tall (it's
  really just a circle with a stroke), the null symbol as used in
  linguistics frequently looks more like 0 [DIGIT ZERO] with an added
  stroke.  (But many variations exist, including ∅ [EMPTY SET], ø
  [LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH STROKE] and other symbols, most of which
  can be explained by typesetters and word-processing programs that
  didn't know what they're doing.)

- Furthermore, semantically an empty set is not really the same thing
  as a null symbol.  (They both represent 'nothing', but so does 0
  [DIGIT ZERO] and possibly other Unicode characters as well.)

- However, 0 [DIGIT ZERO] + ̸ [COMBINING LONG SOLIDUS OVERLAY] --
  which is close to how linguists used to type it in the old
  typewriter days -- is also a bad idea since it would look bad in
  most programs.

If you agree with all of the above, I'm wondering what the argument is
against a new Unicode character, called NULL or NULL SYMBOL.  Surely
if it looks different from any existing character and has a
well-defining meaning also not covered, there must be a good case for
adding it...?

Cheers,

Thomas
-- 
Thomas Widmann, MA      +44  141 419 9872       Glasgow, Scotland, EU
thomas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx             http://www.widmann.uklinux.net


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