Last call for ISO 15924-based updates

[Peter Constable]

From: Lang Gérard [mailto:gerard.lang at insee.fr] 

> May be "Zinh" is not directly a "sin", but it is at least 
> a "trick", and in all case it is far more out of the spirit 
> of "Code for the representation of names of script" that a 
> proposition like "Zipa", for International Phonetic 
> Alphabet (IPA) that was refused by ISO 15924.

I have no qualms with your comment in relation to IPA, but it seems clear that you think "Zinh" is not in the spirit of the "Code for the representation of names of script", and here I very  much disagree: coding systems are created for use in information systems, and those systems need ways to code special scenarios. Sometimes, the scenario is very specialized and local, and a private-use code element is appropriate. But there may be cases in which public interchange is needed, or scenarios that aren't likely to involve public interchange but yet are very common in information systems, and in those cases it makes sense to include coded entities in the standard encoding.

ISO 15924 has two major consuming open industry specifications, BCP and Unicode, and the latter makes significant use of the notion encoded by Zinh and exposes it broadly to many information system implementations. For that reason, it is, IMO, completely appropriate and in the spirit of ISO 15924 to code Zinh.



Peter