language question re: IDNs

Cary Karp ck at nic.museum
Wed Oct 7 14:03:45 CEST 2009


Quoting Debbie:

> Within translation new terminology can create problems.  I think I would
> advise to change to a term that can at least be found in the OED giving
> translators a chance of finding an equivalent.

The homoglyph/synoglyph terminology was adopted by an ICANN working group 
entirely separate from the IDNA w.g.. It is being used in their context as 
an intermediate expedient to clarify the group's own thinking, with the 
intention of jettisoning all such high-falutin' verbiage in the final 
documentation.

Except for the present exchange, I wasn't aware that there had been any 
leakage outside that limited scope. But as long as that cat now appears to 
be out of the bag, the warrant for homoglyph/synoglyph was taken from the 
Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoglyph. Which, dare I 
say it, is likely to be a more frequently referenced source by our target 
audience than is the OED.

/Cary


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