Consensus

[Peter_Constable at sil.org]

Roozbeh Pournader wrote on 05/24/2003 10:06:16 AM:

> If we are assuming there is a default script for each language, we should
> have guidelines for deciding which one is the default.

I don't think anybody has suggested that a default script should be assumed
for every language. The only suggestion in that regard has been that
perhaps for some (possibly many) languages there is such an overwhelming
preponderance of one way of writing over any other that, effectively, the
language ID alone in practice has implied a particular script. For
instance, I'm sure that there are processes out there that, on seeing "en",
begin to process expecting to encounter the characters

abc...xyz
ABC...XYZ
0123456789
.,:;!?-'"()&/""'' ...

rather than phonetic symbols or characters for Braille dots (not to mention
Arabic, Cyrillic, etc.)

There may be some disagreement about whether we should ever assume a
default script, but as for Mark's requests:

> (This is not either in support of Mark's proposals nor against them. I
> believe Michael should make it clear how to choose the default if he's
> going to accept *any* of Mark's proposals.)

*None* of Mark's requests uses this idea of being able to assume a default
script. In fact, quite the opposite, and this has led to a concern on the
part of Michael and Keld that a default script (cyrl) *should* be assumed
for sr.



- Peter


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Constable

Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485