[bug #51302] [patch] tty-char.tmac: focus on meaning rather than graphical shape

[Ingo Schwarze]

Follow-up Comment #1, bug #51302 (project groff):

Since there was positive feedback and no concerns raised, here is an improved
and completed version of the patch.

tty-char_symbols.patch is a modified version of the original patch with
exactly one change: incorporating Doug McIlroy's suggestion to print "<nabla>"
for \(gr, to avoid possible confusion over the wording "gradient" when it is
used in a scalar product (div) or vector product (rot).

tty-char_letters.patch addresses national language characters, using the same
principle.  Some notes:

1. The bulk of the patch changes the representation of Greek letters.  Neither
the old nor the new representation is adequate for reading Greek text.  You
*really* have to use -Tutf8 for Greek text.  But the new representation makes
mathematical formulae intelligible.

2. \(ss is represented as simply "ss".  As a native German speaker, i can
confirm that this is definitely the right thing to do, and there is no
reasonable alternative.

3. The Spanish inverted exclamation and question marks are represented by the
same characters in upright position.  While that will probably look strange to
Spanish readers, i can think of no better way, and i think everybody will
understand it.  The current "i" and "c" is unintelligible.

4. Icelandic Eth is represented as "Dh", Thorn as "Th".  If you have a better
idea, that's fine with me; i don't speak Icelandic, so i may well be wrong in
this respect.

tty-char_combined.patch is a combination of both patches.

As far as i'm aware, this work is now completed.

(file #41300, file #41301, file #41302)
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Additional Item Attachment:

File name: tty-char_symbols.patch         Size:3 KB
File name: tty-char_letters.patch         Size:3 KB
File name: tty-char_combined.patch        Size:3 KB


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