[Lexicog] UNICODE

[Jimm GoodTracks]

I was looking over government grants, and it  seems that there was an E-MELD 
conference for the purpose of standardizing the documentation of languages, 
especially endangered languages.
Many people are all ready well into the composing of their particular 
language dictionary.  The E-MELD conference proposes a number of standards, 
called "best practices", which includes writting all dictionaries, and other 
language work using unicode fonts.
The thought is a good one, that one would no longer have the problem of 
corruption in the transferr of fonts/ characters from one PC system to 
another.  In whatever manner, fonts, diacritics, accents etc. that one 
writes in using Unicode (Latest version 4.0.0), the same will be received 
and viewed upon the receiving PC, as it was exactly written at the source of 
origin.PC person   Of course, that will happen now when any PC shares the 
same fonts as the sender.
Some of us encountered this problem as we upgraded systems.  My initial 
Ioway ~ Otoe-Missouria Dictionary, a Siouan Language, was written with a 
Tandy's from Radio Shack, Inc, which is now an antique system.  Those 
records composed on the Tandy can no longer be read by my present PC. 
Fortunately, I had already converted them to a higher windows version,  Yet, 
in some cases, accents and several special fonts where mutated irregardless.
What is the thoughts of those who are well into their dictionary work and 
may be confronted with the task of redoing it all over again in the Unicode 
fonts.  Is it not unlike the large nations imposing their national language 
on the minority languages, Tagalog, English, Japanese, et.al., on the 
individual Filipino, the Native American and Spanish/ Chinease Americans or 
the Ainu.   The plan for a standard is well meant, but devaluation  sets the 
course for the minority community language to become an endangered language, 
and with that, a whole culture world view and way of thinking.  Perhaps it 
is not the same thing.  What are the thoughts of others, especially those 
who have had to already go back into their documents and reedit the whole 
work.
Jimm






















 




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