jackhumbert / zbalermorna

lo vrici se pilno be fi la zbalermorna je lo ri taipfase

Zbalermorna Font Development Kit

A collection of tools and processes for using and developing typefaces for Zbalermorna, an alternative orthography for the constructed language Lojban.

Project status

Done

• Design unicode layout
• Create reference glyphs
• Complete opentype features declaration
• Complete first working ZLM font
• More complete sample jufra for test page
• Create ibus config for existing unicode range
• Port the old ZLM font, now called 'Drakono' to new system

To Do

• Decide on Unicode and glyph names
• Finalise Unicode layout and submit to UCSUR
• Finalise build process for new font development
• Update existing fonts
• Create alternate typefaces and add them to this repo

How to learn ZLM

• Tinycard deck of the 50 most common words in Lojban

How to type ZLM text

• Install an IME file and a ZLM font
• Type native ZLM directly into any app or website

or

• Clone this repo
• Open /ime/index.html and use the IME emulator
• Copy-paste the generated ZLM text

Soon we will also have an online version of the IME emulator you can use to play with ZLM text. You'll still need a font to support the generated ZLM text~

How a ZLM font works

Zbalermorna uses special glpyhs which live in the Private Use Area, covering the region from 0xED80 -> 0xEDBF.

A method of inputting these glyphs requires in IME for your particular operating system, such as ibus or scim. This project attempts to provide configurations for as many IMEs as possible.

Once a IME and an appropriate configuration is loaded, it can be used to type ZLM glyphs, which a correctly constructed ZLM font will automatically display as assembled composite glpyhs using OpenType features.

Currently Supported IMEs using ligatured fonts

• Windows (ime/windows/setup.exe)
• Javascript (ime/index.html)
• ibus (ime/zlm.ibus)

Creating a new Zbalermorna typeface

This procedure is still incomplete - build script and feature file have bugs

• Install FontForge
• Launch the Preview page: gulp preview
• Clone and rename src/zlm-manri.sfd to create your own copy
• Open your new copy using FontForge
• Modify vector shapes for component glyphs; composite glyphs will auto-update
• Self-assembling composites can also be manually overriden with real vectors, if your typeface wants to use special forms for certain composites.
• Build the font for preview with ./build.sh <name of file without .sfd> --update-test or
• When your .sfd file is saved, Gulp will automatically recompile it into a TrueType font, and refresh the preview page so you can see how your updates effect ligatures and kerning.

zbalermorna's Issues

Uninstall Windows IME?

Is there a way to uninstall the Zbalermorna Windows IME, or is it there forever now?

Lack of info on how to install IME files

I've searched far and wide on how to apply .ibus files for my Ubuntu system. A short note or link in README would be really helpful.

briii doesn't render correctly

it should be b ri yi, but is rendering as b r y yi

Diacritics difficult to read on Ritli

for Ritli, since zbalermorna is so diacritic-heavy, the diacritics being so small feels quite straining on my eyes.

PDF version of write-up document?

I've managed to export a PDF using print to PDF in my browser (I am curious to see how the zbalermorna glpyhs render on an e-reader), however the sample diagrams get split between page boundaries. Do you think it would be easy to generate a PDF version which doesn't split diagrams/figures between page boundaries?

{.o'o'o} doesnt display correctly in drakono and manri

crisa seems fine

unicode reference for retonga, citonga, votonga is incorrect

one of the codes is duplicated (PATONGA's) and the subsequent *tonga codes are off-by-one by incrementing off of the duplicated unicode value:

U+ED8C  patonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING PA TONGA
U+ED8C  retonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING RE TONGA
U+ED8D  citonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING CI TONGA
U+ED8E  votonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING VO TONGA

should be

U+ED8C  patonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING PA TONGA
U+ED8D  retonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING RE TONGA
U+ED8E  citonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING CI TONGA
U+ED8F  votonga ZBALERMORNA COMBINING VO TONGA

on this page: https://jackhumbert.github.io/zbalermorna/unicode/

`How to learn ZLM` link leads to duolingo

When following the How to learn ZLM link, my browser ended up at a main page of Duolingo service

Hiragana characters disappear when using discord.css

When using this userstyle for Zbalermorna fonts in Discord:

@import url(//jackhumbert.github.io/lojban-orthographies/discord.css);

The hiragana characters い, う, か, し, の, ん disappear for me everywhere in Discord.

Some screenshots before and after enabling the style:

Any idea what might cause this?

Remove denpa bu in `.ii`, '.uu'

 should render as  does now.

The link to the Tinycard deck of the 50 most common words in Lojban is probably broken.

In readme.md, there is the text:

### How to learn ZLM

- [Tinycard deck of the 50 most common words in Lojban](https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/NE6TBYur/lojban-words-in-zbalermorna)

When I click the link, it is redirected to https://www.duolingo.com. It seems that Tinycards on Duolingo don't work anymore. If there is a way to get to the Tinycard deck, the URL should be changed to a working one. If there is no way to that but a similar deck is elsewhere, the URL should be changed to the one of the similar deck.