Blin Typeface Design for the "Ng" Syllables

Authors:

Tekie Alibekit (Blin Language and Culture Association in Norway)

Daniel Yacob (Ge'ez Frontier Foundation)

Abstract

The Ethiopic character set was introduced into ISO 10646 on 15/10/98 as Ammendment 10 and became a part of the Unicode 3.0 standard in 2000. The reference documents for the Agaw-Blin letter symbols present glyphs based on the Ethiopic typewriter. These glyphs were later refined following the typeface design of Ethiopia's National Computer and Information Center's (NCIC) "Agaw" font for the Agaw school system. This note presents further refinements to the standard typeface for the seven Agaw-Blin letters in the Basic Ethiopic range of the above mentioned standards as well as for five additional letters now in both the Basic and Extended Ethiopic ranges of Uniocde 4.1.0 and required in Agaw-Blin orthography.

Table of Contents

• Abstract
• 0. Introduction
• 1. Design of Basic Blin
• 1.1 Design of the Sixth Form
• 1.2 Design of the Seventh form
• 2. Design of Extended Blin
• 3. Recommendations
• Appendix A. References
• Appendix B. Additional Typeface Samples

0. Introduction

Agaw (aka "Agew" a family of languages in Ethiopia including "Awngi", "Qimant" and "Xamtanga") and Blin (aka "Bilin", "Bilien") speakers reside in present day Ethiopia and Eritrea respectively with a collective population of 630,000-650,000. Both groups also have significant diaspora populations. The languages of the two groups are closely related and share the same phoneme inventory and orthographic requirements.

This note details an idealized design for the velar-nasal syllables in an Agaw-Blin typeface applying an Ethiopic font identical to the font of the Unicode code charts for Ethiopic. The syllables are first known to have been used in the writing of Blin languages in 1882 and documented in the works of Reinisch. The typeface design rules in this technical note are also in keeping with the original typeface.

1. Design of Basic Blin

The Blin syllables in ŋ (or "ng") found in the "Basic Ethiopic Range" of Unicode (U+1200 - U+137C) are derived from the classic Ge'ez syllables in "g" with the addition of the "Ethiopic macron" symbol. Our derivation of the Blin syllables necessarily begins by identifying the Ge'ez "g" syllables:

As a convenience we may borrow the macron from another member of the Ethiopic syllabary to serve as a starting point for our "ng" macron design. We find the following series available:

The macron above U+1298 is chosen in part because the letter is phonemically related to "ng" but more so because the glyph is relatively horizontal which is a desireable trait. Applying the U+1298 macron it to U+1308 it is immediately evident that its width is excessive. We shorten the width, carefully maintaining the angle of the glyph from the horizontal, until the width of the macron is 1.42 the width of the U+1308.

Next we shorten the left and right side "flares" (aka "buttercups", "butterfly wings") at the end of the macron. The height of the flares is scaled to 80% of the original where the flares appear more natural for "ng". The aspect ratio of the flares, 1.40, is greater than the norm for macrons in the Ethiopic set but is in keeping with style in use since 1882 (Reinsch).

The position of the macron above U+1308 is adjusted to the aesthetically correct position of 17.62% the height of U+1308 measured at the middle of the neck.

It is essential that the macron be joined to the body of U+1308 base. The early Unicode charts for Ethiopic presented the "ng" family with floating macrons. This style of rendering is consider acceptable only from the Ethiopic typewriter which must use a separate key for the macron. Hand written practices of both the Agaw and Blin will join the macron to the head of the "g" syllable it modifies. Computer typography should present this expected form of the glyph.

The "neck" that joins the macron to the head of the base glyph should have the same thickness as either U+1238 and U+1300 (which are generally identical) and borrow the angular properties of U+1238. In this demonstration the neck of U+1238 has been simply grafted onto the top of U+1308 with the height adjusted to meet the base of the macron. Note that left side of the neck joins the head of U+1308 where the left flare ends and the right side joined the head at the apex of the top curve (coincidental). The neck then spans over the inner arch of the U+1308 body, an effect that is considered desirable.

The macron of U+1318 may now be grafted onto U+1309 - U+130C to form our glyphs for U+1319 - U+131C:

1.1 Design of the Sixth Form (U+131D)

The rules given for grafting the neck onto the "g" series base must be adjusted for U+130D and U+130D which present special cases. In the first, U+130D, the left most side ends not with the expected flare but with a loop. In hand written practices the loop is written with a counter clockwise stroke. This stroke will continue upward, thru the top of the body, to form the macron (Reinsch). It remains desirable in modern typography that right side of the loop and the joining neck appear as a single continuous smooth stroke:

1.2 Design of the Seventh Form (U+131E)

The seventh form of the "ng" family is again a special case where the issue of the neck needs special consideration. The reference font found in the Unicode 4.0 tables presents U+131E (or "ngo) as shown in the first frame in the table below. The vertical lines and almost box like area presents an exception to the norms of typeface style in the font and to Ethiopic calligraphic styles in general.

The Blin preffernce is to use a more natural loop in place of the box like hollowed neck. U+1256 (in the 2nd frame above) offers the best starting point for an acceptable loop to apply to the "ngo" form. Grafting the loop portion of U+1256 onto the U+130E base we first scale the loop uniformly by 80%. The uniform scaling is important to preserve the shape of the strokes and inner white area of the loop.

In the third frame of our table we see the scaled loop grafted onto U+1256 with the standard "ng" macron grafted on top. As a consequence of the scaling the right side of the loop now appears too thin. The last frame shows the loop with the outer most ride side loop displaced slightly to enhance the thickness.

2. Design of Extended Blin

Both Agaw and Blin orthography rely on five labiovelar forms of the "ng" syllables ( ŋʷə, ŋʷi, ŋʷa, ŋʷe and ŋʷ ). These five labialised forms have not yet been introduced into ISO-10646 / Unicode but are included in proposals for an "Extended Ethiopic" range. Repeating the process for the design of the basic Blin syllables we start by identifying the labialised forms in "ge" (U+1310 - U+1315)) that we will build upon:

Again we may simply graft on the macron that we've designed for the basic Blin syllables:

This approach is satisfactory for all but the third labialized form, "ngwa". During the design of the Ethiopian NCIC "Agaw" font the Agaw representatives were very specific in their request that the "ngwa" glyph follow the stylized norms of other "straight legged" labializations. The Blin preference regarding "ngwa" concurs with the Agaw. Comparison to U+123F is shown below as an example:

Note however that change in macron style (the bottom side is flat and "wingless") that occurs in many labializations and demonstrated with U+123F should not be applied to labialised forms of "ng".

3. Recomendation

The original adaptation of the Agaw-Blin syllables to the typewriter suffered aesthetically from the limitation of the technology. These typewriter typefaces would later become the basis for computer fonts and thus the visual deficiencies of the older technology were carried over into the new. The Agaw and Blin communities however have expressed their desire that the original hand written forms be the basis for modern typefaces.

It is the recommendation of this paper that the style guidelines presented herein be applied in the design of any new computer typefaces and that older typefaces for Ethiopic be updated accordingly.

Appendix A. References

Everson, Michael

ISO 10646 Ammendment 10 http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/amd10-ethiopic.pdf

Unicode

Ethiopic Code Chart in Unicode 3.0 and later: http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1200.pdf

Extended Ethiopic Code Chart in Unicode 4.1.0: http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2D80.pdf

Giuseppe Sappeto

Viaggio missione cattolica frai Mensa, i Bogos e gli Habab, Roma, con un brevo dizionario Bileno, 1857

Werner Munzinger

Die deutsche Expedition in Ostafrika, 1861-64

D'Abbadie, Antonie

Sur le droit Bilen, Parigi, Paris, 1866

Reinisch, Leo

Die Bilin-Sprache in Nordos Afrika, (Bilin Grammar), Vienna, 1882

Reinisch, Leo

wengel marqos: Gospel of Mark in Blin or Bogos Language, 1882

Reinisch, Leo

Texte Der Bilin-Sprache, (Blin Stories, narratives etc.). Leipzig, 1883

Reinisch, Leo

Worterbuch der Bilin Sprache, (A Dictionary), Vienna, 1887

Conti Rossini

Racconte e Canti bileni, Actes du XIVe Internazionale des Orient. Rome, 1907

Cappomaza, Uliano

Un Testo Bileno, Rivista Degli Studi Oriental. vol. 4-1911-12, 1911

Fr. Wolde-Yohannes Habtemariam

Awi mehedxwna, (Who Created Us?, a catechism), 1939

Palmer, F. R.

The Verb in Bilin, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1957

Palmer, F. R.

The Noun in Bilin, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1958

Palmer, F. R.

An Outline of Bilin Phonology, Atti del convegno internazilanle diostdui etiopici. Roma: academiia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1960

Palmer, F. R.

Bilin "to be" and "to have", African Language Studies, Vol. 6, pp. 101-111, 1965

Palmer, F. R.

Word Class in Bilin, International Review of General Linguistics, Lingua vol.17, Amsterdam, 1967

Micheal Ghaber^*

The Blin of Bogos, A Thesis Project submitted to the History Department of the then Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa, Printed in Iraq, 1971

Zaborsky, Andrej

Consonant apophomy and consonant alteration in Bilin, Afroasiatic Linguistics vol. 3, pt. 6, 1976

Kiflemariam Fadega, Abba

werena jar musiKw, (A Cathechism and Paryers in Blin). Stencil, Unpublished, 1976

Kiflemariam Fadega, Abba

Qdase blind, (The Holy Mass in Blin), Stencil, Unpublished, 1977

Kiflemariam Fadega, Abba

The Blin Language: A Long Struggle for Survival, A Paper Presented in the 8th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Abba University. November 26-30. pp. 37, 1984

Mekonnen Amanuel^*

Melamedi QanQa Blin, Blin Primary. Asmara. Stencil, Unpublished, 1984

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

The Origin and Development of Blin, Blin Language Project. Institute of African Studies. Asmara University. Unpublished Research Paper. pp 100, 1986

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

The Role of Folk Poems in Expressing Economic Problems, a paper presented in Blin Language and Culture Seminar, June 5 1986, Asmara University, Eritrea, 1986

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

Analysis of some Blin Proverbs, Ethiopian Journal of African Studies 5(2): 62-68, 1989

Kidane Yebio, Abba^*

Fidel Shibisena Blinid (Blin for Beginners), Unpublished, 1989

Kiflemariam Hamde

Traditional religious customs in Blin society: The 'Candle Meal' and the 'Covenant', Adventist Regnum Tuum 51(1): 18-23 Asmara,, 1990

Goitom Kuflom^*

blin haleget, The Blin Alphabet. Switzerland. Unpublished Research Paper. pp 70, 1991

Kidane Yebio, Abba, et.al

Qdase blindi geezdisi. Hadisd delemaKw, Stencil, Unpublished, 1992

Tekie Alibekit^*

Blina ktabetdi gbra gabuxwdi, "Blin Language. Introductory phonetics and Grammar. 1st edition", Oslo. pp 116, ISBN 82-992623-0-5, 1992

Tekle Ghiorghis Yohannes Aftay^*

Blinna Gabba Gug, : Blin grammar in Blin Language. Uppsala: Nyna Tryckeri. pp. 187, 1992

Blin Langauge Research Group (Edited by Kiflemariam Hamde^* and Paulos Zeremariam^*)

Blina qolata end'ba, Blin Dictionary, with English Translations . Uppsala: Nyna Tryckeri. pp. 390, ISBN 91-630-1297-9, 1992

Bogos Goitom^*

Enkeli, Love Poems. Uppsala: Nyna Tryckeri, 1992

Yacob Zeru, Abba

wengielynadera ysusruKw., The Gospel in Blin, 1993

Tekie Alibekit^*

A summary of Blin Phonetics and Grammatical Terms, Unpublished, Oslo, 1993

Tekie Alibekit^*

Blina Dgim H'yaytu, Blin Fables, Unpublished, Oslo, 1993

Tekie Alibekit^*, Kiflemariam Hamde^*, Fessehazion Zemicael^*, and Abba Asfaha Kidanemariam^*

Blina gaba TefHat, Standardisation of Some Blin Writing (1994), A working Paper. pp 8, 1994

Fessahatzion Zemicael^*

Shib blin'd. Numerals in Blin for Children., Stockholm, 1994

Tekie Alibekit^*

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Kiflemariam Hamde^*

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Kiflemariam Hamde^*

The role of language in societal development: Culture, Language and Society, A paper presented at the First National Conference on Eritrean Languages, Ministry of Education, and EPFDJ, August 16-18, Asmara, 1996

The Committee for Developing Blin Lanaguage and Culture in Keren

The Committee for Developing Blin Lanaguage and Culture in Keren, 1997

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

Blin Language Lessons for DEHAI, A Network for Eritreans: http://web.archive.org/web/20010820200320/http://www.primenet.com/~ephrem2/languages/blin/, 1997

Lamberti, M. & L. Tonelli

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Ministry of Education

Blina Gab Linger Me-ebed, Blin for 2nd Grade. Publishing Unit of the Department of General Education, 1998

Tekie Alibekit

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Kidane Yebio, Abba, et.al

srAt awsaIniKwdi arb sqletuKdi, (The Ceremony of Hosanna and Long Friday), 2000

Kidane Yebio, Abba, et.al

ynaderes shiwnin, (A Blin Prayer Book), 2000

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

Being and Becoming an Eritrean In Sweden: The Case of Blin Language and Culture Association in Stockholm, A paper submitted for a PhD Course on Sociolinguistics, Afro Asiatic Department, Uppsala University, December, 2000

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

Lets Discuss Blin Poems and their role in Blin Society., A Paper read at the 10^th anniversary of the Blin Language and Culture Association in Sweden, Stockholm, December 28, 2000

Kiflemariam Hamde^*

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Tekie Alibekit^*

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Department of General Education,

Blina Gab Selfa Mé-ébéd (Blin Language for 1st Grade), Ministry of Education, Asmara, 1997

Department of General Education

Blina Gab Sikhwer Mé-ébéd (Blin Language for 3rd Grade), Ministry of Education, Asmara, 1999

Marcello Lamberti

The Expression of Prepositional Phrases in Blin, New Data and New Methods in Afroasiatic Linguistics-Robert Hetzron in Memoriam, Edited by Anderzej Zobarski 2001 Wiesbaden

Abbebe Kifleyesus

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Paul D. Fallon, Howard University

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Marcello Lamberti & Livia Tonelli

The Noun System of Bilin, Ethiopia in Broader Perspective vol. 1- papers of the XIIIth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Kyoto: Shokado Book Sellers ISBN: 4-87974-976-1 C3039 2001? Kiyoto 12-17 Dec. 1997

Appendix B. Additional Typeface Examples

TBD - Repeat the formula with other typefaces.