ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N4158R

L2/11-430R
2011-11-02
Date revised: 2012-04-23
Title:
Source:
Author:
Status:
Action:
Date:

Proposal to Encode the Sign EKAM for Sharada in ISO/IEC 10646

1 Introduction
This is a proposal to encode a new character in the Sharada block of the Universal Character Set (ISO/IEC
10646). Sharada will be included in a future version of the UCS at the range U+11180..U+111DF (see N3595
L2/09-074R2). Properties of the proposed character are:

111C9

Lo

AL

Sharada should be sorted at the top of the script, before + 11183 .

Description

The Sharada is an invocation sign used at the beginning of texts. It represents the Sanskrit word
ekam one and is used in place of ekam in salutory phrases, such as om svasti ekam siddham om hail! one,
established!. A detailed description of the characters origins, meaning, and usage is provided by George
A. Grierson in The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1916: 678680), which is
reproduced here in figures 13.

References

Grierson, George A. 1916. On the Sharada Alphabet. The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland, pp. 677708.
Pandey, Anshuman. 2009. Proposal to Encode the Sharada Script in ISO/IEC 10646. N3595 L2/09074R2. August 5, 2009. http://std.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n3595.pdf

Acknowledgments

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the United States National Endowment for the Humanities, which funded the Universal Scripts Project (part of the Script Encoding Initiative at the University
of California, Berkeley). Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication
do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Proposal to Encode the Sign EKAM for Sharada in ISO/IEC 10646

Figure 1: Description of (from Grierson 1916: 678).

Anshuman Pandey

Proposal to Encode the Sign EKAM for Sharada in ISO/IEC 10646

Figure 2: Description of (from Grierson 1916: 679).

Anshuman Pandey

Proposal to Encode the Sign EKAM for Sharada in ISO/IEC 10646

Figure 3: Description of (from Grierson 1916: 680).

Anshuman Pandey

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2

Please read Principles and Procedures Document (P & P) from http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/principles.html for
guidelines and details before filling this form.
Please ensure you are using the latest Form from http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/summaryform.html.
See also http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/roadmaps.html for latest Roadmaps.

A. Administrative
1. Title:
Proposal to Encode the Sign EKAM for Sharada in ISO/IEC 10646
2. Requester's name:
Script Encoding Initiative (SEI) / Anshuman Pandey (pandey@umich.edu)
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution):
Liaison contribution
4. Submission date:
2011-11-02
5. Requester's reference (if applicable):
6. Choose one of the following:
This is a complete proposal:
Yes
(or) More information will be provided later:
B. Technical General
1. Choose one of the following:
a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters):
Proposed name of script:
b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block:
Name of the existing block:
Sharada
2. Number of characters in proposal:
1
3. Proposed category (select one from below - see section 2.2 of P&P document):
A-Contemporary
X B.1-Specialized (small collection)
B.2-Specialized (large collection)
C-Major extinct
D-Attested extinct
E-Minor extinct
F-Archaic Hieroglyphic or Ideographic
G-Obscure or questionable usage symbols
4. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
Yes
a. If YES, are the names in accordance with the character naming guidelines
in Annex L of P&P document?
Yes
b. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
Yes
5. Fonts related:
a. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font to the Project Editor of 10646 for publishing the
standard?
Anshuman Pandey
b. Identify the party granting a license for use of the font by the editors (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.):
Anshuman Pandey (pandey@umich.edu)
6. References:
a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided?
Yes
b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources)
of proposed characters attached?
Yes
7. Special encoding issues:
Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing (if applicable) such as input,
presentation, sorting, searching, indexing, transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)?
Yes
8. Additional Information:
Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) or Script
that will assist in correct understanding of and correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.
Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information, Currency information, Display behaviour
information such as line breaks, widths etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directional behaviour, Default
Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalence and other Unicode normalization
related information. See the Unicode standard at http://www.unicode.org for such information on other scripts. Also
see Unicode Character Database ( http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr44/ ) and associated Unicode Technical Reports
for information needed for consideration by the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.

Form number: N3902-F (Original 1994-10-14; Revised 1995-01, 1995-04, 1996-04, 1996-08, 1999-03, 2001-05, 2001-09, 2003-11,
2005-01, 2005-09, 2005-10, 2007-03, 2008-05, 2009-11, 2011-03)

C. Technical - Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before?
No
If YES explain
2. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body,
No
user groups of the script or characters, other experts, etc.)?
If YES, with whom?
If YES, available relevant documents:
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example:
Yes
size, demographics, information technology use, or publishing use) is included?
Size of user community is unknown.
Reference:
4. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)
Common
Character used as invocation symbol in manuscripts and other records
Reference:
5. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
Yes
Character is historical, but may be in current use
If YES, where? Reference:
6. After giving due considerations to the principles in the P&P document must the proposed characters be entirely
No
in the BMP?
If YES, is a rationale provided?
If YES, reference:
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)?
N/A
8. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an existing
No
character or character sequence?
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
If YES, reference:
9. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character sequence of either
No
existing characters or other proposed characters?
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
If YES, reference:
10. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (in appearance or function)
No
to an existing character?
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
If YES, reference:
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences?
No
If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
If YES, reference:
Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols) provided?
If YES, reference:
12. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as
No
control function or similar semantics?
If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary)

13. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility characters?

No