Character Description Language
Encyclopedia
The Chinese character description languages are several proposed languages to most accurately and completely describe Chinese (or CJKV) characters and information such their list of components, list of strokes (basic and complex), their order, and the localization of each of them on a background empty square. Work on this is currently led by the CDL of the Wenlin Institute, the SCML, and the Hanglyph languages. They are designed to overcome the inherent lack of information within a bitmap description. This enriched information can be utilized to identify variants of characters that are unified into one code point by Unicode
and ISO/IEC 10646, as well as to provide an alternative form of encoding for rare characters that do not yet have a standardized encoding in Unicode or ISO/IEC 10646. They all aim to work for Kaishu style and Song style, as well as to provide the character's internal structure which can be used for easier look-up of a character by indexing the character's internal make-up and cross-referencing among similar characters.
technology, based on XML
, co-created by Tom Bishop and Richard Cook for the Wenlin Institute, designed for describing any CJK
character, but suitable for describing any glyph
.
This XML-based declarative language actually defines the stroke order
of each component (a la a radical
), as well as assembly of previously-defined components to build up evermore complex characters. Many of these components are characters in their own right, in addition to serving as building-block components.
The background looks like a square of 128 pixel
s on each side. In this background:
Accordingly, a set of 50 strokes allow one to construct a set of 1,000 components which may in turn be embedded within tens of thousands characters' descriptions. A change in the shape of one of the 50 basic strokes is implicitly applied within each character that embeds that stroke. Likewise, a change to a component is implicitly applied within each character whose assemblage uses that component.
T. Bishop and R. Cook explain this by the words :
As of Spring 2003, over 50,000 Chinese characters had been described via CDL. As of 29 July 2009, 73,254 Chinese characters had been described via CDL.
, TeX
, MetaFont
, and MetaPost
toolsuite.
SCML
HanGlyph
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
and ISO/IEC 10646, as well as to provide an alternative form of encoding for rare characters that do not yet have a standardized encoding in Unicode or ISO/IEC 10646. They all aim to work for Kaishu style and Song style, as well as to provide the character's internal structure which can be used for easier look-up of a character by indexing the character's internal make-up and cross-referencing among similar characters.
CDL
Chinese Character Description Language is a fontFont
In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
technology, based on XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
, co-created by Tom Bishop and Richard Cook for the Wenlin Institute, designed for describing any CJK
CJK
CJK is a collective term for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, which is used in the field of software and communications internationalization.The term CJKV means CJK plus Vietnamese, which constitute the main East Asian languages.- Characteristics :...
character, but suitable for describing any glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
.
This XML-based declarative language actually defines the stroke order
Stroke order
Stroke order refers to the order in which the strokes of a Chinese character are written. A stroke is a movement of a writing instrument on a writing surface. Chinese characters are used in various forms in Chinese, Japanese, and in Korean...
of each component (a la a radical
Radical (Chinese character)
A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...
), as well as assembly of previously-defined components to build up evermore complex characters. Many of these components are characters in their own right, in addition to serving as building-block components.
The background looks like a square of 128 pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s on each side. In this background:
- Each kind of stroke can be drawn in SVGScalable Vector GraphicsScalable Vector Graphics is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic . The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999.SVG images and their...
(more than 50 strokes). - A basic component is composed by calling several strokes. In this component, each stroke is described by its bottom-left and top-right corner. Transformations are possible (reduction, enlargement, etc.). There are more than 1,000 basic components.
- A character is composed by calling several components. In this character, each component is described by its bottom-left and top-right corner. In order for a component to fit into its proper portion of the Chinese character's rectangular block, a component may be transformed (e.g., horizontalHorizontal planeIn geometry, physics, astronomy, geography, and related sciences, a plane is said to be horizontal at a given point if it is perpendicular to the gradient of the gravity field at that point— in other words, if apparent gravity makes a plumb bob hang perpendicular to the plane at that point.In...
or verticalVertical directionIn astronomy, geography, geometry and related sciences and contexts, a direction passing by a given point is said to be vertical if it is locally aligned with the gradient of the gravity field, i.e., with the direction of the gravitational force at that point...
reduction or enlargement) upon its use as a building-block embedded within a containing more-complex character.
Accordingly, a set of 50 strokes allow one to construct a set of 1,000 components which may in turn be embedded within tens of thousands characters' descriptions. A change in the shape of one of the 50 basic strokes is implicitly applied within each character that embeds that stroke. Likewise, a change to a component is implicitly applied within each character whose assemblage uses that component.
T. Bishop and R. Cook explain this by the words :
- "The stroke count of one character is generally related to the stroke counts of other characters. Most characters are built from components, and as long as the stroke counts of those components are defined, there is rarely any difficulty in adding them together to obtain the combined stroke count. Therefore, if a standard defines the strokes of a few thousand characters, it implicitly defines the strokes of many thousands of additional characters."
As of Spring 2003, over 50,000 Chinese characters had been described via CDL. As of 29 July 2009, 73,254 Chinese characters had been described via CDL.
SCML
In 2007, Structural Character Modeling Language was proposed as a different kind of XML-based Chinese-character description language whose positioning is not based on a numerical grid, as CDL and HanGlyph are. The known database of characters whose strokes and components are encoded in SCML is for demonstration-of-principle only; no known effort exists to attempt to encode, say, all of Unicode's CJK characters in SCML.HanGlyph
A Chinese-character description language that is based on the LaTexLaTeX
LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
, TeX
TeX
TeX is a typesetting system designed and mostly written by Donald Knuth and released in 1978. Within the typesetting system, its name is formatted as ....
, MetaFont
METAFONT
Metafont is a programming language used to define vector fonts. It is also the name of the interpreter that executes Metafont code, generating the bitmap fonts that can be embedded into e.g. PostScript...
, and MetaPost
MetaPost
MetaPost refers to both a programming language and the interpreter of the MetaPost programming language. Both are derived from Donald Knuth's Metafont language and interpreter. MetaPost excels at producing diagrams in the PostScript programming language from a geometric/algebraic description...
toolsuite.
KanjiVG
KanjiVG is a free (CC-by-sa-3.0) Chinese character description language based on SVG, and a wiki system of edition.External links
CDL language from Wenlin InstituteSCML
HanGlyph
See also
- UnicodeUnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
- List of Shuowen Jiezi radicals - a system of 540 components used by Xu ShenXu ShenXǔ Shèn was a Chinese philologist of the Han Dynasty. He was the author of Shuowen Jiezi, the first Chinese dictionary with character analysis, as well as the first to organize the characters by shared components. It contains over 9,000 character entries under 540 radicals, explaining the origins...
(d. ~147AD) in his Shuowen JieziShuowen JieziThe Shuōwén Jiězì was an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary , it was still the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give the rationale behind them , as well as the first to use the... - List of Kangxi radicals - a system of 214 components used by the Kangxi dictionaryKangxi dictionaryThe Kangxi Dictionary was the standard Chinese dictionary during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Kangxi Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty ordered its compilation in 1710. The creator innovated greatly by reusing and confirming the new Zihui system of 596 radicals, since then known as 596 Kangxi...
(1716), made under Emperor Kangxi of Qing leadership - List of unicode radicals － a modern and computer based ongoing attempt to create a complete and occurate set of CJK component list, led by UnicodeUnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
.
- CJK characters
- strokeStroke (CJK character)CJK strokes, also called CJK strokes or CJKV strokes are the calligraphic strokes needed to write the Chinese characters used in East Asia...
- stroke orderStroke orderStroke order refers to the order in which the strokes of a Chinese character are written. A stroke is a movement of a writing instrument on a writing surface. Chinese characters are used in various forms in Chinese, Japanese, and in Korean...
- radicalRadical (Chinese character)A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...