T-comma
Encyclopedia
T-comma is a letter which is part of the Romanian alphabet
, used to represent the Romanian language
sound /t͡s/, the voiceless alveolar affricate
(like ts in bolts). It is written as the letter T
with a small comma
below and it has both the lower-case (U+021B) and the upper-case variants (U+021A). It is also a part of the Gagauz alphabet and the Livonian alphabet.
The letter was proposed in the Buda Lexicon, a book published in 1825, which included two texts by Petru Maior
, Orthographia romana sive Latino-valachica una cum clavi and Dialogu pentru inceputul linbei române, introducing ș for /ʃ/ and ț for /t͡s/.
This letter was not part of the early Unicode
versions, which is why Ţ
(T
-cedilla
, available from version 1.1.0, June 1993) is often used in digital texts in Romanian. T-comma
was introduced only in Unicode 3.0.0 (September 1999) at the request of the Romanian national standardization body, but many computers today still do not have font
s compatible with it; computers with Microsoft
operating system
s older than Windows XP
do not have compatible fonts. Windows XP's default fonts do not support this letter out of the box, but it is possible to install the European Union Expansion Font Update, which adds support for this letter. That is why almost all Romanian texts still use T-cedilla (or even T), despite the recommendation to migrate from cedilla to comma. Full support of this letter has been available on Macintosh
computer since Mac OS X
and is now provided by Windows Vista
.
In Windows XP, most of the fonts including the Arial Unicode MS render T-cedilla as T-comma because T-cedilla is not used in any language. Technically, this is incorrect as a mismatching glyph is associated with a certain character code. Therefore, text written using S-cedilla and T-cedilla can often be seen as if it had been written using S-cedilla and T-comma. However, in order to correctly encode and render both S-comma
and T-comma, one has to install the European Union Expansion Font Update. Unfortunately, there is no official way to add keyboard support for these characters. In order to type them, one has to either install 3rd party keyboards, or use the Character Map.
The Windows version of the Firefox web browser is able to generate S-comma and T-comma, even if the characters are missing from the system's fonts. Internet Explorer
does not have this capability.
All Linux distributions are able to correctly render S-comma and T-comma, since at least 2005. If these characters are missing from a certain font, they will be substituted with the glyph from another font. Although the X.Org Server
supports the correct keyboard (ro comma) since at least 2005, selecting this keyboard from the user interface (e.g. GNOME
Keyboard Properties) has only recently been made possible.
Romanian alphabet
The Romanian alphabet is a modification of the Latin alphabet and consists of 31 letters:The letters Q , W , and Y were officially introduced in the Romanian alphabet in 1982, although they had been used earlier...
, used to represent the Romanian language
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
sound /t͡s/, the voiceless alveolar affricate
Voiceless alveolar affricate
The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The sound is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet with ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ . The voiceless alveolar affricate occurs in such languages as German, Cantonese, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin...
(like ts in bolts). It is written as the letter T
T
T is the 20th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used consonant and the second most common letter in the English language.- History :Taw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets...
with a small comma
Comma (punctuation)
The comma is a punctuation mark. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight but inclined from the vertical, or...
below and it has both the lower-case (U+021B) and the upper-case variants (U+021A). It is also a part of the Gagauz alphabet and the Livonian alphabet.
The letter was proposed in the Buda Lexicon, a book published in 1825, which included two texts by Petru Maior
Petru Maior
Petru Maior was a Romanian writer who is considered one of the most influential personalities of the Age of Enlightenment in Transylvania...
, Orthographia romana sive Latino-valachica una cum clavi and Dialogu pentru inceputul linbei române, introducing ș for /ʃ/ and ț for /t͡s/.
This letter was not part of the early Unicode
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...
versions, which is why Ţ
T
T is the 20th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used consonant and the second most common letter in the English language.- History :Taw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets...
(T
T
T is the 20th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used consonant and the second most common letter in the English language.- History :Taw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets...
-cedilla
Cedilla
A cedilla , also known as cedilha or cédille, is a hook added under certain letters as a diacritical mark to modify their pronunciation.-Origin:...
, available from version 1.1.0, June 1993) is often used in digital texts in Romanian. T-comma
Comma (punctuation)
The comma is a punctuation mark. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight but inclined from the vertical, or...
was introduced only in Unicode 3.0.0 (September 1999) at the request of the Romanian national standardization body, but many computers today still do not have font
Font
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...
s compatible with it; computers with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s older than Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
do not have compatible fonts. Windows XP's default fonts do not support this letter out of the box, but it is possible to install the European Union Expansion Font Update, which adds support for this letter. That is why almost all Romanian texts still use T-cedilla (or even T), despite the recommendation to migrate from cedilla to comma. Full support of this letter has been available on Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computer since Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and is now provided by Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
.
In Windows XP, most of the fonts including the Arial Unicode MS render T-cedilla as T-comma because T-cedilla is not used in any language. Technically, this is incorrect as a mismatching glyph is associated with a certain character code. Therefore, text written using S-cedilla and T-cedilla can often be seen as if it had been written using S-cedilla and T-comma. However, in order to correctly encode and render both S-comma
S-comma
S-comma is a letter which is part of the Romanian alphabet, used to represent the Romanian language sound , the voiceless postalveolar fricative ....
and T-comma, one has to install the European Union Expansion Font Update. Unfortunately, there is no official way to add keyboard support for these characters. In order to type them, one has to either install 3rd party keyboards, or use the Character Map.
The Windows version of the Firefox web browser is able to generate S-comma and T-comma, even if the characters are missing from the system's fonts. Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
does not have this capability.
All Linux distributions are able to correctly render S-comma and T-comma, since at least 2005. If these characters are missing from a certain font, they will be substituted with the glyph from another font. Although the X.Org Server
X.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
supports the correct keyboard (ro comma) since at least 2005, selecting this keyboard from the user interface (e.g. GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
Keyboard Properties) has only recently been made possible.
See also
- D-commaD-commais a letter which was part of the Romanian alphabet, and used to represent the sound or where it was derived from a Latin d...
- S-commaS-commaS-comma is a letter which is part of the Romanian alphabet, used to represent the Romanian language sound , the voiceless postalveolar fricative ....
- Other diacritics confused with the cedilla