Writing System: Heiltsuk

Names:

Quick facts:

Required localization variations

Reference fonts

Characters

Letters:

Numbers:

Punctuation marks:

Miscellaneous characters:

Sample Texts

Nugva tuáila his Gvúkva'áus Haíɫzaqv láká gvúkvas qs ǧáǧṃpá. W̓álanugvas h̓íxst̓áukv, ɫáukva'auis y̓íx̌sá ǧvḷ̓íkax̌í láh̓á h̓íxṃnúgva k'lá w̓álanugvas h̓íxst̓áuxv qsu h̓uá k̓úsṃnugva h̓íxst̓áuxv k̓iá k̓úsxtṇugva q̓úsʔit láká tx̌as K̓vi'ái. Nugva tuáila his Gvúkva'áus Haíɫzaqv láká gvúkvas qs ǧáǧṃpá wáiṇts h̓uá q̓úsʔit h̓ágvái q̓áq̓úƛ̓amasuƛa pḷáwisgila h̓ákq̓ṃ h̓ágva mímáƛuaḷa h̓ṃbás qṇts túxvʔitƛiga h̓ágṃ́ h̓ágva h̓ṃ̓láqvḷa h̓súx̌v máyáɫayaqvs náǧac̓i ɫáw̓ínínukvnugvas qs m̓áyáɫa h̓súx̌v máyáɫayaqvs Láƛnúgva h̓uá h̓ḷ́ca. H̓áɫʔṃnúgva hṃgílá xvúlí. C̓ác̓úx̌vꟛi m̓áyáɫa h̓ṃ́x̌úlṃ́ náǧac̓i qs máy̓áɫayaqsa h̓x̌v:h̓x̌vṇí díxdiǧac̓i bákvḷá qs c̓úxvƛṃáyax̌ ꟛáx̌vím̓iɫtsi h̓ágṃ h̓ágva gaíbalaxsí ꟛáwíɫ wṇína ꟛáwíɫ du'í ǧiáxsix̌a Láǧax̌náiy̓ax̌ k̓iá k̓úsƛṇugva ꟛápa zuáli la tx̌as Q̓íɫcutxv K̓úsnugva h̓íxp̓asús ɫq̓st Ǧiáxsix̌a Káníɫṃi du Kvíkvṇ̓áx̌nuxv du Láǧax̌náiy̓ax̌ du Lúx̌vḷílṃǧa du Ǧvu̓í Du Náṇqs k̓iá k̓úsxtṇugva t̓pá hísṇ la tx̌as Nám̓u Láh̓á t̓páƛṇúgva miá láká tx̌as Nám̓u c̓úxvʔitsí Mília yis q̓kxv K̓úsnugva msḷá q̓kxv láh̓á h̓íxp̓asúnugvas q̓kkv las msḷá q̓kkv msḷánugva las h̓íxp̓asús q̓kkv. tuálagḷsƛṇugva la h̓áƛ̓iáx̌i, ƛ̓uxvdak̓sḷánugva, x̌vúsḷáutnugva h̓a̓úx̌vsúlí Ǧiáxsix̌a Láǧax̌náiy̓ax̌ du Náṇqs w̓áx̌ḷíɫanugva qs gvúkvax̌s h̓a̓úx̌vsúlí w̓áx̌ánúgva qs dádac̓uáx̌ h̓ṃ́y̓ax̌a̓uɫtut k̓vuáqáux̌v dṇ́y̓ásax̌v k̓vuáqa Jackieax̌ dṇ́y̓ásax̌v.

Q̓úsʔitƛúx̌v máqánṃ́a ɫq̓sdiáx̌i Ǧiáxsix̌a Ǧvu̓í du ɫaúk̓vimasas Wíkv, m̓ásay̓auxv... gvusíux̌v, Lux̌v kabúdáila ɫq̓sdiáx̌v lux̌v k̓vx̌t̓áila Lux̌v yḷ́xáila ɫq̓sdiáx̌v la qc̓úsax̌v Y̓ḷ́xáux̌v ɫq̓sdiáx̌v la qc̓úsax̌v, Wátaxsalaƛux̌v la tx̌as Yáláƛi H̓ágvái wátaíx̌sda q̓úsʔitƛí wátaxsalanṃa W̓íláx̌vƛay̓ux̌v máx̌ʔuɫt̓a h̓sistáudáux̌v ɫq̓sdiáx̌v w̓ílái tísṃ... hi lux̌v w̓úsǧṃigas k̓átí, ɫáw̓ínínukvnugvas ꟛu̓ḷ́stus qs ǧáǧṃpá k̓sqásxsílánugva k̓ɫḷíɫa, k̓ɫḷíɫaƛṇugva, k̓ɫḷíɫanugva w̓u̓íɫax̌v, k̓ɫḷíɫanugva qṇ Nevada, pásax̌ḷáxsi dṇásax̌v k̓úsnugva gvu̓áƛáix̌sdauƛa pásax̌ḷá dṇásaqvs gvu̓áƛaƛṇúgvuƛa pásax̌ḷá dṇásaqvs k̓úsnugva h̓ík̓ímás gvu̓áƛáuƛa pásax̌ḷá dṇásaqvs pásax̌ḷánugva dṇásax̌v K̓ci h̓átḷá qṇ tánísax̌i n̓x̌vi q̓káuƛa pásax̌ḷáxsi dṇásax̌v p̓ákáxsi p̓ákáxsi tk̓iáqvs p̓ákáxsi tíbḷax̌v p̓ákáxsi ƛ̓bṃáx̌v p̓ákáxsi k̓váxdṃ̓áx̌v dígḷíɫaxsi dígilaxs qa'áṇts dizútsí dizútsí tíbḷax̌v dúqvḷáxsṇƛa dúqvḷáxsi dúx̌vʔitsí Nevada dádac̓utsí txvʔítsí títḷx̌vc̓utsí tuáxsi cṃ́xvʔitsí cṃ́xvʔitsí w̓a̓ṃ́pax̌v C̓páxsí ɫq̓sdiáx̌v c̓xʔitsí c̓ṃáxsi c̓ṃáxsi w̓u̓íɫax̌v C̓ísaxsí ɫq̓sdiáx̌v c̓ísaxsí ǧṃbútsaqvs c̓úc̓x̌vṃáxsi c̓úx̌vaxsí k̓vák̓vaq̓áyúax̌v c̓uáxsi Blendayas k̓ádáyú sḷístalaxsi súkváxsi súkváxsi gax̌v súkváxsi k̓ádáyúax̌v súkváxsi qíx̌v súkváxsi náǧac̓iaqvs súkváxsi náǧac̓iaqvs súkváxsi náǧac̓iaqvs suáláxsi qs háyásuax̌ suáláxsi háyásus Jayda ꟛu̓ḷ́xtáutsi ꟛáx̌vím̓iɫtsi h̓ágṃ h̓ágva ꟛáwíɫtsi ꟛáwíɫtsi la gax̌v ꟛáwíɫtsi la qíx̌v ƛ̓pútsí ƛ̓bṃáx̌v ƛ̓páxsí ƛ̓bṃáx̌v Ɫqáiláxsi qa̓aṇts giálaƛḷutsiqv gaíbalaxsí ꟛáwíɫ k̓ci p̓áká k̓ci tsá k̓ci zíxvc̓uá k̓ci ɫáluk̓vas súkvá K̓ci gáx̌áiƛ gṇtkv nínúya.

(Ꟛ ꟛ) = ꟚÍꟚU̓ḶÁX̌AC̓UALAS ꟛíꟛu̓ḷáx̌ac̓ualas H̓ṆX̌ꟚA̓Ḷ́S h̓ṇx̌ꟛa̓ḷ́s

(Ƛ̓ ƛ̓) = Ƛ̓XSÍWÁLAǦṂⱢ ƛ̓xsíwálaǧṃɫ Ƛ̓ÁꟜ̓UX̌VSÍLÁY̓U ƛ̓áƛ̓ux̌vsíláy̓u C̓ÚXVꟜṂÁYAX̌ c̓úxvƛṃáyax̌ ⱢGVÍꟜLÁ ɫgvíƛlá ꟚÁPAꟜṆÚGVA Ꟛápaƛṇúgva P̓Ƛ̓S p̓ƛ̓s

(A̓ U̓ Q̓ P̓ T̓ C̓ Y̓ W̓ L̓ Ḷ̓ M̓ N̓ Ṇ̓ Ṃ̓ a̓ u̓ q̓ p̓ t̓ c̓ y̓ w̓ l̓ ḷ̓ m̓ n̓ ṇ̓ ṃ̓) = BṆ̓Á bṇ̓á BṆGḶ̓Á bṇgḷ̓á KVṂSIY̓Á kvṃsiy̓á P̓SP̓I̓Ú p̓sp̓i̓ú T̓XT̓K̓VS t̓xt̓k̓vs T̓Ṇ́C̓ÁSNUGVA t̓ṇ́c̓ásnugva K̓VC̓Ṇ̓Á k̓vc̓ṇ̓á L̓QÁX̌Ḷ̓ÁS l̓qáx̌ḷ̓ás Q̓Ƛ̓ÁP̓ṆÁLAꟜḶA q̓ƛ̓áp̓ṇálaƛḷa Q̓KKVÚX̌V q̓kkvúx̌v N̓XVÁꟜI n̓xváƛi N̓ÁN̓AXVḶÍL̓A̓ILAS n̓án̓axvḷíl̓a̓ilas W̓ÍGÍLÁꟜAS w̓ígíláƛas

(Ḷ́ Ṇ́ Ṃ́ Í ḷ́ ṇ́ ṃ́ í) = ꟚṆ́XʔIT ꟛṇ́xʔit ꟚU̓Ḷ́XꟚU̓ḶKA ꟛu̓ḷ́xꟛu̓ḷka Y̓ÍX̌SÁ y̓íx̌sá H̓ÍKNÚGVA h̓íknúgva KVⱢÁX̌Ḷ́S kvɫáx̌ḷ́s H̓Ḷ́KVⱢ h̓ḷ́kvɫ KVṆ́CÁNÚGVA kvṇ́cánúgva T̓KVṂ́T t̓kvṃ́t H̓Ṇ́ZṆ̓AKVḶÁ h̓ṇ́zṇ̓akvḷá H̓Ḷ́GVṂBIƛA h̓ḷ́gvṃbiƛa

(i̓) = ƛ̓i̓álásilaƛṇugva

(K̓ H̓ k̓ h̓) = h̓ík̓úx̌vs H̓ÍK̓ÚX̌VS (nestedCommaAbove)

(X̌ x̌) = ǦIÁXSIX̌A ǧiáxsix̌a KÍX̌VḶÁ kíx̌vḷá N̓ÁN̓ÁLÁX̌ʔIT n̓án̓áláx̌ʔit X̌ÍX̌ÍS x̌íx̌ís

(Ǧ ǧ) = T̓ǦÚY̓UÁ t̓ǧúy̓uá LÁǦAX̌NÁIY̓AX̌ Láǧax̌náiy̓ax̌

(ʔ) = BṆXʔÍT bṇxʔít ƛ̓SʔṆÁ ƛ̓sʔṇá H̓ÍXST̓ÁUXVʔUA h̓íxst̓áuxvʔua ƛ̓ÚX̌VILAʔILAS ƛ̓úx̌vilaʔilas P̓SʔÍT p̓sʔít K̓VTX̌ÚLÍʔAS k̓vtx̌úlíʔas H̓ḶÁʔIÁS h̓ḷáʔiás H̓ÁⱢʔṂ h̓áɫʔṃ HṂ́ʔÁZU Hṃ́ʔázu N̓XVÁⱢʔIT n̓xváɫʔit máx̌ʔuɫt̓aƛux̌v

(') = X̌VṆÚKV’U x̌vṇúkv’u DU'Í du'í K̓VI'ÁI K̓vi'ái M̓ṆC̓QÍLÁ'ILA m̓ṇc̓qílá'ila K'LÁ k'lá GVÚKVA'ÁUS gvúkva'áus

(:) = H̓X̌V:H̓X̌VṆÍ h̓x̌v:h̓x̌vṇí H̓Ḷ́S:H̓CA h̓ḷ́s:h̓ca H̓AÍ:H̓Ḷ̓AS h̓aí:h̓ḷ̓as H̓Ḷ̓S:H̓CÁNÚGVA h̓ḷ̓s:h̓cánúgva H̓ÁⱢ:H̓AⱢA h̓áɫ:h̓aɫa H̓Á:H̓Ṃ́ʔÁZU h̓á:h̓ṃ́ʔázu N̓Ṇ́X:N̓ṆKA n̓ṇ́x:n̓ṇka

(Ħ ħ) = ƛ̓ÁYṂ́ĦA ƛ̓áyṃ́ħa H̓ṆÚĦI h̓ṇúħi N̓ÁXVÚĦḶ́SA n̓áxvúħḷ́sa

(Ɫ ɫ) = ⱢXⱢKVÁ ɫxɫkvá ꟚÁWÍⱢ Ꟛáwíɫ ⱢKVḶÁꟜṆTKV Ɫkvḷáƛṇtxv ɫkvḷáƛṇtkv H̓DÁBAⱢCIZÁ h̓dábaɫcizá ⱢQ̓ST ɫq̓st ⱢX̌VⱢQVÁC̓UÁ ɫx̌vɫqvác̓uá ⱢḶṂ́XT ɫḷṃ́xt KVⱢÁ kvɫá P̓ⱢTQÁ p̓ɫtqá Mɫa̓ínúx̌v K̓ⱢḶÍⱢA k̓ɫḷíɫa

(Kerning pairs) = kɫ (k̓ɫḷíɫa) (ꟛ (ꟛíꟛu̓ḷáx̌ac̓ualas), ꟛu (ꟛíꟛu̓ḷáx̌ac̓ualas), Yḷ (Y̓ḷ́xáux̌v), íx̌ (cíx̌vp̓álá), x̌ʔ, VꟜ (C̓ÚXVꟜṂÁYAX̌), vƛ (c̓úxvƛṃáyax̌), PꟜ (P̓Ƛ̓S), XⱢ (ⱢXⱢKVÁ), ⱢT (P̓ⱢTQÁ), ɫt (p̓ɫtqá), A'Á (GVÚKVA'ÁUS), ÁY (ƛ̓ÁYṂ́ĦA), V: (H̓X̌V:H̓X̌VṆÍ), a'a (ɫáukva'auis), sʔ (q̓úsʔit), ɫʔ (H̓áɫʔṃnúgva), vꟛ (C̓ác̓úx̌vꟛi), x̌ꟛ (h̓ṇx̌ꟛa̓ḷ́s), íl (Mília), ík (h̓íknúgva), xꟛ (ꟛu̓ḷ́xꟛu̓ḷka), íꟛ (ꟛíꟛu̓ḷáx̌ac̓ualas)

(Font build validation test string) = Ꟛ ꟛ Ƛ̓ ƛ̓ K̓ H̓ k̓ h̓ A̓ U̓ Q̓ P̓ T̓ C̓ Y̓ W̓ L̓ Ḷ̓ M̓ N̓ Ṇ̓ Ṃ̓ a̓ u̓ q̓ p̓ t̓ c̓ y̓ w̓ l̓ ḷ̓ m̓ n̓ ṇ̓ ṃ̓ Ḷ́ Ṇ́ Ṃ́ Í ḷ́ ṇ́ ṃ́ í i̓ X̌ x̌ Ǧ ǧ ʔ Ħ ħ Ɫ ɫ ’ : // ⱢXⱢKVÁ H̓áɫʔṃnúgva Ƛ̓ÁYṂ́ĦA ƛ̓áyṃ́ħa C̓ÁY̓ÁX̌ c̓áy̓áx̌ X̌VṆÚKV’U x̌vṇúkv’u H̓X̌V:H̓X̌VṆÍ h̓x̌v:h̓x̌vṇí ꟚU̓Ḷ́XꟚU̓ḶKA ꟛu̓ḷ́xꟛu̓ḷka kvṃsiy̓á ƛ̓i̓álásilaƛṇugva

Notes

Typography

Overview

The typography of the Heiltsuk writing system is a mixture of letterforms primarily originating from the Latin script, with some letters integrated from the Greek (ꟛ) and IPA (ƛ ɫ) writing systems, and a significant number of diacritical marks used. There are also punctuation mark characters employed in the writing system as letter elements (h̓á:h̓ṃ́ʔázu and m̓ṇc̓qílá'ila). The Greek, IPA, and diacritical marks should graphically harmonize with the Latin script-majority letterforms and create a natural texture in the text for ease of reading.

Note that there are no strong typographic preferences by Heiltsuk readers for the form of the Greek letterforms used in the typography (ꟛ and ƛ), specifically, whether the stroke modulation for the "lambda" base glyphs should follow the traditional Greek form for this letter, or, a "latinized" form. Either of these shapes is considered readable and acceptable by Heiltsuk readers. The former (traditional Greek shape and stroke modulation) is more common in serif typography and the traditional Greek form is considered to harmonize well with the Latin characters. The IPA-derived characters in the Heiltsuk writing system should follow the typical glyph design construction as they would be required to have for use in phonetic transcription usage.

Line spacing

Heiltsuk text generally benefits from having one or two more units of line spacing than languages such as English in the same typeface in order to accommodate more space for the presence of dynamically-shaped diacritic marks above capital letters and ascenders (such as A̓ U̓ Q̓ P̓ T̓ C̓ ḷ̓ ḷ́) and therefore increases reading comfort for Heiltsuk readers.

How is emphasis marked?

Emphasis is marked with italics in text for Heiltsuk.

Are there font style preferences within the readership?

None.

nestedCommaAbove local glyph variant:

Nesting the comma above accent. In lowercase letters k̓ and h̓, U+0313 ◌̓ COMBINING COMMA ABOVE should not be positioned directly above the ascender in these respective letters (as per the Unicode Standard's general glyph representation), but the font should instead have a locally-preferred positioning of this mark on these letters that "nests" the combining comma accent to the visual centre of the glyph and shifted slightly down from the ascender height. Heiltsuk readers prefer this localized mark positioning primarily for better readability.'

Visual distinction of diacritical marks:

Two different diacritics (U+0313 ◌̓ COMBINING COMMA ABOVE and the acute accent) can be used above some of the same characters. Fonts must have a graphically-distinct glyph representation for both marks that is immediately clear and readable in text. Typically, the combining comma accent should take the form of a "ball-and-tail" shape, which ensures distinction from the acute accent: a̓áa̓áa̓á Ǧvu̓í N̓a̓ṇ́ga̓inúx̌v W̓álas q̓íkas c̓áy̓áx̌ Ꟛiác̓i

Supporting fonts

Below is a list of fonts that reliably support Heiltsuk Unicode text output:

Input and encoding

Available keyboards

Conventions about normalization or non-normalization of code points:

In Heiltsuk encoding, the majority of the diacritical marks are composed dynamically using NFD decomposition (ƛ̓ k̓ n̓ t̓ x̌), as there are no precomposed Unicode characters that can be used to compose these characters in the writing system. There are a handful of NFC composition glyphs used in the writing system that have normalized character representations (Íí Áá Ǧǧ).

In some legacy input methods for encoding Heiltsuk Unicode text, the input source encoded the case pair Ǧǧ in NFD composition. These character strings should be normalized to NFC in final output, however, a font supporting Heiltsuk should support decomposition of these characters.

Legacy character encodings:

The Latin script Lambda characters U+A7DA (Ꟛ) U+A7DB (ꟛ) and U+A7DC (Ƛ) were published in version 16.0 of the Unicode Standard (2024) to provide uppercase characters and case pair functionality. Prior to this publication, alternative codepoints used to encode these characters included the Greek-script U+03BB λ GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA (on par with many other Wakashan and Salishan writing systems) and U+2144 ⅄ TURNED SANS-SERIF CAPITAL Y. A font supporting Heiltsuk language should be able to display the legacy character encoding for backwards compatibility purposes.

Another legacy encoding note regarding normalization is previous input for lowercase i̓. In a previous Unicode text input source for Heiltsuk writing system, this character sequence was composed using an input of <U+0131 ı LATIN SMALL LETTER DOTLESS I, U+0313 ◌̓ COMBINING COMMA ABOVE>. This input composition disassociates i̓ from it's capital letter case pair I̓. The keyboard should input this string as <U+0069 i LATIN SMALL LETTER I, U+0313 ◌̓ COMBINING COMMA ABOVE> and the font should provide the means of handling the removal of the "dot" on the letter i, leaving only the comma diacritic above. (see Font Output section; Soft Dot treatment)

Font Output Section

Diacritical mark shaping support requirement:

Heiltsuk digital text composes diacritical marks both with pre-composed Unicode characters (í á ǧ) and combining diacritical marks that are dynamically shaped when the user inputs text via the keyboard (ƛ̓ k̓ n̓ t̓ x̌), using the combining mark characters U+0313 ◌̓ COMBINING COMMA ABOVE, U+0301 ◌́ COMBINING ACUTE ACCENT and U+030C ◌̌ COMBINING CARON. The font must support mark-to-mark attachment for these combining mark glyphs and all characters in the writing system that require an interaction with them.

Soft Dot treatment:

The font should implement the soft dot behaviour (see Unicode Core Specification, Chapter 7, section 7.1 Latin, Diacritics on i and j) for the sequence i̓ <U+0069 i LATIN SMALL LETTER I, U+0313 ◌̓ COMBINING COMMA ABOVE>, removing the dot on lowercase i and only allowing the combining comma to remain in the output. This is a general, (Latin) script-level requirement.' The removal of the "dot" can be achieved via Open Type Layout ccmp feature where an input of <U+0069, U+0313> can perform a dynamic lookup substitution where U+0069 is replace at output with the glyph for dotlessi "ı" and U+0313, or, by creating a ligated glyph where the designer removes the dot and leaves only the combining comma above, and this glyph switches out the sequence of <U+0069, U+0313>.

Vertical metrics; y maximum limit considerations:

This writing system employs dynamically-attached marks mark-to-mark anchoring composition. It is recommended that the font developer pays particular attention to strings with diacritics above ascenders (such as A̓ U̓ Q̓ P̓ T̓ C̓ ḷ̓ ḷ́) to ensure that clipping does not occur. This could be achieved through the design solution for the combining mark or through providing an adequate "y maximum" boundary that encloses the marks. This boundary will vary from font design to design depending on the vertical metrics established in the font.

Sources