Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-fonts] The Cursive = Chinese Kaiti equivalent (#4606)

As I mentioned in issue 4425, the map between kai and italic (structural cursives) /  “cursive” (calligraphic) is not exact because of the different axes of slant. Chinese was historically ttb, so kai slants along the vertical axis towards the upper right, *even* when written horizontally. But the structure is inherently cursive (more so in Japanese type than in Chinese type).

So the problem is when we say italic or cursive, we expect the type to slant along the main axis (so to speak), but traditional obliques and italics in CJK (fangsong and kai, for example) can slant along either the main or cross axes, depending on writing direction.

Since this issue is using the term “cursive” not in the typographic sense but in the sense of calligraphic, I’d also like to point out that Chinese kai types are more like italic (formalized cursive) but Japanese kai types are more like “cursive” (calligraphic cursive).

I’d also like to point out that the use of kai in Chinese is in line with historical italic usage for Latin.

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Received on Wednesday, 8 November 2023 04:28:47 UTC