Re: [css-counter-styles] feedback “lower-greek”

On Mon, Dec 22, 2014 at 8:58 AM, George Schizas <gschizas@gmail.com> wrote:
> In regards to the “lower-greek” counter style, this is not the common practice. The commonly used greek numbering style is not α, β, γ, …, ω, αα, αβ. The preferred Greek numbering system, that is used in ancient and modern Greek is the following:
>
> α, β, γ, δ, ε, στ or ς, ζ, η, θ (1..9)
> ι, ια, ιβ, ιγ, … ιθ (10..19)
> ι, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, ο, π, ϟ (10..90)
> ρ, ρα, ρβ, … ρθ (100..109)
> ρι, ρια, ριβ, …, ριθ (110, 119)
> ρ, σ, τ, υ, φ, χ, ψ, ω, ϡ (100...900)
>
> So, it’s much like “armenian”, “lower-armenian”, “georgian” and “hebrew”. There is one difference though. To signify numbers larger than 1000, the 1..999 range is repeated, but with the symbol “͵” (U+0375) on the left. Typically you also need another the symbol “ʹ” (U+0374) on the right, but this can be omitted. I’m not sure how to represent this in the @counter-style way. In this fashion, 2014 would be written as ͵κιεʹ (=2000+10+4) and 996996 would be written as ͵ϡϟστϡϟστ or ͵ϡϟστϡϟστʹ or even ͵ϡϟϛϡϟϛʹ.

I've heard multiple explanations of what's correct for greek
numbering; it appears there are several styles.  (This is also true,
for example, of Hebrew, for which the spec has alternated between two
styles of numbering for values greater than 400.)

What's currently in the spec doesn't appear to be *in*correct, per
some Greek speakers that have reviewed it, though I accept that it's
not the only way to do it.  It also happens to match what browsers
currently implement, which is an argument for keeping it the way it
is. ^_^

Additional variations on Greek list numbering (or any other language)
can of course be applied on your own via a @counter-style rule.  I
might suggest sending these suggestions to www-international@w3.org,
as they maintain a document of additional world numbering systems
beyond what the Counter Styles spec requires, so other people can
benefit from this work and just copy/paste it into their own
documents.

~TJ

Received on Thursday, 22 January 2015 19:21:08 UTC