[XeTeX] problem rendering unicode Devanagari dependent vowel signs and ligatures

[Leo Brouwer]

>
> To me, it looks like the effects of Script=Devanagari are at least partly
> font-dependent.  With Sanskrit 2003, I need to have the Script setting
> present, or it doesn't bother with conjuncts; it just sticks viramas
> everywhere.  Precisely the *opposite* is true with Devanagari MT.
>
> I've attached source (UTF-8) and output, for completeness's sake.  As you
> can see, I was also curious if Mapping=velthuis-sanskrit made any
> different.  Conclusion: Not with these fonts, at least.


Yes, I was a little hasty yesterday: in Windows the mapping also doesn't
make a difference.  As David has pointed out, this doesn't seem to be a
difference in fonts, but in the font rendering system, AAT vs. OpenType.
There's a legitimate OpenType version of Devanagari MT made for IBM, but
having been converted it behaves exactly the same as Sanskrit 2003, or any
of the other ttf fonts. The OpenType script tag "deva" needs to be added for
these fonts to render conjuncts, but with the tag removed, dotted
circles disappear!

To clarify, my original question was not about Devanagari MT, but about
fonts specifically designed in OpenType. Of these, I've only been able to
get shiDeva, Nakula, and Sahadeva to render the conjunct "trya" correctly in
Xetex (many fonts also have trouble with other conjuncts, but "trya" renders
incorrectly for every font I've come across except these 3). As most of
these fonts do render "trya" correctly in word processors, it seems to be a
Xetex-specific issue.

So it looks like AAT Devanagari MT is best suited for my needs (which I
imagine are quite common amongst people doing critical editions in
Sanskrit): unicode Devanagari with a real bold font, proper Sanskrit
conjuncts, and dependent vowels displaying on their own without requiring
macros.

According to wikipedia it may be possible to use AAT fonts in Linux.
Unfortunately I don't have my Linux laptop with me right now, but I will try
this weekend and report back.

Leo
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://tug.org/pipermail/xetex/attachments/20110204/20971b39/attachment.html>