Hi Alan,
On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:21:31 -0700, Alan Bowen
What is the best way to produce ayn and alif in transliterated Arabic using MKII (Latin Modern)?
Why MkII? MkIV is much better for this. Anyway, the old approaches are obsolete, since LM now has the glyphs for 02BE (hamzah) and 02BF (alif). OTOH, they may be needed for other fonts. Let's start with something REALLY obsolete: % ac-trans.tex %%%=====================low-level==================== \def\SHIFT#1{\dimen0=.001ex \multiply\dimen0 by\fontdimen1\font \multiply\dimen0 by #1 \kern.0040\dimen0} % compensate for slant/italic in lower accents %\def\USHIFT#1{\dimen0=.00#1ex \multiply\dimen0 by\fontdimen1\font % \kern.0040\dimen0} % compensate for slant/italic in upper accents %\def\USHIFTN#1{\dimen0=.00#1ex \multiply\dimen0 by\fontdimen1\font % \kern-.0040\dimen0} % compensate for slant/italic in upper accents \def\buildtextbottombreve{\bottomaccent{.25ex}{0}{19}{\textbreve}} %%%=====================ayn-hamzah==================== \def\CUPD#1#2{\leavevmode% \SHIFT{#1}\rotate[rotation=180,location=high]{\txx c}% \SHIFT{#2}} %\definecharacter AYN {\leavevmode\raise.9ex\hbox{\txx \SHIFT{4} c\SHIFT{-4}}{}} %\definecharacter HAMZAH{\leavevmode\kern.07em\raise.9ex\hbox{\CUPD{7}{-5}}{}} \define[4]\AYN {\definecharacter Ayn {\leavevmode\kern#1em\raise#2ex\hbox{\txx \SHIFT{#3} c\SHIFT{#4}}{}}} \define[4]\HAMZAH{\definecharacter Hamzah {\leavevmode\kern#1em\raise#2ex\hbox{\CUPD{#3}{#4}}{}}} \AYN{0}{0.9}{4}{-4} % \HAMZAH{0.07}{0.9}{7}{-5} \def\'{\Hamzah} \def\`{\Ayn} \endinput % mkii-trans.tex \starttext \def\ISHA{\`i\v sha\'} For Muslims, \ISHA{} is the last prayer of the day. For Muslims, {\em \ISHA{}} is the last prayer of the day. For Muslims, {\it \ISHA{}} is the last prayer of the day. \stoptext =================================================== Brr... Or you have to have to define an encoding that includes the 02BE 02BF chars. I wrote an article on that, and I NEVER want to go back to that again, ever :-) Now we can do better, at least in LM. In MkIV, we simply: \starttext For Muslims, ʿišaʾ is the last prayer of the day. For Muslims, {\em ʿišaʾ} is the last prayer of the day. For Muslims, {\it ʿišaʾ} is the last prayer of the day. \stoptext The italics/slants look better, no need to fight with italic correction etc. I use a transliteration keyboard on Windows that I can send you if you like. Anyway: It's time to switch to MkIV, my man :D Best wishes Idris -- Professor Idris Samawi Hamid, Editor-in-Chief International Journal of Shīʿī Studies Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523