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Character Requirements for American (Latin) Orthographies

If a font supports all of the following characters, we believe that most languages in the Americas (that use the Latin script) would be able to typeset texts in their orthography. Note, however, that this list does not include required characters for phonetic description of languages in the Americas, just orthographic use.

There are comments below about glyph variants that may be needed to support some languages.

The process for developing this list was based on the following (in order of process):

  • A review of custom-encoded fonts from the Americas
  • 10+ years’ experience of user support for language support from the Americas
  • A review of annotations in The Unicode Standard charts
  • Decision to include all Codepage 1252 and MacRoman characters
  • Decision to include all Codepage 1145 (LatinAm) characters
  • Decision to include many characters required for publishing (spaces and dashes)
  • Decision that if a combining mark combining mark, such as ◌̣ was required, then all precomposed characters with that mark should also be included. (e.g., a was in the subset, then was also included in the subset, but since ơ was not in the subset, then was not included in the subset).
  • Feedback on the resulting character set
GraphicUSVNameComment
0020
!0021
"0022
#0023
$0024
%0025
&0026
'0027
(0028
)0029
*002A
+002B
,002C
-002D
.002E
/002F
00030
10031
20032
30033
40034
50035
60036
70037
80038
90039
:003A
;003B
<003C
=003D
>003E
?003F
@0040
A0041
B0042
C0043
D0044
E0045
F0046
G0047
H0048
I0049
J004A
K004B
L004C
M004D
N004E
O004F
P0050
Q0051
R0052
S0053
T0054
U0055
V0056
W0057
X0058
Y0059
Z005A
[005B
\005C
]005D
^005E
_005F
`0060
a0061
b0062
c0063
d0064
e0065
f0066
g0067
h0068
i0069
j006A
k006B
l006C
m006D
n006E
o006F
p0070
q0071
r0072
s0073
t0074
u0075
v0076
w0077
x0078
y0079
z007A
{007B
|007C
}007D
~007E
 00A0
¡00A1
¢00A2
£00A3
¤00A4
¥00A5
¦00A6
¨00A8
©00A9
ª00AA
«00AB
¬00AC
­00AD
®00AE
¯00AF
°00B0
²00B2
³00B3
´00B4
µ00B5
00B6
·00B7
¸00B8
¹00B9
º00BA
»00BB
¿00BF
À00C0
Á00C1
Â00C2
Ã00C3
Ä00C4
Å00C5
Æ00C6
Ç00C7
È00C8
É00C9
Ê00CA
Ë00CB
Ì00CC
Í00CD
Î00CE
Ï00CF
Ð00D0
Ñ00D1
Ò00D2
Ó00D3
Ô00D4
Õ00D5
Ö00D6
×00D7
Ø00D8
Ù00D9
Ú00DA
Û00DB
Ü00DC
Ý00DD
Þ00DE
ß00DF
à00E0
á00E1
â00E2
ã00E3
ä00E4
å00E5
æ00E6
ç00E7
è00E8
é00E9
ê00EA
ë00EB
ì00EC
í00ED
î00EE
ï00EF
ð00F0
ñ00F1
ò00F2
ó00F3
ô00F4
õ00F5
ö00F6
÷00F7
ø00F8
ù00F9
ú00FA
û00FB
ü00FC
ý00FD
þ00FE
ÿ00FF
Ā0100
ā0101
Ą0104
ą0105
Ć0106
ć0107
Ĉ0108
ĉ0109
Ċ010A
ċ010B
Č010C
č010D
Ď010E
ď010F
Đ0110
đ0111In the Americas, it is considered best to place the bar through the bowl of the character rather than the stem (see: Bar bowl Variant Glyphs)
Ē0112
ē0113
Ė0116
ė0117
Ę0118
ę0119
Ě011A
ě011B
Ĝ011C
ĝ011D
Ġ0120
ġ0121
Ĥ0124
ĥ0125
Ĩ0128
ĩ0129
Ī012A
ī012B
Į012E
į012F
İ0130
Ĵ0134
ĵ0135
Ĺ0139
ĺ013A
Ľ013D
ľ013E
Ł0141
ł0142
Ń0143
ń0144
Ň0147
ň0148
Ŋ014AAmerican languages are most likely to want a capital eng which is based on the capital N with a hook descender on the right leg (see Uppercase Eng: N-style)
ŋ014B
Ō014C
ō014D
Œ0152
œ0153
Ŕ0154
ŕ0155
Ř0158
ř0159
Ś015A
ś015B
Ŝ015C
ŝ015D
Ş015E
ş015F
Š0160
š0161
Ţ0162
ţ0163
Ť0164
ť0165
Ŧ0166
ŧ0167
Ũ0168
ũ0169
Ū016A
ū016B
Ů016E
ů016F
Ų0172
ų0173
Ŵ0174
ŵ0175
Ŷ0176
ŷ0177
Ÿ0178
Ź0179
ź017A
Ż017B
ż017C
Ž017D
ž017E
ƀ0180In the Americas, it is considered best to place the bar through the bowl of the character rather than the stem (see: Bar bowl Variant Glyphs)
Ɓ0181
Ɔ0186
Ɗ018A
Ə018F
Ɛ0190
Ɨ0197
ƚ019A
ƞ019E
Ɵ019F
Ʋ01B2
Ƴ01B3
ƴ01B4
Ǎ01CD
ǎ01CE
Ǐ01CF
ǐ01D0
Ǒ01D1
ǒ01D2
Ǔ01D3
ǔ01D4
Ǖ01D5
ǖ01D6
Ǘ01D7
ǘ01D8
Ǚ01D9
ǚ01DA
Ǜ01DB
ǜ01DC
Ǟ01DE
ǟ01DF
Ǡ01E0
ǡ01E1
Ǣ01E2
ǣ01E3
Ǥ01E4
ǥ01E5In the Americas, it is considered best to place the bar through the top bowl of the character rather than the bottom bowl (see: Bar bowl Variant Glyphs)
Ǧ01E6
ǧ01E7
Ǩ01E8
ǩ01E9
Ǫ01EA
ǫ01EB
Ǭ01EC
ǭ01ED
ǰ01F0
Ǵ01F4
ǵ01F5
Ǹ01F8
ǹ01F9
Ǻ01FA
ǻ01FB
Ǽ01FC
ǽ01FD
Ǿ01FE
ǿ01FF
Ȟ021E
ȟ021F
Ƞ0220
Ȣ0222
ȣ0223
Ȧ0226
ȧ0227
Ȩ0228
ȩ0229
Ȫ022A
ȫ022B
Ȭ022C
ȭ022D
Ȯ022E
ȯ022F
Ȱ0230
ȱ0231
Ȳ0232
ȳ0233
Ⱥ023A
Ȼ023B
ȼ023C
Ƚ023D
Ⱦ023E
Ɂ0241
ɂ0242
Ƀ0243
Ʉ0244
Ʌ0245
Ɇ0246
ɇ0247
Ɉ0248
ɉ0249
ɓ0253
ɔ0254
ɗ0257
ə0259
ɛ025B
ɨ0268
ɵ0275
ʉ0289
ʋ028B
ʌ028C
ʔ0294
ʻ02BB
ʼ02BC
ˈ02C8Chinantec requires a glyph variant for this character (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
ˉ02C9Chinantec requires a glyph variant for this character (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
ˊ02CAChinantec requires a glyph variant for this character (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
ˋ02CBChinantec requires a glyph variant for this character (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
◌̀0300
◌́0301
◌̂0302
◌̃0303
◌̄0304
◌̇0307
◌̈0308
◌̊030A
◌̌030C
◌̍030D
◌̜031C
◌̣0323
◌̧0327
◌̨0328
◌̩0329
◌̯032F
◌̰0330
◌̱0331
◌͇0347
◌͏034F
1D7D
1E02
1E03
1E04
1E05
1E06
1E07
1E08
1E09
1E0A
1E0B
1E0C
1E0D
1E0E
1E0F
1E14
1E15
1E16
1E17
1E1A
1E1B
1E1E
1E1F
1E20
1E21
1E22
1E23
1E24
1E25
1E26
1E27
1E28
1E29
1E2C
1E2D
1E2E
1E2F
1E30
1E31
1E32
1E33
1E34
1E35
1E36
1E37
1E38
1E39
1E3A
1E3B
1E3E
ḿ1E3F
1E40
1E41
1E42
1E43
1E44
1E45
1E46
1E47
1E48
1E49
1E4C
1E4D
1E4E
1E4F
1E50
1E51
1E52
1E53
1E54
1E55
1E56
1E57
1E58
1E59
1E5A
1E5B
1E5C
1E5D
1E5E
1E5F
1E60
1E61
1E62
1E63
1E64
1E65
1E66
1E67
1E68
1E69
1E6A
1E6B
1E6C
1E6D
1E6E
1E6F
1E74
1E75
1E78
1E79
1E7A
1E7B
1E7C
1E7D
1E7E
ṿ1E7F
1E80
1E81
1E82
1E83
1E84
1E85
1E86
1E87
1E88
1E89
1E8A
1E8B
1E8C
1E8D
1E8E
1E8F
1E90
1E91
1E92
1E93
1E94
1E95
1E96
1E97
1E98
1E99
1EA0
1EA1
1EA4
1EA5
1EA6
1EA7
1EAA
1EAB
1EAC
1EAD
1EB8
1EB9
1EBC
1EBD
1EBE
ế1EBF
1EC0
1EC1
1EC4
1EC5
1EC6
1EC7
1ECA
1ECB
1ECC
1ECD
1ED0
1ED1
1ED2
1ED3
1ED6
1ED7
1ED8
1ED9
1EE4
1EE5
1EF2
1EF3
1EF4
1EF5
1EF8
1EF9
 2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
200A
200B
200C
200D
200E
200F
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2018
2019
201A
201B
201C
201D
201F
2020
2021
2022
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
202A
202B
202C
202D
202E
202F
2039
203A
2060
2070
2074
2075
2076
2077
2078
2079
20A1
20A2
20AC
20B2
20B3
2122
25CC
2C63
2C65
2C66
A717These should be designed to go with U+02C8, U+02C9, U+02CA and U+02CB (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
A718These should be designed to go with U+02C8, U+02C9, U+02CA and U+02CB (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
A719These should be designed to go with U+02C8, U+02C9, U+02CA and U+02CB (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
A71AThese should be designed to go with U+02C8, U+02C9, U+02CA and U+02CB (see Chinantec Variant Glyphs)
A78B
A78C
FB00
FB01
FB02
FB03
FB04
FFFD

This article formerly appeared on ScriptSource.