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• 1 The English Apostrophe Nowadays
  • 1.1 The “Apostrophe Catastrophe” in today’s word processing
  • 1.2 How to overcome: A lucid solution from Ted Clancy at Mozilla
  • 1.3 Why the apostrophe has been ambiguated with the single open-quote?
  • 1.4 Get curlies on your keyboard: How to add apostrophe and quotes
• 2 Custom Fractions
  • 2.1 Unicode fractions: Get them all on your keyboard!
  • 2.2 Fractions by formatting: A mere desktop publishing feature
  • 2.3 Plain text custom fractions: Type as you spell and stay professional
  • 2.4 Super-/subscript digits at hand: Implementing them on existing keyboards
• 3 A Keyboard layout with more characters for free—but licensed
  • 3.1 Good news for Windows users: Programming keyboard drivers made simple
  • 3.2 Good news for netbook users: Overlay numpads no longer “virtual”
  • 3.3 The Life Protection Engagement License
  • 3.4 Help and Questions&Answers
• Acknowledgments

The English Apostrophe

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The “Apostrophe Catastrophe”

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The phenomenon called “the Apostrophe Catastrophe” consists in a huge number of instances where text processing software (word processor, desktop publishing) inserts an open quote instead of a leading apostrophe. See here for my source found by a search engine (2015-01-27 09:32:45), including some public examples.

On June 3rd, 2015, Ted Clancy at Mozilla posted on his blog at Wordpress that the English apostrophe should be the MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE, encoded at U+02BC, not the actually preferred single comma quotation mark U+2019 (called RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK).
See his very lucid demonstration at the URL shared on the Unicode Mail List by a member launching the thread ‘Another take on the English apostrophe in Unicode’ on June 4th, 2015.

How to overcome?

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As you could read on the cited blogpost, to solve the problems, the preferred apostrophe must become U+02BC MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE again. Easy to say but hard to achieve except when using the customizable autocorrect feature of the word processor or an extended keyboard layout and accepting to do eventually one or two keystrokes more per quote, or to press a modifier key other than Shift along with some other key. There are as many solutions as user preferences. Let’s look at the one that is most easy to access but will be restricted to the word processor it’s realized in. The same as smart quotes are, in fact... ¶

Autocorrect apostrophe and quotes

1. Disable the smart quotes.
2. Add an autocorrect entry to replace the common apostrophe-quote by the modifier letter apostrophe. On Word, type an apostrophe into the left bar and 2 b c Alt+X into the right bar.
3. Add as many entries as you use quotation marks, on the pattern “common double quote, paired bracketing character”. For English: Type Replace by " < “ U+201C " > ” U+201D " { ‘ U+2018 " } ’ U+2019

Ambiguated apostrophe

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When I read that the actual character for apostrophe is the wrong one because its use for apostrophe brings up many mischiefs, I first suspected somebody (or more precisely, a Standards body) could have it triggered the wrong way, the same as many names were worsened at the time of the merger of ISO/IEC 10646 with the new Unicode Standard (who got better names at the beginning, as is shown in UnicodeData). But that was all wrong, it's impossible that ISO could initiate a move of the preferred apostrophe from U+02BC to U+2019. This change took place not sooner than in version 3.0.0, whereas the merger was at 1.1 and ISO stands for stability. So ISO could never agree that the preferred character for English apostrophe stopped to be U+02BC and started to be U+2019.

He is the more convincing as U+02BC MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE has already been the preferred character for apostrophe. The first existing NamesList of the history of Unicode, which is the source file of the Code Charts for the 2.0.0 version of 1996, shows: ¶

By contrast, the next full version, 3.0.0, which dates from 1999, that is six years after the merger between Unicode and the offspringing ISO/IEC 10646, which took place in 1993, shows a move of the preferred character for apostrophe from U+02BC to U+2019: ¶

In the next version, 4.0.0, the comment line “preferred character for apostrophe is 2019” at U+0027 has been changed to “2019 is preferred for apostrophe”. The difference may seem slight but I believe it expresses a weakening and shows that Unicode is not at ease with the new preference, which is given as a mere statement of a matter of fact without any approval:

One should do some research in the Archives to find out why the apostrophe and the single close quote were ambiguated—a process that needs even a new word to put on it, as ordinarily everybody works for disambiguation. To avoid any new false suspicion, I'd not mention it could be for simplification's sake, in word processing software... Which means that at the end, it could have been the end-user who pushed the preference towards a problematical setting, because he expected the apostrophe key to produce both the apostrophe, the single open-quote and the single close-quote as well. Disambiguating the latter two is easy and at reach of a simply-to-implement algorithm, which is actually used. Disambiguating the first and the last is not, because abbreviated year’s figures and the rendering of colloquial English bring many leading apostrophes, whose detection would need huge dictionaries.

Get curlies on your keyboard!

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To fix the problem, smart quotes must become even smarter, with autocorrect algorithms that replace single open-quote with apostrophe when no end quote is typed. This is very demanding for word processing apps, perhaps even too, because in fact, it’s the user’s job to decide about quotes. Here’s why. ¶

At least four among the most important non-English languages using Latin script, i.e. French, Spanish, Portuguese and German, use two kinds of quotes, one of them to highlight quotations, the other to show the word or expression is not serious, to warn it’s doubtful or ironical. Of course, each of both can be single or double, to make a difference between the two levels when quotations are included in another one. While this latter difference is correctly managed with standard keyboards, the former is not, and no algorithm can help. ¶

This all together highlights some widespread actual keyboard layouts turn out to be unfit for Unicode, nor for writing at all as soon as the text stops to be simple. That is, in English you might use simple quotes as warning quotes outside of quotations, but in European languages double comma quotes are preferred for this purpose, while «chevrons» (that way or »the other way«, or even »this way») mark up quotations. Some typographer proved they were better (look at the yellow markup on the typo examples of this page). ¶

So the second thing to do is to upgrade for enhanced keyboard layouts, allowing users to get started with quotes. Some of these supplemented keyboard layouts don’t even need any stickers to be sticked on keytops; they are smart enough so every existing keyboard stays doing the job. Not “smart quotes”, smart keyboard layouts is what we need. ¶

Whatever country, language, and operating system is on, users should be enabled to fully control the quotes they type. Check on your computer if you can, or scroll clicking here to learn how to escape the “apostrophe catastrophe”! ¶

Custom Fractions

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I’ll try to be constructive and would have you to look at section 6.2 in chaptern6 of The Unicode Standard, page 20 of the PDF (that is page 273 of the Standard). There are two paragraphs about U+2044 FRACTION SLASH. IMO, U+2044 is for use with superscripts and subscripts. At least, it seems this is the way Microsoft looks at this character. Please take a glance at the the demo page available as a docx and as a PDF. The docx fits best since it allows to pick out the characters and see them functioning.

Hours are divided into halves and quarters. That’s why, a long time, there were only one half and one and three quarters available as a character. Today, most Word Processors keep inserting automatically ¼, ½ and ¾ when corresponding common digits are typed with an ASCII slash, but most of them don’t go further. Some keyboard layouts of the past decades offer some eighths fractions together with ASCII fractions, namely the Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard layout. There is much more encoded in Unicode, as thirds, fifths, sixths, then the units of seventh, ninth and tenth, as well as a part of a fraction without denominator. And, of course, the fraction slash, U+2044. To complete, superscripts and subscripts seem to be appropriate, as shown on a test page which you may view in PDF or—even better— open in docx to see it working.

To achieve typing custom fractions on Windows, all you need is your numerical keypad—even if it’s overlaid on the alphanumerical block of a netbook keyboard—and this installable keyboard layout. From now on, if you are seven in a team and you would like to write ⁴⁄₇, just type the following:

Right Alt + NumPad 4,

Right Alt + NumPad / ,

Shift + Right Alt + NumPad 7.

Right Alt is used as a distinct modifier key, because to enhance input on the numerical keypad, one more modifier is needed. It could have been Kana, because the Kana shift state can be activated with a toggle key, as well as with a modifier key that activates Kana only as long as the key is pressed. But half of the NumPad keys proved not to work well with Kana, so it was necessary to use AltGr, too. On this keyboard layout, no other keys are allocated on this level, therefore no problems will occur (due to the AltGr being handled as Ctrl + Alt on Windows). As a result, you cannot use Right Alt as Alt any more. Right Alt is now like it is on the US International Keyboard. ¶

Unicode fractions

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Fractions by formatting

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Plain text custom fractions

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Super-/subscript digits at hand

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A layout with more

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This keyboard layout allows you to recover full control over the apostrophe you type on Windows, while it functions like the normal US American keyboard layout shipped with Windows whenever you want. There’s no need to disable smart quotes on your preferred Word Processor. Just when you whish to decide yourself which kind of quote you are typing, you hit the ≣ Menu key and you get some changes on a few keys. To get rid of, hit ≣ Menu again. This key is hijacked because most users don’t use it, given that the contextual menu is faster to use with right click—you get what you want by clicking again instead of hitting arrow keys. (There must be a way to have the Menu too, with Ctrl, but unfortunately I don’t know it yet.) Menu is now a Kana toggle key. Kana is a shift state used originally on Far East keyboards, but it’s increasingly used on Occidental keyboards, too. ¶

This keyboard layout allows you to recover full control over the apostrophe you type on Windows, while it functions like the normal US American keyboard layout shipped with Windows whenever you want. There’s no need to disable smart quotes on your preferred Word Processor. Just when you whish to decide yourself which kind of quote you are typing, you hit the ≣ Menu key and you get some changes on a few keys. To get rid of, hit ≣ Menu again. This key is hijacked because most users don’t use it, given that the contextual menu is faster to use with right click—you get what you want by clicking again instead of hitting arrow keys. (There must be a way to have the Menu too, with Ctrl, but unfortunately I don’t know it yet.) Menu is now a Kana toggle key. Kana is a shift state used originally on Far East keyboards, but it’s increasingly used on Occidental keyboards, too. ¶

You may see on the layout diagram there are a few other symbols added on the numpad beside superscripts, subscripts and fraction slash.

• When Shift is pressed, the numpad produces some basic algebraic symbols among which only + is normally available. On * you have ×, on / you have ÷, and on - you have the minus sign that matches to digits and to other algebraic symbols:
  2+(−1)=1. Compare the same with hyphen-minus:
  2+(-1)=1.
• When Right Alt is pressed, plus and minus are superscript, and when Shift is added, they are subscript, exactly like the digits.
• As middle point is sometimes used as a symbol for multiplication, it is on * when Right Alt is pressed.
• The square root symbol is available too, on / with Shift + Right Alt. And to complete, combining overscore is on * with the same modifiers.

Good news for Windows users

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Good news for netbook users

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Last but not least, this keyboard layout gives access to the numpad digits on so-called virtual numpads, overlaid on compact keyboards, without acting the NumLock toggle. Just press the Fn Fn (Function) modifier key while you are typing on the numpad. This feature gives Windows netbook users the same ergonomy as on Apple’s Macbook. ¶

The Life Protection Engagement License

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This keyboard layout is provided free of charge under the terms of the included license agreement. The text of the license is mirrored hereafter. Please read it carefully.
If you agree with the license, you may use this keyboard layout as long as you agree.
If you do not agree, you must not use this keyboard layout.

LIFE PROTECTION ENGAGEMENT LICENSE TERMS
KEYBOARD DRIVER KBDENUSE

These license terms are an agreement between the programmer of this software and you. Please read them. They apply to the software named above, which includes the media on which you received it, if any.

By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software.

If you comply with these license terms, you have the rights below.

INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.

Installation and Use.

One user may install and use any number of copies of the software on your devices.

SCOPE OF LICENSE.

The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software.

You must

• Grant absolute protection to all humans, animals and plants;
• Refuse to use or consume anything that has been developed and/or produced using the bodies of living or purposely killed animals or humans, and actually not use or consume it, unless (in the case of humans) they fully agree to give some of their blood or other parts of their body, or (in the case of animals) they are neither killed nor tortured, suffocated, violated, drugged, poisoned, insulted, or in any way treated otherwise than a human would be at their place and conforming to all international human rights conventions;
• Not treat any living entities as listed above or in any similar way except as specified below;
• Not work in or for any of the industries or research centers involved in the mistreatment and/or exploitation of animals, in developing/manufacturing poisons or poison-like stuff to be administred to living entities in any way except as specified below, and/or with genetically modified organisms ;
• Avoid as far as permitted by international human rights conventions, to put humans, animals, and/or plants to death purposely, by lack of care, or inadvertently, except (as far as belongs to animals and micro-organisms) in case of truly stated defense when the situation has not been deliberately provoked, and (as far as belongs to vegetables) to beware you from hunger when the biologically provided vegetal parts (like fruits) are not sufficient;
• View Shaun Monson’s movie Earthlings http://earthlings.com available on YouTube, except if you are disabled and can never view movies, and learn the message;
• Hear or read/view at least 1 (one) of Gary Yourofsky’s speeches (available on YouTube), visit his website at http://www.adaptt.org and follow the advice;
• Share all these contents around you and on the internet (provide the official URLs of copyrighted contents), at least as long as you are using this software.

DISCLAIMER: The programmer of this software and author of this license is not bound to any of the cited parties.

You may not

• reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the software;
• make more copies of the software than specified in this agreement;
• publish the software for others to copy;
• rent, lease or lend the software;
• transfer the software or this agreement to any third party; or
• use the software for commercial software hosting services.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY.

The software is licensed “as-is.”

LIMITATION ON AND EXCLUSION OF REMEDIES AND DAMAGES.

You cannot recover any damages, including consequential, lost profits, special, indirect or incidental damages.

Version 1.0 (Draft)

June 9, 2015

Help and Questions&Answers

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Questions & Answers

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Keyboard layouts with more characters for free

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The Curly Apostrophe under control

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Dividing no longer restricted to precomposed fractions

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That is a part of what personally I mean with Unicode implementation, as related to what I might do for. I don’t know if it’s good, of course. But you can make it much better. For this purpose, all source files are included, and even a spreadsheet that helps setting the key allocations (just copy the table and paste it into the C source to replace the existing one). Even if you’re not a programmer (I aren’t neither), you can.

Download Experimental US keyboard layout, first beta

Acknowledgments

Key stroke formatting: Courtesy Wikipedia
Base sources from Windows US keyboard layout and installation files obtained by a process using mainly the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator
Final driver compilation: Windows Driver Kit
Help is found on the websites of two French associations:
MON NOM ACCENTUÉ (MNA) (Association for the correct orthography of personal names)
ERGODIS (EGD) (Association for the French Dvorak-based ergonomical keyboard layout)

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Last updated on June 10th, 2015
Page first created on February 2nd, 2015; this page at charupdate.info created on February 9th, 2015