Unicode 12.0 Paperback Available

The Unicode 12.0 core specification is now available in paperback book form with a new, original cover design by Monica Tang. This edition consists of a pair of modestly priced print-on-demand volumes containing the complete text of the core specification of Version 12.0 of the Unicode Standard.

Each of the two volumes is a compact 6×9 inch US trade paperback size. The two volumes may be purchased separately or together, although they are intended as a set. The cost for the pair is US $23.46, plus shipping and taxes (if applicable). Please visit the description page to order.

Note that these volumes do not include the Version 12.0 code charts, nor do they include the Version 12.0 Standard Annexes and Unicode Character Database, which are all freely available on the Unicode website.

Purchase The Unicode Standard, Version 12.0 - Core Specification

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Over 136,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

ICU 64 Released

Unicode® ICU 64 has just been released. It updates to Unicode 12 and to CLDR 35 locale data with many additions and corrections, and some new languages. ICU adds a data filtering/subsetting mechanism, improved formatting API, and a C++ LocaleBuilder.

ICU is a software library widely used by products and other libraries to support the world's languages, implementing both the latest version of the Unicode Standard and of the Unicode locale data (CLDR).

For details please see http://site.icu-project.org/download/64.

Announcing The Unicode® Standard, Version 12.0

Version 12.0 of the Unicode Standard is now available, including the core specification, annexes, and data files. This version adds 554 characters, for a total of 137,929 characters. These additions include four new scripts, for a total of 150 scripts, as well as 61 new emoji characters.

The new scripts and characters in Version 12.0 add support for lesser-used languages and unique written requirements worldwide, including:

• Elymaic, historically used to write Achaemenid Aramaic in the southwestern portion of modern-day Iran
• Nandinagari, historically used to write Sanskrit and Kannada in southern India
• Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong, used to write modern White Hmong and Green Hmong languages in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Australia, Canada, and the United States
• Wancho, used to write the modern Wancho language in India, Myanmar, and Bhutan

Additional support for lesser-used languages and scholarly work was extended worldwide, including:

• Miao script additions to write several Miao and Yi dialects in China
• Hiragana and Katakana small letters, used to write archaic Japanese
• Tamil historic fractions and symbols, used in South India
• Lao letters used to write Pali
• Latin letters used in Egyptological and Ugaritic transliteration
• Hieroglyph format controls, enabling full formatting of quadrats for Egyptian Hieroglyphs

The Egyptian temple ceiling painting shown above (from the Wikipedia article on Medinet Habu) includes a line of hieroglyphic text. That exact text is rendered again below the painting, represented in Unicode plain text, illustrating the use of the new hieroglyphic format controls, as well as cartouche brackets and directional controls. The example was developed by Andrew Glass, based on Microsoft’s Segoe UI Historic font, with outlines designed by James P. Allen.

Popular symbol additions include:

• 61 emoji characters, including several new emoji for accessibility
• Marca registrada sign
• Heterodox and fairy chess symbols

For the full list of new emoji characters, see emoji additions for Unicode 12.0, and Emoji Counts. For a detailed description of support for emoji characters by the Unicode Standard, see UTS #51, Unicode Emoji. Version 12.0 also includes additional guidelines on gender and skin tone included in UTS #51 and data files.

Also in Version 12.0, the following Unicode Standard Annexes have notable modifications, often in coordination with changes to character properties. In particular, there are changes to:

• UAX #14, Unicode Linebreaking Algorithm
• UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation
• UAX #31, Unicode Identifier and Pattern Syntax
• UAX #38, Unicode Han Database (Unihan)
• UAX #45, U-Source Ideographs

Three other important Unicode specifications have been updated for Version 12.0:

• UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm—sorting Unicode text
• UTS #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms—reducing Unicode spoofing
• UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing—compatible processing of non-ASCII URLs

The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones—plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). The Unicode Standard, its associated standards, and data form the foundation for CLDR and ICU releases.

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Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

Draft Candidates for Emoji 12.0 Beta (2019)

The Emoji 12.0 Beta contains 236 Emoji Draft Candidates, consisting of 61 characters plus 175 sequences. These are slated for release in 2019Q1 together with Unicode Version 12.0.

The emoji are in the following categories: 3 smileys & emotion, 209 people & body, 7 animals & nature, 9 food & drink, 6 travel & places, 3 activities, 15 objects, and 12 miscellaneous symbols. 50 of  the new emoji (including gender/skin-tone variants) are for accessibility, such as ear with hearing aid and woman in manual wheelchair. The hearts, circles, and squares now have the same set of colors for decorative and/or descriptive uses.

Multi-person emoji now have skin-tone variants:

(A) Full Emoji v12.0 support requires that the holding-hands emoji (👫 👬 👫) with specific genders be supported with 55 combinations of mixed skin tones, such as:

• man with dark skin tone and woman with light skin tone holding hands
• woman with medium skin tone and woman with medium light skin tone holding hands
• man with light skin tone and man with light skin tone holding hands

(B) Full Emoji v12.0 support requires that the 6 multi-person emoji (👯️‍  🤼 🤝 💏 💑 👪) without specific gender be supported with the 5 human skin tones, such as:

• family (adult+adult+child) with dark skin tone
• couples with heart (adult+adult) with medium skin tone
• couples kissing (adult+adult) with light skin tone

A mechanism is provided for mixed skin tones for emoji in group B, such as with a family of man+woman+girl+boy, but support is optional.

The following notes are relevant for implementers:

1. The 40 holding-hands emoji with mixed skin tones have a simpler internal representation, compared to the previous draft. The 15 with uniform skin tones use a single character plus skin-tone modifiers.
2. Implementations may optionally support all combinations of mixed skin tones for the 6 multi-person emoji in the B group. This can be a large number — over 4,000 for the family emoji alone — and thus may not be practical for all devices.
3. Clearer definitions are now provided in the specification, along with a new set for Basic_Emoji. For other details, see the specification.

The complete list of emoji sequences for Emoji 12.0 will be finalized during the next UTC meeting in January 2019. The CLDR English names and keywords for the new emoji characters will be finalized within the next month, and translation into 80+ languages (such as Slavic languages) will begin. Feedback is welcome on the sorting order and the English names and keywords.

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Adopt-a-Character

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.