On Sat, Dec 21, 2002 at 10:42:07PM -0600, Derek Moore wrote: So quick and rather simplified guide to CJK: * They generally use fixed-width fonts that occupy a square. Some simple characters like katakana exist in full-width and half-width versions, where half-width version occupies halfsquare, like Latin fixed-width characters. This sometimes includes Latin (Arabic) numbers and Latin characters, but sometimes not. * They don't use italics, bold, or other such font modifications. Fonts aren't meant to be modified in any way. * They don't use underline. Idea of using underline for links is not good, it makes some distinct characters look the same. I think it would be better to use some colors instead. * They don't use spaces, and their concept of "word" is different than Western, so search engine must be fixed too. * They don't use Western punctuation for normal text (they may be using it for numbers and other things), or they use fixed-width versions that look completely different. * They are sometimes writted vertically top-down then right-left, and sometimes horizontally like in Latin script. * For pronunciation they usually use Furigana/Ruby (small font on top of word in horizontal or on right in vertical text), not parenthesis. * Western punctuation for formatting looks really ugly when inserted into CJK text. Now, I'd like to have someone knowing Arab, Hebrew, or some other right-to-left language describe problems involving them. It's not really surprising that we do't have many CJK or right-to-left contributors, as our interface is very inconvenient for them.