Palladam
Copyright (c) 1989, 1990 T. Govindaraj, +1 404 325 7446, tg@chmsr.gatech.edu File name: Palladam.Readme, 90.7.18, 16:15 Hrs, EDT. "Palladam" was developed using Fontographer, which generates the bitmaps as well as the necessary PostScript files. The screen bitmap fonts are not very "pretty". However, they print nicely on a laser printer. They should also print reasonably well on an Imagewriter. For ease of use while you are in a word processor, I recommend that you type using Size 18, and print using Size 10 or 12. (The letters of the same size look larger for Palladam than for other fonts. Therefore, size 12, for instance, requires more space than a size 12 Courier or other font. This has not been a problem for me. I normally print in 10 or 12 size, and use 1 1/2 spacing.) I do have a bitmap font (written using Fontastic Plus) that I may decide to distribute (under the same conditions, free) after I fix some inconsistencies. That font "looks" nicer on the screen. Keyboard mappings Tamil letters have been mapped to English letters by sound and/or type (vowels or consonants). While I have mapped most letters to letters normally used for them, (e.g., z for zh), the letters Q, W, X, and B (as well as [ and ]) have been used somewhat arbitrarily. My justification is that I had to find some letters and the ones I found were the most convenient. Back quote (`) is used for the dot required for the consonants. Option and Shift Option keys are used to represent the conjugations of consonants with vowels. Option-<number> are used for most combinations, with Option-7 and Option-8 used for (d + i) and (d + i_) respectively. Option-1,2,3,4,5,6,and 9 are used for the additions required for i, i_, e, e_, ai, a_, and ai (traditional form). Option-<letter> is used for the combination <consonant + u>, with exceptions shown above (nu as in Bhanu = option [ (try [[ if a single [ does nothing), nu as in anu (atom) = option-/, nu as in nurai (foam) = shift-option-n). Shift-Option-<letter> is used for the combination <consonant + u_>, with the exception shown above (nu_ as in nu_l (book, thread) = shift-option-o). Some words and symbols have been adapted from the following sources. Kazhakath Thamizh Agarathi, June 1985 T. Burrow and M. B. Emeneau (1984). A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, Second Edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford. a (amma / mother) a (option a = +a; +a = kaal) a_ (a_lamaram / banyan) sh a A (a_ = a underbar) i (ilai / leaf) i i_ (i_ / fly) sh i I u (ural / mortar) u u_ (u_si / needle) sh u U e (eli / rat) e e_ (e_ni / ladder) sh e E ai (aindhu / 5) option i i o (ottakam / camel) o o_ (o_nayy / wolf) sh o O au (auvvai / the poetess) option i o ah (ehhu / steel) f k (kappal / ship) k ng (singam / lion) g c (sangu / conch) c n~ (gnayiru / sun) w t. (padam / picture) d n (kinaru / well) ] * (option /) th (thavalai / frog) t n (nandu / crab) n * (sh opt n = nu; sh op o = nuu) p (pambaram / top) p m (mayil / peacock) m y (yanai / elephant) y r (raja / king) r l (valai / net) l v (vandi / cart) v zh (pazham / fruit) z l.. (vilakku / lamp q (l over one or two dots) rr (paravai / bird) b n (maan / deer) [ * (option [ [) h (hari) h j (raja) j s (swami) s sh (shankara) x xsh (laxshmi) none Acknowledgements The incentive for writing this font has been my mother. She never asked that I write her using a computer, but I wanted to do it anyway! Though my folks would prefer to see my handwriting rather than some mechanized version of it, they have gotten used to it and even seem to like it (or not mind it). I thank everyone in my family, in the US and in India. They deserve all the credit, and I accept any blame (or is it the other way around?!). Palladam Tamil Font is free. You are free to use it and free to distribute it on a free basis. Palladam Tamil Font is NOT in the public domain; it is copyrighted by its author, T. Govindaraj, 1752, Crestline Court, Atlanta, Georgia 30345. Background and a brief history I (T. Govindaraj) wrote this font over a period of about a year. It has been modified almost continuously. Since I could not find a commercially available font that I liked, I decided to create one. It took a rather long time since my professorial responsibilities in the top industrial and systems engineering program in the US left me with little spare time. While there is always room for improvement, I decided to release the font at this time (July 1990) since it appears usable at the current state of its development. The font is named after the little town where I come from. I am actually from a "suburb" of Palladam. Since my background is engineering and not linguistics or Tamil literature, I had to use letter mappings that seemed reasonable. I am open to suggestions concerning mappings that may be more appropriate. However, I do not know when I will be able to make any major changes. Even though the font was developed on an Apple Macintosh II, it is very unlikely that I will do more work on a Mac font. While I was an admirer and promoter of the user interface philosophy popularized by Apple, I have been extremely unhappy with Apple's attitude concerning the "look and feel" issue and their legal "maneuvers". As a past user of Xerox lisp machines and a current user of Sun and NeXT machines, I have not been happy with what Apple is doing. I do not plan to recommend or purchase any more Apple computers until Apple adopts a more egalitarian attitude. I am an admirer and supporter of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). I plan to develop the Palladam Tamil Font into ghostscript compatible form and turn over complete control to FSF. In the meantime, I have decided to retain the copyright and impose minimal restrictions on the use and distribution of Palladam Tamil Font. The restrictions and terms are in the spirit of GNU General Public License from FSF. Versions of this font for other computers and operating systems may become available at some later date. Font Formats: - Adobe (Type 1 [pfa & pfb], Type 3, Bitmap) - DMF (+ bitmap) - Bitmap (Black&White) - IntelliFont - Truetype Font ID: 47272 Directory: Non-Latin/Tamil/Palladam If you like and use this font, I would recommend a donation to the Free Software Foundation at the following address: Free Software Foundation, Inc. 675 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139, USA (Your donations to FSF are tax deductible.) I list below two restrictions. If you have any questions about the use or distribution of this font or suggestions, please contact me via e-mail or telephone (tg@chmsr.gatech.edu, +1 404 325 7446). (1) You should not receive any money from anyone who gets a copy of the font from you, except for nominal charges to cover the cost of media and postal expenses. I encourage distribution via appropriate networks. (2) Any fonts derived from this font, for use on any hardware and/or with any free or commercial software, will also be available under the same terms as this font, subject to the current US copyright laws governing software. (3) Any distribution of this font in any form will be accompanied by this notice in its entirety. No warranty Palladam Tamil Font is licensed free of charge and I provide absolutely no warranty. You use the font entirely at your own risk. The author, T. Govindaraj, or anyone who distributes this font under the terms mentioned above is not liable for any losses or damages resulting from the use of this font. I, T. Govindaraj, reserve the right to make any changes in the terms and conditions under which this font or any derivatives are distributed to the extent permitted by the copyright laws of the United States of America or the Berne Convention, whichever is deemed the most beneficial to humanity. This is how it looks like:
Black&White