Michael Everson wrote:
So for me, MIDDLE DOT is to COLON as MODIFIER LETTER HALF TRIANGULAR COLON is to MODIFIER LETTER TRIANGULAR COLON.
This would make the mid-dot too high. The top dot of the colon usually sits toward the top of the x-height; the *mid*-dot should sit lower, optically midway up the x-height (which means slightly higher than the actual halfway mark). The top dot of a colon is typically closer to the height of the Greek ano teleia, which aligns with the x-height (and which should align with the cap height in all-cap settings, and with the small-cap height in smallcap settings).
John, I just don't believe you. I don't believe that in all the history of Greek and Catalan typography this careful hairsplitting has *always* taken place; certainly in scientific transcription the HALF TRIANGULAR COLON is just the top dot in the TRIANGULAR COLON, and in Americanist transcription where the dot-colons are used instead of triangles I would say the same applies.
António said:
Another nail in the coffin of "use U+00B7 : MIDDLE DOT for Catalan": Perhaps because it is exclusively used between "L"s (a "high" letter in both cases), Catalan middot is placed exactly as Michael has it: The top dot of a colon (careful Catalan typewriter users do/did just this, erasing or masking the bottom dot of a colon).
This evidence would suggest to me that my analysis is correct.
The samples Asmus sent suggest to me that a school of typographers made a set of bad decisions, even if they were really famous and got paid lots of money and their fonts are widely shipped!
But that's just my opinion. -- Michael Everson * * Everson Typography * * http://www.evertype.com
