This file contains Label Generation Rules (LGR) for the Kannada script as would be appropriate for the Root zone. For more details on this proposal see "Proposal for a Kannada Script Root Zone Label Generation Ruleset (LGR)" [Proposal]. The format of this file follows [RFC 7940].
According to Section 5, "Repertoire" in [Proposal], the Kannada LGR contains 62 unique code points."
The repertoire is based on [MSR-4], which is a subset of Unicode 6.3 [Unicode 6.3].
Each code-point has associated Glyph, Script, Character Name, Category and Reference.
According to Section 6 "Variants", in "[Proposal]", this LGR defines cross-script variants which are "Confusing due to deviation from normally perceived character formations by larger linguistic community". These cases are not of mere visual similarity. These can cause confusion even to a careful observer and hence being proposed as variants.
Variant Disposition: All variants are of type “blocked”, making labels that differ only by these variants mutually exclusive: whichever label containing either of these variants is chosen earlier, the other equivalent variant label should be blocked. There is no preference among these variants.
The structure of the Kannada script is similar to that of other Indian scripts; it is particularly closely related to Telugu. The heart of the writing system is the Akshar. The Kannada script is known as aksharamale or varnamale . The basic characters are classified into three main categories. They are - swara (vowels), vyanjana (consonants) and yogavahas (semiconsonants).
Swaras (vowels): There are thirteen vowels. When a vowel follows a consonant, it is written with a diacritic rather than as a separate letter. Sometimes these are referred to as vowel signs or matras. More details in Section "3.4.1 Swaras (vowels)" of the [Proposal].
Yogavahas(Semiconsonants): The Yōgavāha (part-vowel, part consonant) include two letters:
Vyanjanas (consonants): Two categories of consonant characters (vyan̄janas) are defined in Kannada: the structured consonants (vargeeya vyanjana) and the unstructured consonants (avargeeya vyanjana). More details in Section "3.4.3 Vyanjanas (consonants)" of the [Proposal].
Implicit vowel ಅ (a) in consonants: All consonant code points in Kannada contain an implicit an vowel ಅ (a) . The Unicode character U+0CCD, which is the Kannada equivalent of Devanagari’s Halant (or Virama), U+094D, is applied to consonants to remove the implicit ಅ (a). More details in Section "3.4.4 Implicit vowel ಅ (a) in consonants" of the [Proposal].
The LGR includes the set of required default WLE rules and actions applicable to the Root Zone and defined in [MSR-4]. They are marked with ⍟.
These rules have been formulated so that they can be adopted for LGR specification.
Following symbols are used in the WLE rules:
C → Consonant
M → Matra
V → Vowel
B → Anusvara
X → Visarga
H → Halant / Virama
The rules are:
More details in Section "7 Whole Label Evaluation Rules (WLE)" of the [Proposal]
Under the Neo-Brahmi Generation Panel, there are many different scripts belonging to separate Unicode blocks. Each of these scripts have been assigned a separate LGR; however Neo-Brahmi GP ensured that the fundamental philosophy behind building those LGRs are all in sync with all other Brahmi derived scripts. This is the Kannada LGR, which caters to Kannada, Tulu, Beary, Konkani, Havyaka, Kodava, among other languages written using the Kannada script.
Following references are cited in this document: