[duxuser] Re: Apostrophe Alert
- From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 08:10:49 -0700
I agree that it would be useful if there were a utility that could process a
file and warn of any characters not in a list of expected characters. Of
course, this would require that the electronic file had encoded its
characters in a correctly defined manner, preferably Unicode.
However, the apostrophe problem for transcribing from print to braille can
never go completely away because of the differences between braille and
print. Properly typeset print uses the same character for the apostrophe as
for the right single quote whereas braille uses two different characters.
Based on the examination of some old books I have around, the use of the
same print character for the two purposes is not something new but has been
the case for more than 100 years.
To summarize, print has four different characters: the left and right double
quotes, the left single quote, and the right dual-purpose single quote and
apostrophe. Meanwhile braille uses five different symbols, not four, to
translate them because braille translates the print right single quote
differently from the print apostrophe.
Of course, it is simple for a computer program to identify an apostrophe
used to signify a missing letter in the interior of a word, as in don't, or
in a possessive. The problem comes when the apostrophe signifies a missing
letter at the beginning or end of a word, as in 'tis or singin'. The "smart
quotes" option in Word correctly (for print) identifies the trailing
apostrophe as the combined right single quote and apostrophe character but
it misidentifies the leading apostrophe as a left single quote.
I've never been able to think of any rule that could be automated that would
work in all cases for distinguishing an intended apostrophe from an intended
single quote. I believe that's why DBT allows the human to do this by
substituting the grave character. Another option would be for the human to
use the smart quotes characters for the left and right single quotes and the
straight apostrophe character on the keyboard for an apostrophe.
Unfortunately this is difficult to do in a typical word processor which lets
you use either the smart quotes characters or the keyboard characters, but
not both.
SusanJ
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