Reading Modern Fonts 1:

Anatomy of a Thai Character

In Part 1 of "Reading Modern Fonts" we'll examine some of the ways that typographers try to make reading much harder for learners by simplifying and stylising characters making them, in many cases, virtually unrecognisable on first encounter.

Part 2 looks at how to distinguish between different characters in modern fonts.

First, an anatomy lesson categorising parts of characters, before going on to see what can happen to those parts in the hands of fiendish typographers.

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Head

The designers of modern fonts strive to make the letter forms cleaner. This invariably involves reducing or eliminating the head (the small circle that one draws first when writing a character). This isn't dissimilar to the way that English sans serif fonts eschew the serif (the small bar at the ends of lines.) In Thai modern fonts one of three things may happen to the head:

1. The head is replaced by a short line indicating the head’s original orientation
2. The head is eliminated, but its presence and orientation are indicated by a curve in its stem
3. The head is eliminated, with no hint it was ever there.

In the following examples the first character (in grey) is in a standard or reference font. The following four characters are in different modern fonts, and are referred to as fonts 1 through 4.

Example 1

Here, the head has been replaced by a short line in all four modern fonts.

Example 2

With font 2 the head has disappeared, and the stem is bent showing that there used to be a head on the right.

Example 3

And here the head has disappeared completely, without a trace.

In some cases the stem to which the short line is attached is eliminated, giving forms such as

But which is which character? One way of looking at this is to imagine that the head is pushing against its stem until the stem disappears. So, the first character is ค, with the head pushing left until the stem disappears. The second is ด with the head pushing down until it meets the baseline. And the third is จ, with the head similarly pushing right.

Note that a single font may incorporate different approaches to the heads of different characters. Look at ถ ด and บ in font 3:

In font 3 the first character has the head reduced to a line, the second has the head eliminated, but hinted at by a curved stem, and the third has no evidence there ever was a head.

Now try identifying the following characters. Click on them to reveal the letter in a standard font.

(The characters are selected at random. If you reload this page the characters displayed will change.)

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Knot

Intermediate loops, known as knots, are reduced to short lines, either inline with the character, or offset to one side. For example, here’s ม:

One character that invariably seems odd at first is ห. Here it is in four modern fonts:

Now look at the following characters and try to identify the knots.

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Mouth

The mouth of characters such as ก is either severely reduced, or eliminated completely. Here’s ก in four fonts:

In font 1 the mouth is eliminated completely; in 2 it's pretty normal; whilst in 3 and 4 it's greatly reduced.

Now try identifying the following characters.

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Notch

Notches occur in four places:

1. The necks of characters such as ฆซฑ
2. The tops of characters ฒต
3. The bottoms of characters such as ผพ
4. The below-baseline parts of ฏ and ฐ

Taking each of these in turn:

1. Notches in the neck

If the line replacing the head is anything but straight, it’s a notch. Contrast ฆ with ม

2. Notches in the top

These notches are invariably preserved. Without them, one couldn’t distinguish between, say ด and ต. Here’s ต in four fonts.

3. Notches in the bottom

These notches may be preserved, or heavily modified. Here are ผ and พ in four fonts. Note that in the first two fonts, the distinction in notch height is completely lost and one must rely on the head (or absence thereof) to distinguish the characters.

4. Notches below the baseline.

ฏ and ฐ both have this type of notch. ฐ is unlikely to cause any problems in recognition. There can be difficulties however, in distinguishing between ฏ and ฎ. Here they are in four fonts:

Now try identifying the following characters.

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Tail

The following characters all have tails: ชซฬศฮ. These are usually preserved, though are often reduced to a short line.

Now try identifying the following characters.

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Bases and Entrails

Only two characters have bases, ฐ and ญ. Note that the base of ญ is often attached to the character’s body.

Only ษ has entrails. The entrails may or may not retain a hint of its initial loop. The curve is usually straightened.

Now try identifying the following characters.

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Waist

Only three characters have waists, ช, ซ and ย. Note that with ย the waist only pinches in from the left.

Now try identifying the following characters.