in reply to Re^2: Creating new character classes for foreign languages
in thread Creating new character classes for foreign languages

Is it possible to define a double-character property?
No.

You are, after all, defining a character class. A character class almost always1 matches exactly one character, never taking context into account.

How might I handle this?
Define a rule, not a character class. Out of curiousity, which 'r' in 'rr' is the vowel? First one, second one, or both?

1The only exception I can think of are cases with case insensitive matching, where the Unicode definition defines that the "other case" of a character is a multi character sequence.

  • Comment on Re^3: Creating new character classes for foreign languages

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Re^4: Creating new character classes for foreign languages
by Polyglot (Chaplain) on May 17, 2009 at 10:32 UTC
    The double 'r' ends up sounding like "un", so I suppose that, technically, the first 'r' becomes the vowel 'u' while the second converts to an 'n'. However, they are considered as a single unit, much like the 'll' or 'ch' have their own places in alphabetical order for Spanish, as if they were single letters.

    Now, I've seen that the subroutines in the package file follow a specific syntax...what does a rule look like in a package file?

    Also, I had a little trouble when putting my new package to use, in that the "shortcut method" in the final routine here failed, and I ended up hard-coding the code points for those characters. 

    sub InThaiHCons { #High-class consonants
    return <<'END';
0E02 0E03
0E09 0E10
0E16
0E1C 0E1D
0E28 0E29
0E2A 0E2B
END
}
sub InThaiMCons { #Middle-class consonants
    return <<'END';
0E01
0E08
0E0E 0E0F
0E14 0E15
0E1A 0E1B
0E2D
END
}
################################ Low-class consonants
=for NON-WORKING EXAMPLE
sub InThaiLCons { #THIS DIDN'T WORK
    return <<'END';
+Thai::InThaiCons
-Thai::InThaiHcons
-Thai::InThaiMCons
END
}
=cut

sub InThaiLCons { #THIS DOES WORK
    return <<'END';
0E04 0E07
0E0A 0E0D
0E11 0E13
0E17 0E19
0E1E 0E27
0E2C
0E2E
END
}

    [download]

    Why?

    Thanks so much for your help!

    Blessings,

    ~Polyglot~

[reply]
[d/l]
      Regarding the thing that didn't work, did you leave something out from the code that you posted? The "non-working" definition for "InThaiLCons" makes a reference to a sub called "Thai::InThaiCons", but there is no such subroutine in the code you posted. Clearly, referring to a non-existent subroutine will lead to failure.

      Based on what you've posted, it looks like you can simply define your three subsets of consonants explicitly (including your definition of "InThaiLCons" that does work), and then create an overall "InThaiCons" sub by adding together the three subsets: 

      sub InThaiCons {
    return <<END;
+Thai::InThaiHcons
+Thai::InThaiMCons
+Thai::InThaiLCons
END
}

      [download]
[reply]
[d/l]
        Graff,

        You have sure been patient with me. Thank you. I did have another subroutine called InThaiCons which I had forgotten to show (naming all Thai consonants: 0E01 - 0E2E). However, your thought led me to scrutinize that part once again, and I discovered the error.

        s/InThaiHcons/InThaiHCons/

        Ouch...what a dull head can't do to obstruct progress, a slow finger can. I wonder how often I am delayed hours over a single character like this?

        Thank you again!

        Blessings,

        ~Polyglot~

[reply]
      However, they are considered as a single unit, much like the 'll' or 'ch' have their own places in alphabetical order for Spanish, as if they were single letters

      This was changed fifteen years ago (probably to make programmers happier). Now, officially, "ch" is sorted between "cg" and "ci" even if it is still considered a single letter and the same applies to "ll" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language#Writing_system).

[reply]

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