Gap at U+2FE0

stas stas624-uni at yahoo.com
Fri Oct 22 22:17:43 CDT 2021


It bothers me that there is still empty space at U+2FE0 (see https://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/bmp/).
I find it weird considering there are already two one-column blocks in SMP which are extensions of scripts encoded in BMP:
Lisu and UCAS (see https://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/smp/). They would be perfect fit for that spot.

This message: https://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2007-m12/0035.html
mentions proposal for additional Ideographic Description Characters (I guess it is https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02221-cdp-idc.pdf),
but almost 20 years passed and it's still not even mentioned on the roadmap, so I guess
it is rejected for good.

This document: https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21016r-script-adhoc-rept.pdf states:
A strong case would need to be made to place characters on the BMP, and in our view, the single open
column at U+2FE0..U+2FEF should be used for characters with a valid case for encoding on the
BMP. The Kanbun Extended block does not, in our opinion, fit this criterium. Ken Lunde also agrees with
this view.

What is a stronger case than extension of a block already encoded in BMP? It won't get any better than this.
Looks like this spot became psychological golden place and no new proposal would be good enough for it.


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