[USE] Double REPHA in Dives Akuru

[dscorbett]

A cluster in Dives Akuru can begin with two characters in the REPHA class, which USE doesn’t allow within a single cluster. The second cluster of line 5 of the plate shown here on page 53 is ⟨𑥁𑤿𑤞⟩, transliterated on page 55 as “ṛṅdʰa”.

The most obvious fix is to change < R | CS > to < R [R] | CS >. However, that would allow double rephas in other scripts too, which might be considered too permissive. Dives Akuru is the only script currently in Unicode where this makes sense, although there is no particular reason it couldn’t happen in other scripts too.

Another fix would be to introduce a new category, PN, just for U+1193F DIVES AKURU PREFIXED NASAL SIGN, and change < R | CS > to < R [PN] | CS >. That isn’t a very universal solution, unfortunately.

Another fix would be to allow R as a standalone cluster. This is the worst solution, but it is better than doing nothing. Reordering wouldn’t work, and ⟨𑥁𑤿𑤞⟩ would be two clusters, but at least no dotted circle would be inserted.

Alternatively, it is possible that this cluster should be analyzed as ⟨𑥁𑤐𑤾𑤞⟩. I don’t think so, though: the nasal grapheme looks more like the one the Unicode proposal associates with U+1193F ň than with U+11910 ṅa.

It is also possible that the cluster was misanalyzed and does not contain a nasal prefix at all, so the spec should not change till we find more, clearer examples.

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• ID: 194a6d3c-4137-46e9-3a4b-44b990200986
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• Content: Creating and supporting OpenType fonts for the Universal Shaping Engine - Typography
• Content Source: typographydocs/script-development/use.md
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• Microsoft Alias: anglass