Revised 3.89 and deprecated stuff.

docs/guides/old-and-deprecated-functions.md

@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ at their time. However, LaTeX has evolved and currently they are of
 limited interest, and therefore their description has been moved here,
 for not to clutter the manual.
 
-`strings` • Package option with a value. Selects the encoding of
+### `strings`
+
+Package option with a value. Selects the encoding of
 strings in languages supporting this feature. Predefined labels are
 `generic` (for traditional TeX, LICR and ASCII strings), `unicode` (for
 engines like `xetex` and `luatex`) and `encoded` (for special cases
@@ -17,7 +19,9 @@ them. Be aware with `encoded` captions are protected, but they work in
 `\MakeUppercase` and the like (this feature misuses some internal LaTeX
 tools, so use it only as a last resort).
 
-`mapfont=direction` • Option in `\babelprovide`. Assigns the font for
+### `mapfont=direction`
+
+Option in `\babelprovide`. Assigns the font for
 the writing direction of this language (only with `bidi=basic`).
 Instead of this option use `onchar`, based on the script. More
 precisely, what `mapfont=direction` means is, ‘when a character has the
@@ -28,21 +32,26 @@ and left to right. So, there should be at most 3 directives of this
 kind. The only value is `direction`, and this option won’t be developed
 any further.
 
-`\aliasshorthand` • (Deprecated.) If one prefers for example to use the
-character `/` over `"` in typing Polish texts, this can be achieved by
-entering `\aliasshorthand{"}{/}`. Shorthands remember somehow the
-original character, and the fallback value is that of the latter. So,
-in `\aliasshorthand{~}{^}`, if no shorthand is found, `^` expands to a
-non-breaking space, because this is the value of `~` (internally, `^`
-still calls `\active@char~` or `\normal@char~`). Furthermore, if you
-change the `system` value of `^` with `\defineshorthand` nothing
+### `\aliasshorthand`
+
+If one prefers for example to use the character `/` over `"` in typing
+Polish texts, this can be achieved by entering `\aliasshorthand{"}{/}`.
+
+One of the reasons for the deprecation is shorthands remember somehow
+the original character, and the fallback value is that of the latter.
+So, in `\aliasshorthand{~}{^}`, if no shorthand is found, `^` expands
+to a non-breaking space, because this is the value of `~` (internally,
+`^` still calls `\active@char~` or `\normal@char~`). Furthermore, if
+you change the `system` value of `^` with `\defineshorthand` nothing
 happens.
 
-`\substitutefontfamily` • (Deprecated.) This command takes three
-arguments, a font encoding and two font family names. It creates a font
-description file for the first font in the given encoding. This `.fd`
-file will instruct LaTeX to use a font from the second family when a
-font from the first family in the given encoding seems to be needed.
+### `\substitutefontfamily`
+
+This command takes three arguments, a font encoding and two font family
+names. It creates a font description file for the first font in the
+given encoding. This `.fd` file will instruct LaTeX to use a font from
+the second family when a font from the first family in the given
+encoding seems to be needed.
 
 ## Fonts
 

docs/index.md

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ case, it's advisable to install TeXLive.)
 
 | Version | Most relevant changes
 | --- | --- |
+| [3.89](news/whats-new-in-babel-3.89.html) | (Development.) Option `modifiers.<lang>`.|
 | [3.88](news/whats-new-in-babel-3.88.html) | 37 new locale files. |
 | [3.87](news/whats-new-in-babel-3.87.html) | Mainly fixes and minor improvements. |
 | [3.86](news/whats-new-in-babel-3.86.html) | `tabular` improved. |

docs/news/whats-new-in-babel-3.89.md

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # What's new in babel 3.89
 
+**Draft**
+
 ## Modifiers
 
 About 10 years ago, a special syntax was devised to pass options to
@@ -15,23 +17,33 @@ the following example shows:
 \documentclass[spanish]{report}
 \usepackage[modifiers.spanish = notilde.lcroman]{babel}
 ```
-That is, start a package options with |modifiers.| followed by the
-language, and then set the modifier list. Note the language is not
-selected.
+That is, start a package options with `modifiers.` followed by the
+language, and then set the modifiers list. Note the language is not
+selected or loaded with this option.
 
 ## Deprecations
 
-`\aliasshorthands` 
-
+`\aliasshorthands` is now
+[deprecated](https://latex3.github.io/babel/guides/old-and-deprecated-functions.html)
+because it was used very rarely and yielded some unexpected results.
 
 ## Cleaning up some language names
 
-`northernsami` is now the preferred name for `samin`, which is
+`northernsami` is the preferred name for `samin`, which is
 deprecated (it was clearly shortened to fit in the 8-character limit,
-and furthermore the Samin are a Javanese people). `scottishgaelic` is
-the preferred name for `scottish`; the latter still makes sense (it’s
-parallel to `irish`), and therefore, although discouraged, is not
-deprecated.
+and furthermore the Samin are a Javanese people).
+
+`scottishgaelic` is the preferred name for `scottish`; the latter still
+makes sense (it’s parallel to `irish`), and therefore, although
+discouraged, is not deprecated.
+
+See also
+[Locale
+naming](https://latex3.github.io/babel/guides/locale-naming.html).
+
+## Documentation
 
-See also 
+Now there are two PDF files: `babel.pdf` is the user guide, and
+`babel-code.pdf` is the code. By default, running `babel.dtx` generates
+only the user guide.