4 ms·

As with all letter spacing, the size is determined by the font metrics. There doesn't need to be a special character for it.

thefifthsetpin 6y ago
Even assuming the goal is to get something like the below? Mr.^Smith^turned^off^the^lights.^^Then^he^went^to^sleep.
- chispamed 6y ago
  Not the person you asked, but I think so. Some fonts also convert “fi” into a character where the letter-spacing is very small and the i loses its point, so there’s definitely a mechanism for letter combination / adaptive spacing.
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    Are fonts Turing-complete now? I have a feeling they'll become such if not already there; a little programs, complete with configuration switches so that you can control if and how a combination of characters get converted into a ligature depending on surrounding context.
    - eperdew 6y ago
      TrueType font hinting actually is Turing complete. A font may contain programs that run on a VM that has functions, variables, unbounded loops, etc.
  - jefftk 6y ago
    Converting "fi" into "ﬁ" only requires a lookup table, though fonts can do some pretty fancy things: https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/RM06/Chap6morx.html https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/... Knowing that "Mr. Smith." is intra-sentence but "Me. Smith." is inter-sentence is well beyond what fonts can do, however.
    - dubya 6y ago
      I thought the rule was that ligatures shouldn't cross syllable boundaries. Like the fi in "fine" can be replaced but not the fi in "barfing", so it would need to be a bit more than a lookup table. Or maybe a dictionary-sized lookup table isn't a problem anymore.
      - jefftk 6y ago
        I see https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/50660/when-should-i-not-use-a-ligature-in-english-typesetting/50957 https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/50660/when-shoul... suggesting this, but I don't believe any fonts implement this.
gowld 6y ago
There needs to be a character because a sentence is a grammatical concept not a lexical concept. Mr. Bean is in one sentence, not two.

thefifthsetpin 6y ago

Even assuming the goal is to get something like the below? Mr.^Smith^turned^off^the^lights.^^Then^he^went^to^sleep.

chispamed 6y ago
Not the person you asked, but I think so. Some fonts also convert “fi” into a character where the letter-spacing is very small and the i loses its point, so there’s definitely a mechanism for letter combination / adaptive spacing.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  Are fonts Turing-complete now? I have a feeling they'll become such if not already there; a little programs, complete with configuration switches so that you can control if and how a combination of characters get converted into a ligature depending on surrounding context.
  - eperdew 6y ago
    TrueType font hinting actually is Turing complete. A font may contain programs that run on a VM that has functions, variables, unbounded loops, etc.
- jefftk 6y ago
  Converting "fi" into "ﬁ" only requires a lookup table, though fonts can do some pretty fancy things: https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/RM06/Chap6morx.html https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/... Knowing that "Mr. Smith." is intra-sentence but "Me. Smith." is inter-sentence is well beyond what fonts can do, however.
  - dubya 6y ago
    I thought the rule was that ligatures shouldn't cross syllable boundaries. Like the fi in "fine" can be replaced but not the fi in "barfing", so it would need to be a bit more than a lookup table. Or maybe a dictionary-sized lookup table isn't a problem anymore.
    - jefftk 6y ago
      I see https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/50660/when-should-i-not-use-a-ligature-in-english-typesetting/50957 https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/50660/when-shoul... suggesting this, but I don't believe any fonts implement this.

gowld 6y ago

There needs to be a character because a sentence is a grammatical concept not a lexical concept. Mr. Bean is in one sentence, not two.