Zawgyi font as default on the device, without any easy option of changing this back to the
original setting (Hotchkiss, 2016). This created a somewhat unfavorable situation that still
today is a challenge to navigate. The result is that the central part of the Burmese- or other
variation of the language-speaking population use Zawgyi, not Unicode, intentionally or
unintentionally.
Understand The Battle
How do the fonts work, and why is this seen as a problem? As mentioned above, with a font, I
refer to an encoding system for digital language characters. This system that I call font is a
software that allows users to write in Burmese, or other variations of the language, on their
devices. Unicode and Zawgyi are simply two different kinds of the font software. The fonts`
name (Unicode or Zawgyi) can be explained as a description of the character´s shape, while
the encoding system itself (the “font”) is the information of their order and rendering. To be
able to change the device´s text or encoding system that is, one must download a font file.
The font file is installed and then changes the default settings in the keyboard in your device.
The process of downloading and changing a device setting could be rather tedious and
technical challenging if you do not have the right information and/or contacts9. As an
example: My smartphone has both a Norwegian and an English font/software installed in my
keyboard, and I can change it recording to my need. Unicode or Zawgyi would appear
similarly on the device, but the way each of these fonts is built is different. In my smartphone,
as mentioned earlier; a font is not language specific, both Norwegian and English is in
Unicode. So, the given language lays on a different level in the structure if this process, while
the font itself is the system rendering (reading) the letters. It is helpful to think of fonts as an
infrastructure that functioning both in and with other infrastructures and systems at the same
time and on different levels. I will discuss infrastructure more closely after explaining a bit
more details around the technical issues with fonts.
When typing ABC on your device, ABC is the input from the keyboard. The keyboard uses a
font software, as explained, and in an international device, it is most likely Unicode. Each
letter or character is saved, encoded, into a file as a chain of numbers. These numbers are
what we call code points. A have its specific set of code points, B has another, space and
9
I received the information regarding the installation process from Benedict Mette-Starke,
University of Konstanz in January 2019.
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