--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, Michael Everson
<everson@...> wrote:

> At 01:34 +0100 2004-08-06, Andrew Dunbar wrote:
>
> >Then we need a solid definition of what a letter is. And to

preempt

> >we will also need solid definitions of what a diacritic is.
>
> Is this really a problem?

I think so. The virama/pulli is a diacritic like the vowel lengthener
for Cree. These diacritics are often optional in syllabic
languages. However, the vowel is essential, it is the base, with
the consonant being the colouring (the varnish) of the syllable.

So any definition that uses the term diacritics for the vowels in
Tamil is going to make me think of the optional diacritics in
Cree. They are of two different orders. However, maybe the
nowel-lenthener for Cree is never called a diacritic in Unicode. I
am not sure.

The vowels in Tamil are not optional diacritics in the same way
the vowels in an abjad are or the pre-aspirate, vowel-lengthener
and pulli in syllabic scripts. IMHO

Suzanne McCarthy