IBM
Missing case forms in IBM Plex Math
The recent release of IBM Plex Math, which supports mathematical, technical, and even phonetic symbols (among other glyphs), is unquestionably a giant step for IBM’s Plex project.
Nevertheless, as far as orthographic symbols go, it currently lacks support for casing forms of various letters mainly found in Latin Extended-B and -D, as well as various IPA letters that are used orthographically (i.e. with uppercase and lowercase) in certain languages. Most of the missing forms are uppercase, though two letters (Ƶ Ꞓ) are supported in uppercase only while lacking the lowercase.
I would thus like to request the Plex team to add the missing casing forms, ideally starting with IBM Plex Math, and then adding the completed pairs to the three “core” fonts (IBM Plex Mono, IBM Plex Sans, IBM Plex Serif).
Missing case forms (missing lowercases in bold):
Latin Extended-B: Ɓ Ɔ Ƈ Ɖ Ɗ Ƒ Ɠ Ɣ Ɩ Ɨ Ƙ Ɯ Ɲ Ɵ Ƥ Ʀ Ʃ Ƭ Ʈ Ʊ Ʋ ƶ Ʒ Ƕ Ƞ Ƚ Ƀ Ʉ Ʌ
Latin Extended-C: Ɫ Ɽ Ɑ Ɱ Ɐ Ɒ
Latin Extended-D: Ꜧ Ɥ ꞓ Ɦ Ɜ Ɡ Ɬ Ɪ Ʞ Ʇ Ʝ Ʂ Ᶎ [1] [2]
[1] U+A7CB LATIN CAPITAL LETTER RAMS HORN, capital form of ɤ
[2] U+A7DC LATIN CAPITAL LETTER LAMBDA WITH STROKE, capital form of ƛ
Highly recommended pairs
These are letter pairs that, if added to Plex, will complete support for certain orthographies that will have most of their unique symbols included in Plex after the missing case forms are added.
West African languages: Ƴƴ. Other commonly used hooked letters include Ɓɓ Ɗɗ Ŋŋ, and sometimes Ƈƈ Ɠɠ Ɦɦ Ƙƙ Ƥƥ Ƭƭ.
Kutenai: Ȼȼ, Ⱡⱡ. Of these, Ⱡⱡ is also used in Melpa and Nii.
Early Mandarin Pinyin: Ꞔꞔ, used alongside Ɥɥ Ʂʂ Ᶎᶎ (see https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n4782-EarlyPinyin.pdf),
Heiltsuk, Liqʼwala: Latin Lambda, [U+A7DA] and [U+A7DB], used alongside lambda with stroke (whose uppercase was recently accepted as part of Unicode 16.0 in September 2024)
Thank you in advance, and I hope the Plex team finds my suggestion useful!
Edit: mentioned Ɦɦ as one of the West African hooked letters
Thanks for the feedback. Some of the glyphs mentioned above are on our to-do list for supporting more African languages in Plex Sans and Plex Serif.
Hello Dear IBM,
IBM Plex Math and the core IBM Plex fonts, consider the following concise points:
Prioritize adding missing uppercase and lowercase pairs in IBM Plex Math to cover essential mathematical and phonetic glyphs.
Extend these completed casing pairs to IBM Plex Sans, Serif, and Mono for typographic consistency across the family.
Focus first on high-impact orthographies such as West African languages, Kutenai, early Mandarin Pinyin, and Heiltsuk/Liqʼwala.
Collaborate with linguists and language communities to ensure accurate and culturally appropriate glyph design.
Implement incremental updates to allow smooth adoption without large-scale disruptions.
Maintain open-source development practices to encourage community feedback and contributions.
Ensure comprehensive documentation and communication about new glyph additions to support users and developers.
