Word splitting & hyphenation conventions in roman transliteration

[N. Ganesan]

Hayavadana wrote:
>because there are only 26 letters in the roman alphabet and there
>are no ligatures (samyuktakshara's). because printing technology in
>a linear script (one letter next to another) is much more simply
>implemented and we can use the technology that is already
>developed for western languages (like standardised computer and
>printing equipment), and so producing printed materials becomes
>easier.

  This is true as far as Tamil orthography is concerned.
  That is the reason why Printing came first to Tamil among
  Indian languages; For printing the Bible, also a first
  among all Asian languages.

  So, also Typewriters - they came first to Tamil.

  In DTP, Prof. George Hart got a grant from Apple Computers
  and developed first fonts  25 years ago. Now,
  Tamil e-mail is a forerunner (http://www.tamil.net).

  OCR will first succeed in Tamil because there are NO cluster
  alphabets (samyuktaksharas) and it is a linear script
  (one letter follows another separately).

  Imposing Nagari script on Tamil will be a step backward.
  And, is not in tune with the times!

  Roman script with or without diacriticals is a definite
  advancement for all Indian languages.

  Regards
  N. Ganesan

  PS: With just 30 keys on a computer board (phonetic keyboard),
  entire Tamil writing can be encompassed. Simply, just 12 vowels
  and 18 consonants. That's all.

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