Documentation (was Re: [OS X TeX] Kanbun (漢文) and French...)

[Jean-Christophe Helary]

Thanks to Wikipedia,
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/XeTeX

I was able to get Texshop/xetex to work together and properly display  
my French accents...

The article suggests the following code:

> \documentclass{article}
> \usepackage{fontspec}
> \usepackage{xunicode}
> \usepackage{xltxtra}
> \setmainfont[Mapping=tex-text]{Lucida Sans Unicode}

But of course, the last command did not work...

> (/usr/local/texlive/2008/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/ 
> fixltx2e.sty))kpathsea: Invalid fontname `Lucida Sans Unicode',  
> contains ' '
>
> ! Font \zf at basefont="Lucida Sans Unicode" at 10.0pt not loadable:  
> Metric (TFM)
> file or installed font not found.
> \zf at fontspec ...ntname \zf at suffix " at \f at size pt
>                                                   \unless \ifzf at icu  
> \zf at set@...
> l.5 ...font[Mapping=tex-text]{Lucida Sans Unicode}
>
> ?

So I just removed that line and I managed to get the French displayed.

Now, I suppose I'm going to have to dig further into commands to  
typeset the rest of the French, and then study a little more to get  
the kanbun to work with all that...

Why did it take me 2 days to get the above 4 lines of code ???  
(Genuine question.)

Where is the documentation in the MacTex package that tells me how to  
get a simple French text to properly display with the tools included  
in the distribution ?


Jean-Christophe Helary

On samedi 03 janv. 09, at 11:12, Jean-Christophe Helary wrote:

> On samedi 03 janv. 09, at 01:23, Peter Dyballa wrote:
>
>> Am 02.01.2009 um 17:09 schrieb Jean-Christophe Helary:
>>
>>> Regarding the kanbun part, I am not sure it is that simple.  
>>> Because kanbun requires at least 2 signs in addition to the kanji:  
>>> the okuri-gana (bottom-right) and the kaeri-ten (bottom left).
>>
>>
>> I don't understand what you wrote. I presume that you just need to  
>> select a font that has these 16 glyphs, and you're done. The  
>> Hiragino fonts that come with Mac OS X have them – or we wouldn't  
>> see your subject! Ahemm, these two glyphs are not taken from the  
>> Kanbun block ... (U+3190…319F)
>
> It looks like I need special packages, according to:
> http://www.geocities.co.jp/HeartLand-Icho/9917/tex.htm
>
> For example, if you check the lower third of this page:
> http://www.klavis.info/tategaki.html
>
> the character [不], a character found in classical Chinese texts,  
> needs to be annotated with the string [ざ] at its upper right to  
> indicate its root Japanese pronunciation, the string [ル] at its  
> bottom right to indicate its variable ending Japanese reading, and  
> the string [レ] at its bottom left to indicate its position in a  
> recomposed sentence based on Japanese syntax.
>
> The first string is usually not required.
> That last string belongs to the Kanbun block (although it is also a  
> "normal" Japanese sign).
>
> One of the package involved provides the author with a command that  
> goes like this:
>
> \kundoku{不}{ざ}{ル}{レ}
>
> Where you have:
>
> \kundoku{1}{2}{3}{4}
>
> {1}=any character used in classical Chinese kanbun texts
> {2}=the character reading in classical Japanese
> {3}=the extra readings specific to Japanese
> {4}=the position mark in the Japanese syntax
>
> So it is not really only about having to select a font, but rather  
> about having specific commands that properly display the 4 elements  
> combination.
>
> But I am still struggling to property display French...
>
> Jean-Christophe Helary