[XeTeX] using different fonts for one language (Syriac)

[Gareth Hughes]

Philip Taylor (Webmaster, Ret'd) wrote:
> I'm way out of my depth here, but looking at the entry for Syriac
> in Daniels & Bright;s "The World's Writing Systems" is seems to
> me that it would be a major deviation from the intended and
> apparent meaning  of \ttfamily, \slfamily or \itshape
> if one were to try to use them for switching between Estrangelo,
> Serto, Nestorian & Jacobite.  Are there no more better hooks
> that can be used for switching between related scripts that do
> not fall into the categories that Ulrike proposes ?

I agree with you that these categories that are logical to Latin
typefaces, and can be extended to Greek and Cyrillic, are less than
helpful in describing other scripts. Yes, we are faced with the
awfulness of 'italic' Arabic and Syriac, which is little more than an
ugly borrowing from Latin faces. These scripts have their own ways to
give emphasis. We don't use the names 'Nestorian' or 'Jacobite' to refer
to script styles in Syriac, as they are derogatory. Even so, many books
continue this use. We use 'Estrangela/o' to refer to the classical
script, 'Serto' to refer to western script and 'Madnha' to refer to
eastern script. That said, I've seen manuscripts use mixtures of these
styles in the same work, even within the same word!

Gareth.