Old Italic (Unicode block)

Old Italic
Range	U+10300..U+1032F (48 code points)
Plane	SMP
Scripts	Old Italic
Major alphabets	Etruscan Faliscan Oscan Umbrian South Picene
Assigned	39 code points
Unused	9 reserved code points
Unicode version history
3.1 (2001)	35 (+35)
7.0 (2014)	36 (+1)
10.0 (2017)	39 (+3)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note:

File:UCB Old Italic.png

Graphical representation of the Old Italic Unicode block. Hatched boxes indicate non-assigned code points.

Old Italic is a Unicode block containing a unified repertoire of several Old Italic scripts used in various parts of Italy starting about 700 BCE, including the Etruscan alphabet and others that were derived from it (or cognate with it). All those languages went extinct by about the 1st century BCE; except Latin, which however evolved its own Latin alphabet that is covered by other Unicode blocks.

Unification

For each script, each code point denotes zero or more symbols that are believed to be equivalent in that script, even if they had very different shapes. For example, in the Archaic Etruscan alphabet (used from the 7th to 5th century BCE) one letter, apparently derived from the Western Ancient Greek letter theta, could be written as a circle with an inscribed "X", or just as a circle. Those two symbols were mapped to the same code point U+10308, "OLD ITALIC LETTER THE" = "𐌈".

Also, two symbols in different scripts were mapped to the same code point if they appeared to have a genetic or phonemic identity, even if their shapes and/or pronunciations were clearly distinct. For example, the Etruscans used a symbol like "C", believed to have evolved from the Ancient Greek letter gamma, for the "k" sound of their language. That symbol was assumed to be the origin of (or cognate with) a symbol of the Oscan alphabet that looked like "<" and had the sound of "g". Those two symbols were therefore mapped to the same code point U+10302, "OLD ITALIC LETTER KE" = "𐌂".

Therefore, the appearance of those code points when displayed or printed—as in the table below—is likely to be incorrect, unless they are rendered with a font specifically designed for the particular language and letter style of the text.

Block

Old Italic[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1030x

𐌀

𐌁

𐌂

𐌃

𐌄

𐌅

𐌆

𐌇

𐌈

𐌉

𐌊

𐌋

𐌌

𐌍

𐌎

𐌏

U+1031x

𐌐

𐌑

𐌒

𐌓

𐌔

𐌕

𐌖

𐌗

𐌘

𐌙

𐌚

𐌛

𐌜

𐌝

𐌞

𐌟

U+1032x

𐌠

𐌡

𐌢

𐌣

𐌭

𐌮

𐌯

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Old Italic block:

Version	Final code points	Count	L2 ID	WG2 ID	Document
3.1	U+10300..1031E, 10320..10323	35	L2/97-101
			L2/97-195	N1580
			L2/97-288	N1603
			L2/98-286	N1703
			L2/00-128
			L2/00-112
			L2/00-133
			L2/00-140
			L2/00-246
			L2/00-247
			L2/00-115R2
			L2/00-309
			L2/01-050	N2253
7.0	U+1031F	1	L2/11-116
			L2/11-146R	N4046
				N4103
			L2/12-386	N4395
10.0	U+1032D..1032F	3		N4403 (pdf, doc)
			L2/15-181R	N4669R
			L2/15-187
			L2/15-262
				N4739