View source for ASCII

{{Short description|Character encoding standard}}
{{lipu pona
|blurb='''[[ASCII]]''' is a character encoding standard that features 95 printable characters, limited to the basic Latin alphabet and symbols on the United States keyboard layout. This character set is the basis of several [[Toki Pona]] projects, due to its availability compared to specialized keyboards and [[input method]]s.
}}
{{Wikipedia}}
'''ASCII''' ('''American Standard Code for Information Interchange''') is a character encoding standard updated from 1963 to 1986, and a precursor to [[Unicode]].

ASCII features only 128 codepoints, many of which are {{w|control character}}s, and its 94 {{w|printable character}}s are limited to the {{w|ISO basic Latin alphabet|basic Latin alphabet}} (the 26 letters also comprising the {{w|English alphabet}}) and {{w|Typographical symbol|symbols}} on the {{w|British and American keyboards|United States keyboard layout}}. This character set is the basis of several [[Toki Pona]] projects, due to its availability compared to specialized keyboards and [[input method]]s.

{{Printable ASCII}}

==In writing systems==

Multiple Toki Pona [[writing system]]s have been based on ASCII.

{{tp|[[sitelen akesi]]}} is an ASCII-compatible adaptation of {{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}}. Glyphs may be represented as one or more characters.

{{tok|[[jan Misali]]}}'s [[toki pona ASCII syllabary]] assigns each [[phonotactic]]ally allowed [[syllable]] in Toki Pona to a single ASCII character.

==In fonts==

===ASCII transcription===

<div style="float:right;margin-left:1em;">
{|class="wikitable" style="width:180px;"
|+style="font-size:smaller;"|Sample output of a [[sitelen pona font|{{tp|sitelen pona}} font]] with ASCII transcription
|-
!Rich text
!Plain text
|-
|{{tok|1=<span class="sitelen-pona">m</span>}}
|{{tok|<code>m</code>}}
|-
|{{tok|1=<span class="sitelen-pona">mu</span>}}
|{{tok|<code>mu</code>}}
|-
|{{tok|1=<span class="sitelen-pona">mut</span>}}
|{{tok|<code>mut</code>}}
|-
|{{tok|1=<span class="sitelen-pona">mute</span>}}
|{{tok|<code>mute</code>}}
|}
</div>
Many [[font]]s for original Toki Pona writing systems include a feature called '''ASCII transcription''',<ref>{{cite web|url=//docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xwgTAxwgn4ZAc4DBnHte0cqta1aaxe112Wh1rv9w5Yk/preview|title={{tok|nimi Linku}}|author=|username=|date=|website=Google Sheets|publisher=|access-date=2024-01-17|quote=}}</ref> where a run of characters typed in {{tp|[[sitelen Lasina]]}} is visually substituted with a single glyph. This simulates the effects of an {{abbr|IME|input method editor}} without the need to install [[software]] beyond the font, but unlike these, it does not actually replace the underlying text. Other ASCII characters are commonly used for additional features in the writing system or font, such as the hyphen (-) being used for {{tp|sitelen pona}} [[combined glyph]]s.

[[File:Word default no ligatures.tiff|thumb|180px|''ASCII transcription'' works like automatic Latin ligatures, where multiple glyphs are visually substituted with one.]]
This feature uses {{w|OpenType}} {{w|Ligature (writing)|ligatures}}. It works in the same way that some Latin-script fonts convert the letters <code>ffi</code> into a ligature that <em>looks</em> like the single glyph <code>ﬃ</code>, but is actually still 3 underlying characters.

As a result, when ASCII transcription is used, the underlying characters are still ASCII-compatible instead of being converted to other codepoints. This may or may not be desired. You can confirm the difference by copying the {{w|rich text}} below, and pasting it into a {{w|plain text}} environment such as {{w|Windows Notepad}} or a search bar.

{|class="wikitable"
!
!Rich text
!Plain text
!Comparison
|-
!ASCII transcription
|{{tok|1=<span class="sitelen-pona">toki-pona</span>}}
|{{tok|<code>toki-pona</code>}}
|
*Falls back to legible {{tp|[[sitelen Lasina]]}}
*Writing system not specified
*Less standardization for font features
|-
![[UCSUR]] encoding
|{{tok|1=<span class="sitelen-pona">&#xF196C;&zwj;&#xF1954;</span>}}
|{{tok|<code>&#xF196C;&zwj;&#xF1954;</code>}}
|
*Falls back to illegible [[.notdef|small rectangles]] (colloquially "tofu")
*Writing system unofficially specified as {{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}}
*More standardization for font features
|}

Fonts with ASCII transcription may help with memorizing words, as the substitution will only occur when the word is spelled correctly, and in logographies (such as {{tp|sitelen pona}}) the resulting glyph often relates to the word's meaning.

==References==

<references />
{{SP nav}}
{{Software}}
{{Fonts|collapsed=yes}}
[[Category:Encodings]]