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Short URL: http://scripts.sil.org/DaiBannaSIL
Dai Banna SIL Fonts
Contents of this page:
Introduction
System Requirements
License
SIL OPEN FONT LICENSE
Download and Installation
Previous Versions
Support
Introduction
The Dai Banna SIL Fonts are the Unicode version of their predecessor, SIL Dai Banna Fonts. Apart from a few additional characters such as Chinese punctuation marks, the design is the same and represents a new rendering of the New Tai Lue (Xishuangbanna Dai) script, which was first added to 
Unicode 4.1 and subsequently amended.1 These fonts include a complete set of New Tai Lue consonants, vowels, tones and digits, along with punctuation and other useful symbols. A basic set of Latin glyphs, including Arabic numerals, is also provided. Chinese punctuation used in New Tai Lue texts are included as well. Two font families, differing only in weight, allow for a wide range of uses.
The New Tai Lue script is used by approximately 300,000 people who speak the Xishuangbanna Dai language in Yunnan, China. It is a simplification of the Tai Tham (Old Tai Lue) script as used for this language for hundreds of years.
We particularly thank the staff of Xishuangbanna Daily for their assistance in developing this font package. Xishuangbanna Daily, established since 1957, is the largest newspaper company in Yunnan, China that publishes in the New Tai Lue script.
System Requirements
The Dai Banna SIL fonts are designed to work on operating systems that provide support for TrueType fonts and for Unicode character encoding. This includes Microsoft Windows® 9x or greater, as well as recent versions of the Mac OS (version 9.0 and later), and also some implementations of Unix / Linux. (TrueType font support on Unix and Linux may depend upon the particular applications in use.)
The system requirements describe the minimum needed to display characters. For the fonts to work properly in applications, additional requirements must be met. This release of the fonts is designed to work with Graphite, a smart font technology that enables the visual re-ordering of four vowels to the left of the base consonant:
| USV | Glyph | Unicode Name |
| U+19B5 |  |
NEW TAI LUE VOWEL SIGN E |
| U+19B6 |  |
NEW TAI LUE VOWEL SIGN AE |
| U+19B7 |  |
NEW TAI LUE VOWEL SIGN O |
| U+19BA |  |
NEW TAI LUE VOWEL SIGN AY |
Visual re-ordering is required to display them properly in relation to the base consonant because, according to the Unicode Standard, the New Tai Lue script is encoded after a logical ordering, i.e., consonants are always stored before vowels. Without visual re-ordering, the above four vowels will be displayed after the base consonant, which is incorrect according to standard usage of the script.
To correctly render a run of text containing these characters, you must be using applications that provide an adequate level of support for Graphite. There are currently few applications which make use of the Graphite capabilities of the fonts. These include all applications in the SIL FieldWorks Suite (such as Data Notebook and WorldPad). A Graphite integration into OpenOffice 2.3 is forthcoming. More information on Graphite technology and related applications is available at Graphite.
Besides Graphite, the fonts contain support for another advanced font technology, OpenType. However, OpenType rendering also requires the use of a New Tai Lue shaper that carries re-ordering information and currently we know of no system that provides one. Nonetheless, these fonts are suitable for testing OpenType New Tai Lue shaping engines should one come out in the future.
License
Dai Banna SIL is released under the SIL Open Font License (OFL) - please read it carefully and do not download the font unless you agree to the terms of the license.
License details:
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Copyright (c) 1998-2008 SIL International ( http://www.sil.org/), with Reserved Font Name "SIL".
This license is copied below, and is also available with a FAQ at http://scripts.sil.org/OFL.
SIL OPEN FONT LICENSE
Version 1.1 - 26 February 2007
PREAMBLE
The goals of the Open Font License (OFL) are to stimulate worldwide development of collaborative font projects, to support the font creation efforts of academic and linguistic communities, and to provide a free and open framework in which fonts may be shared and improved in partnership with others.
The OFL allows the licensed fonts to be used, studied, modified and redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves. The fonts, including any derivative works, can be bundled, embedded, redistributed and/or sold with any software provided that any reserved names are not used by derivative works. The fonts and derivatives, however, cannot be released under any other type of license. The requirement for fonts to remain under this license does not apply to any document created using the fonts or their derivatives.
DEFINITIONS
"Font Software" refers to the set of files released by the Copyright Holder(s) under this license and clearly marked as such. This may include source files, build scripts and documentation.
"Reserved Font Name" refers to any names specified as such after the copyright statement(s).
"Original Version" refers to the collection of Font Software components as distributed by the Copyright Holder(s).
"Modified Version" refers to any derivative made by adding to, deleting, or substituting — in part or in whole — any of the components of the Original Version, by changing formats or by porting the Font Software to a new environment.
"Author" refers to any designer, engineer, programmer, technical writer or other person who contributed to the Font Software.
PERMISSION & CONDITIONS
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of the Font Software, to use, study, copy, merge, embed, modify, redistribute, and sell modified and unmodified copies of the Font Software, subject to the following conditions:
1) Neither the Font Software nor any of its individual components, in Original or Modified Versions, may be sold by itself.
2) Original or Modified Versions of the Font Software may be bundled, redistributed and/or sold with any software, provided that each copy contains the above copyright notice and this license. These can be included either as stand-alone text files, human-readable headers or in the appropriate machine-readable metadata fields within text or binary files as long as those fields can be easily viewed by the user.
3) No Modified Version of the Font Software may use the Reserved Font Name(s) unless explicit written permission is granted by the corresponding Copyright Holder. This restriction only applies to the primary font name as presented to the users.
4) The name(s) of the Copyright Holder(s) or the Author(s) of the Font Software shall not be used to promote, endorse or advertise any Modified Version, except to acknowledge the contribution(s) of the Copyright Holder(s) and the Author(s) or with their explicit written permission.
5) The Font Software, modified or unmodified, in part or in whole, must be distributed entirely under this license, and must not be distributed under any other license. The requirement for fonts to remain under this license does not apply to any document created using the Font Software.
TERMINATION
This license becomes null and void if any of the above conditions are not met.
DISCLAIMER
THE FONT SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT, PATENT, TRADEMARK, OR OTHER RIGHT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE FONT SOFTWARE OR FROM OTHER DEALINGS IN THE FONT SOFTWARE.
Download and Installation
If you agree to the terms of use (described above), you may download the font package from one of the following links:
Dai Banna SIL 2.1 (official release) (Version 2.001)
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The font release contains a set of eight font files and documentation. (NB: No keyboard is available yet.) You will need a decompression utility to expand the .zip archive. The font files can then be installed using standard font installation procedures for the given operating-system platform. See Decompression Utilities, Downloading & Installation Tips for more information. Note that certain applications may not see the new font immediately. You may have to quit and restart the application for the font to become available. |
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This package contains the same files as DaiBanna-2.1.zip. This self-extractor is only for Windows users. After downloading the package, you can double-click on it to unzip the files into a temporary folder. The font files can then be installed using standard font installation procedures for Windows. See Decompression Utilities, Downloading & Installation Tips for more information. Note that certain applications may not see the new font immediately. You may have to quit and restart the application for the font to become available. |
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The source and font release includes the same files as DaiBanna-2.1.zip plus the FontLab and Graphite source files. If you are uncertain what to do with a .zip file, see Decompression Utilities, Downloading & Installation Tips. |
This official release includes the following changes which reflect amendments made to ISO 10646:2003 in April 2008:
- Added: U+19DA
NEW TAI LUE THAM DIGIT ONE (new code point added in PDAM6.2)
- Glyph change: U+19D1 NEW TAI LUE DIGIT ONE: →
(glyph change in FPDAM5).
- Deleted: U+E380 NEW TAI LUE DIGIT ALTERNATE ONE (PUA)
Previous Versions
Dai Banna SIL 2.0 (public beta)
This version supports Unicode 5.0.
 | Dai Banna SIL 2.0 beta font release (ZIP archive, MD5 hash: 8ef485439cd846df100fcfb1ca95a4db) Adrian Cheuk, 2007-12-10 Download "DaiBanna-2.0_beta.zip", ZIP archive, 508KB [1130 downloads] |
 | Dai Banna SIL 2.0 beta font release (Windows self-extractor, MD5 hash: 44ee450086d266c4a634337fb5e20310) Adrian Cheuk, 2007-12-10 Download "DaiBanna-2.0_beta.exe", Windows application, 404KB [471 downloads] |
 | Dai Banna SIL 2.0 beta font release (Debian package) Adrian Cheuk, 2008-02-19 Download "ttf-sil-dai-banna_2.000-1_all.deb", Debian Linux Package, 559KB [382 downloads] |
| Dai Banna SIL 2.0 beta source and font release (ZIP archive, MD5 hash: 186e9dd89ffafd971364fe90281f918e) Adrian Cheuk, 2007-12-10 Download "DaiBanna-src-2.0_beta.zip", ZIP archive, 1MB [413 downloads] |
This beta release includes the following changes:
- Code points updated to Unicode 5.0.
- Released under SIL Open Font License (OFL).
- New features:
- Support for re-ordrant vowels (affects: U+19B5, U+19B6, U+19B7, U+19BA).
- Line-breaking rules (affects: all characters).
- Added:
- Geometric Shapes: U+25CC
DOTTED CIRCLE
- CJK Symbols and Punctuation:
- U+3000
IDEOGRAPHIC SPACE
- U+3001
IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA
- U+3002
IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP
- U+3008
LEFT ANGLE BRACKET
- U+3009
RIGHT ANGLE BRACKET
- U+300A
LEFT DOUBLE ANGLE BRACKET
- U+300B
RIGHT DOUBLE ANGLE BRACKET
- U+3000
- PUA: U+E380 NEW TAI LUE DIGIT ALTERNATE ONE
- Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms:
- U+FF01
FULLWIDTH EXCLAMATION MARK
- U+FF08
FULLWIDTH LEFT PARENTHESIS
- U+FF09
FULLWIDTH RIGHT PARENTHESIS
- U+FF0C
FULLWIDTH COMMA
- U+FF0E
FULLWIDTH FULL STOP
- U+FF1A
FULLWIDTH COLON
- U+FF1B
FULLWIDTH SEMICOLON
- U+FF1F
FULLWIDTH QUESTION MARK
- U+FF01
- Geometric Shapes: U+25CC
Support
As these fonts and utilities are distributed at no cost, we are unable to provide a commercial level of personal technical support. We will, however, try to resolve problems that are reported to us.
We do hope that you will report problems so they can be addressed in future releases. Even if you are not having any specific problems, but have an idea on how this system could be improved, we want to hear your ideas and suggestions.
Please note that these fonts are intended for use by experienced computer users. Installing and using these fonts is not a trivial matter. The most effective technical support is usually provided by an experienced computer user who can personally sit down with you at your computer to troubleshoot the problem.
General troubleshooting information, including frequently asked questions, can be found in the documentation. Additional information is also available on the general Font FAQ page. If that fails to answer your question you can contact us at:
User Support
SIL International
Non-Roman Script Initiative
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd.
Dallas, TX 75236
USA
Email: 
SIL_fonts@sil.org
| 1 | In April 2008 the glyph of U+19D1 was changed and a new code point U+19DA added by way of two amendments to ISO 10646. These revisions are already reflected in the current release of Dai Banna SIL (version 2.1). |
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Provided by SIL's Non-Roman Script Initiative. Contact us at nrsi@sil.org.