THE ANATOMY AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SINHALA TYPEFACES S. S. M. R. Samarawickrama (118044K) Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Architecture University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka October 2016 ii Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible - Francis of Assisi iii THE ANATOMY AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SINHALA TYPEFACES S. S. M. R. Samarawickrama (118044K) Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Architecture University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka October 2016 iv THE ANATOMY AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SINHALA TYPEFACES S. S. M. R. Samarawickrama (118044K) Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Architecture University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka October 2016 v DECLARATION I declare that this is my own work and this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a Degree or Diploma in any other University or institute of higher learning and to the best of my knowledge and belief it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where the acknowledgement is made in the text. Also, I hereby grant to University of Moratuwa the non-exclusive right to reproduce and distribute my thesis, in whole or in part in print, electronic or other medium. I retain the right to use this content in whole or part in future works (such as articles or books). S. S. M. R. Samarawickrama ……………………………………………….. ……………………………. Signature Date The above candidate has carried out research for the PhD thesis under our Supervision. ……………………………………………….. ……………………………. Supervisor: Prof. Samitha Manawadu Date ……………………………………………….. ……………………………. Supervisor: Prof. Ratnasiri Arangala Date ……………………………………………….. ……………………………. Supervisor: Prof. Girish Dalvi Date vi ABSTRACT Keywords: Type Anatomy, Typeface, Sinhala Typography, Letterform and Sinhala letter This thesis is an epistemological study, which presents various knowledge-building activities for Sinhala typography. Initially, it presents a historical analysis on Sinhala typefaces and the morphological characteristics of letters. These characteristics articulate the anatomy of Sinhala. The historical outline on the Sinhala letters and typefaces are discussed in relation to the introduction of the printing press and various technological developments. Using this a chronological timeline of Sinhala typefaces was developed. Followed by gaps in the current typographic knowledge, and its limitations are analyzed and discussed. The core contribution of this thesis is a comprehensive study on the anatomy of Sinhala based on distinct visual properties of each letter. We report how these visual properties are manifested in typefaces from 1737 CE to 2013 CE. These visual properties are also compared with existing typographic knowledge systems from scripts around the world. We suggests 59 (sub categorized into 19) visual properties distinct to the Sinhala letter. We believe that our research on the morphological characteristics (visual properties, referencing lines, grid and vocabulary) that defines the anatomy of Sinhala fill up the existing knowledge gap in Sinhala Typography. The thesis reveals that the existing typefaces were developed intuitively by designers or copied, adapted to overcome technological changes. It also speaks of an absence of formal knowledge on Sinhala typography, more specific to typefaces design. As a result, the number of typefaces designed today (considered as original typeface designs) is lesser than of what was found prior to the introduction of digital (Sinhala) typefaces used as body text. The thesis primarily contributes knowledge towards building a theoretical framework for Sinhala anatomy, it also contributes knowledge to type design process, typographic pedagogy, typographic history, and methodology that can be adopted by other scripts to define the anatomy and to analyze typefaces. vii Dedication to my husband, my inspiration, to Mikhail and Raphail viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would sincerely like to thank my supervisors, Prof. M. S. Manawadu, Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Prof. R. Arangala, Department of Sinhala and Mass Communication, University of Sri Jayawardanapura and Prof. G. Dalvi, Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay, for always encouraging me and directing me to thrive for excellence. Their challenging questions helped me to grow in both theoretical and practical knowledge. Their words of advice and mostly their guidance throughout the research led me to complete this research, with an immense amount of knowledge on the subject area and I am ever grateful. I thank Dr. Gamaini Weerasginhe the Head of the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, for many thoughtful discussions and advice rendered in completing the research. I am obligated to my internal examiner Prof. Gihan Dias, for his keen interest and guidance that helped me to complete this research. It was his helpful critiques that lead me to study the subject area in detail. I am grateful to the previous Directors of the Post Graduate Studies Division, Faculty of Architecture: Dr. Sepani Senaratne, Dr. Y. S. Sandanayake and the current director, Dr. Thanuja Ramachandra. I appreciate the support and motivation render by my research Coordinator Dr. Shalini Cooray, for being a friend, conducting my progress reviews and the transfer examination. To Prof. J. Uyangoda, Prof. R.M.W. Rajapaksa for their presence, comments and suggestions for improvement. A figure who was guiding me throughout my journey was Prof. Nimal de Silva, I thank you for being that continuous motivation in my life. ix A special thank you to the expert interview panel: Prof. Wimal G. Balagalle, Prof. J. B. Dissanayake, Prof. K.N.O Dharmadasa and the non-expert interview panel, I am grateful for their time and advice. I also express my gratitude to Dr. Hema Goonathilake who had been helping me with the initial editing of the chapters, who never hesitated to correct and advised on research writing methods. Also would like to thank Mr. Lucian Rajakarunanayake, for the final editing of this thesis. Among these helpful people, I like to thank the Director, the staff of the Research room of the Department of the National Archieves, Colombo, Mr. Gorden De Silva from the Sri Lanka Rupavahini cooperation, Ms. Chintha from the Chithra type Foundry, Mr. Pushpananda Ekanayake From Font Master Pvt Ltd., for their time and generous insight on the subject. I express my gratitude to Mr. Rafael Saraiva, Pathum Egodawatta, Post Graduates from the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, University of Reading for their insight on Sinhala typography. I am grateful to Ms. Nimashi Rajapaksha, and Ms. Sulakshana Mendis for helping me in compiling certain diagrams and to Ms. Kaveesha Koralege and Ms. Kalhari Senavratne who willingly assisted me to validate my findings. I reserve my special thanks to the Mr. Ruwan Attanayake and Mr. R.A.J. Kithsiri for all the technical help and for their generous assistance. I would like to say thank you to my parents specially my father who had been nudging me to complete this research, my mother and to my sisters for their support and for ever following up on the progress, which lead me to concluding the research and I finally want to say a big thank to Rohan for being the silent motivation and to my two sons who sacrificed their time with me. x LIST OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS Samarawickrama S., (2012) “Distinguished Characteristics of the First Printed Sinhala letters” FARU International Research Symposium, p. 15, 24th-25th February, Galle, Sri Lanka Samarawickrama S. (2014), “Development of a typeface from the handwritten Sinhala plakkatens of Sri Lank”a, Typography day 2014, p.34-35, 1st- 3rd March, Sybiosis Institute of Design, Pune, India. Samarawickrama S. (2014), “A Study on the First Sinhala Printed Letter, 7th Annual Research Conference on the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka”, p. 69, 27th-29th March, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Samarawickrama S., (2015), “Anatomy of the Sinhala letter”, Typoraphy day 2015, p. 3, 3rd-9th March, Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Samarawickrama S., Saraiva R., (2015), “Historic Overview; Meta-data of Metal Typefaces”, Typography 6th meeting, 6.º Encontro de Tipografia: Livro de Resumos. Aveiro: University of Aveior. p.22, 4th-5th December, Portugal. Samarawickrama S., (2015), “Anatomy of the Sinhala Letter: Distinguished features”, Face Forward International typographic conference 2015, Dublin Institute of Technology, p. 92, 11th -12th December, Dublin. Journal articles -Unpublished Samarawickrama S., (2015), Anatomy of the Sinhala letter, Journal of Engineering and Architecture, American Research Institute for Policy development, Samarawickrama S., (2015), Root letters for Sinhala, Sri Lanka Design Journal, Academy of Design, Colombo Samarawickrama S., (2015), Historic Overview; Meta-data of Metal Typefaces, Typography 6th meeting, University of Aveior. xi CONTENTS Abstract v Acknowledgement vii List of Research Publications ix Contents x List of Figures xvi List of Tables xxii List of Abbreviations xxiii Chapter One INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Scope of Study 5 1.2 Hypothesis 6 1.3 Aim of the study 6 1.4 Research Questions 7 1.5 Methodology 7 1.6 Organization of Chapters 9 1.7 Defining Key Terms within the Thesis 11 Chapter Two ORIGIN OF THE SINHALA LETTERFORM 13 2.1 Introduction to the Sinhala Script 13 2.1.1 Development of the Sinhala Alphabet 14 2.2 Inspection of the Sinhala letterform and written mediums 15 2.2.1 Lithic surfaces 17 2.2.2 Other surfaces 20 2.2.3 Palm leaf manuscript writing and Sinhala Numeration 23 2.2.4 The Overall Transformation of Sinhala Letterform 27 2.3 Sinhala; Phonetic Language and its Characters 29 2.3.1 Vowels and Consonants 29 2.3.2 Non-alphabetical consonant signs 34 2.3.3 Visual grouping on the parts of the Sinhala letter 37 xii 2.4 Vocabulary to define Sinhala letter parts 43 2.4.1 Selection of experts and objectives 43 2.4.2 Survey procedure 44 2.4.3 Grouping and the understanding of the vocabulary 48 2.5 Summary and Conclusion of Chapter 54 Chapter Three 55 DEVELOPMENT OF THE LETTERFORM TOWARDS TYPEFACES 3.1 Political Change and the Need for a Press 55 3.1.1 Initiation of the Printing Press 56 3.1.2 The first Sinhala Prints of the Press 58 3.2 Survey on the First Sinhala Typeface and Letter Structure 61 3.2.1 Background to the Survey 61 3.2.2 Survey Procedure 65 3.2.3 Analysis of the initial visual survey 68 3.2.4 Calligraphic style A and B verses Schade typeface 75 3.3 Historical outline on the Documentation of Sinhala Type 77 3.3.1 Sinhala Typefaces with the Growth of the Printing Press 78 3.3.2 Sinhala Type Within the Newspaper Industry and Technological Development 85 3.4 Summary and Conclusion of Chapter 101 Chapter Four THE ANATOMY: STUDY ON SINHALA LETTERFORM 104 4.1 Anatomy of Other Scripts 104 4.1.1 Reference lines 105 4.1.2 X-Height (base character height) 106 4.1.3 Terminology 107 4.2 Reference Lines and Circular Grid in Sinhala 110 4.2.1 Five Reference Lines 110 xiii 4.2.2 Six Reference Lines 111 4.2.3 Four Reference Lines 112 4.2.4 Circular Grid in Sinhala 113 4.3 Pilot Visual Analysis of the Sinhala Letterform 114 4.3.1 Summary of the Pilot Visual Analysis 116 4.4 Main Research Method 117 4.4.1 Reference lines for Sinhala 117 4.4.2 Grid for Sinhala Letters 118 4.4.3 Research Spiral Method 119 4.4.3.A Selection of Variables 121 4.4.3.B Action Research Spiral : ONE 122 4.4.3.C Action Research Spiral : TWO 125 4.4.3.D Composition of the Eye and the Base Stroke 127 4.5 Analysis of the Distinct Features 129 4.5.1 Composition of The Eye 129 4.5.2 Composition of the Base Stroke 133 4.5.3 Composition of the Acceding Stroke 135 4.5.4 Composition of the Descending Stroke 135 4.6 Other distinguished features 139 4.6.1 Knot 139 4.6.2 Hook/ Link 140 4.6.3 Nose/point 141 4.6.4 Hump 141 4.6.5 Stem 142 4.6.6 Spiral 143 4.6.7 Shoulder 144 4.6.8 Loop 144 4.7 Letter joinery and terminals 145 4.7.1 Eye joints 146 4.7.2 Curve to curve joint and right angular joint 146 4.7.3 Curve to stem joint 148 4.7.4 Curve angular stroke joint 148 xiv 4.7.5 Intersections 149 4.7.6 Terminals 150 4.8 Summary and conclusion of the chapter 152 Chapter Five THE ANATOMY: STUDY ON SINHALA TYPEFACES 154 5.1 Development of Nomenclature to Define Type 155 5.1.1 Survey Procedure on Terming Visual Properties 155 5.1.2 Suggested Terminology by Experts 161 5.1.3 Analysis on the Terminology 165 5.2 Chorological order of Sinhala Typefaces 168 5.2.1 The variables; Sinhala type specimens of Archival material 169 A. Variables of the Pre-Newspaper era 169 B. Variables of the Early Newspaper era 170 C. Variables of the Modern Newspaper era 171 5.2.2 Methodology 172 A. Methodology Used to Identify Samples of Pre-Newspaper Era 172 i. Typefaces of the Pre Newspaper Era 176 ii. Meta-data of the identified type specimens 179 B. Methodology Used to identify Samples of Early-Newspaper Era 182 i. Typefaces of the Early-Newspaper Era 194 ii. Meta-data of the identified type specimens 195 C. Methodology Used to identify Samples of Modern-Newspaper Era199 i. Typefaces of the Modern Newspaper era 199 ii. Meta-data of the identified type specimens 202 5.3 Visual Analysis of Anatomical features of Sinhala typefaces 204 5.3.1 The Tool 205 5.3.2 Flesh and the Grey Value 205 5.3.3 Contrast and Axis 206 5.3.4 Terminals 208 5.3.5 The Hand 209 5.3.6 Counters 210 xv 5.3.7 Eye Joint 213 5.3.8 Curve to Curve Joint 214 5.3.9 Curve to Arm Joint 215 5.3.10 Crescent Shaped Joint 216 5.3.11 Point/ Horn Joint 217 5.3.12 Distinct visual property : Hump 217 5.3.13 Distinct visual property : Point/Horn 219 5.3.14 Distinct visual property : Shoulder 221 5.3.15 Distinct visual property : Loop 223 5.3.16 Distinct visual property : Spiral 224 5.4 Summary and conclusion of the chapter 227 Chapter Six 228 THE ANATOMY OF SINHALA : CONTRIBUTION TO TYPE DESIGN 6.1 Introduction to Root Letters 228 6.2 Methodology : Generating the Root Letters for Sinhala 230 6.2.1 Composite Properties Versus Stroke Primitives 230 6.2.2 The Experiment 232 6.2.3 The Unique Letters Among the Sinhala Script 234 6.2.4 The Number of Properties in Each Root Letter 234 6.3 Analysis and the Results of the Experiment 236 6.3.1 RL Set 01: Minimum letters with maximum properties 237 6.3.2 RL Set 02 : Letters within the proposed grid 237 6.4 Competency of Both Methods to Identify the Sinhala Root Letters 246 6.4.1 Maximum number of Letters each Set Generate 246 6.4.2 Results of the Competency Test 247 6.5 Summary and conclusion of the chapter 249 Chapter Seven CONCLUSION 251 7.1 Objective 251 7.2 Defining the Problem 252 xvi 7.3 Identification of the Anatomical features 255 7.4 Testing of the Theory 257 7.5 Summary of the major findings 258 7.6 Contribution of new knowledge through the research 260 7.7 Limitations of the Study 261 7.8 Possibilities for future work 261 List of References 266 Bibliography 272 Annexure 2.1 276 Annexure 2.2 277 Annexure 2.3 278 Annexure 3.1 280 Annexure 3.2 281 Annexure 3.3 282 Annexure 4.1 284 Annexure 4.2 286 Annexure 4.3 287 Annexure 4.4 290 Annexure 4.5 291 Annexure 4.6 293 Annexure 4.7 295 Annexure 5.1 298 Annexure 5.2 299 Annexure 5.3 301 Annexure 5.4 302 Annexure 5.5 306 Annexure 5.6 311 Annexure 5.7 318 xvii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Distinct nature of the Letterform 2 Figure 1.2 : The nucleus of the of the Letterform a 2 Figure 2.1 Writings on Cave, Pillar and Slab Inscription 18 Figure 2.2 Sinhala letterforms and its development on surfaces 19 Figure 2. 3: Graphical development of the Sinhala letter: eg: letter ka 28 Figure 2. 4: Vowel Diagram 30 Figure 2. 5: Formation of half-nasals; saññaka 33 Figure 2.6: Visual composition of non-alphabetical consonant signs 35 Figure 2. 7: Placement of yanshaya, repaya and rakaranshaya 36 Figure 2. 8: Visual formation of selected vowel signs (VS) of 8th-10th century 45 Figure 2. 9: The application of the ū vowel, on the consonant la(<) 47 Figure 2.10: Voice and visual expression in terminology in short and long vowels 49 Figure 2.11: Visual expression in terminology 50 Figure 2.12: Visual development of the hal sign 51 Figure 2.13 : Visual expression in terminology: hal sign 51 Figure 2.14: Virama sign – pause mark and lengthening mark 52 Figure 3.1 : Time Towards the Establishment of the Press 60 Figure 3.2 : Style A : Sample of plakaat number (pl.no.05) 63 Figure 3.3 : Style A : Sample of plakaat number (pl.no.11) 63 Figure 3.4 : Style A : Sample of plakaat number (pl.no.12) 64 Figure 3.5 : Style B : Sample of plakaat number (pl.no.42) 64 Figure 3.6 : Style B : Sample of plakaat number (pl.no.48) 65 Figure 3.7 : Ten divisional category of stroke starts and ends of Dissanayake67 Figure 3.8 : Selected Letters for Sampling 67 Figure 3.9 : Section of the Visual chart of plakkaat no.42 68 Figure 3.10 : Disordered letterform in contrast to the current practice 69 Figure 3.11 : Types of Inkblots 71 Figure 3.12 : Pl. no. 05 : Inkblots identified in letter a(w) 72 xviii Figure 3.13 : Pl. no. 42 Smooth flow of ink to identify the letter a(w) 73 Figure 3.14 : Visual feature x in pl. no. 11, Style A : the influence of the speed of writing 73 Figure 3.15 : Visual feature x in pl. no. 42, Style B : the influence of the speed of writing 74 Figure 3.16 : minute visual variations of the letter a(w) 75 Figure 3.17 : Influence of Handwritten Letters with the First Typeface 76 Figure 3.18 : Sample page of the Serampore Bible 82 Figure 3.19 : Storing of Sinhala Characters in Cases 87 Figure 3.20 : Government Press : Storing of Sinhala Characters in Cases 88 Figure 3.21: Sample of N.J. Cooray Type Foundry’ Catalog 90 Figure 3.22 : Stencils of Chithra used for the Shadowgraph machine 91 Figure 3.23 : Sample of Chithra Type Founders’ Catalog 92 Figure 3.24 : Samples of Wood Block Newspaper Titles 93 Figure 3.25 : Samples of Wood Block Newspaper Headlines 93 Figure 3.26 : Sample of Monotype specimen 557 94 Figure 3.27 : Monotype Keyboard Layout 95 Figure 3.28 : Sample of Linotype Keyboard Layout 96 Figure 3.29 : Proposed Simplified Monophoto Keyboard 97 Figure 3.30 : Digital fonts as illustrated by Wickrama 99 Figure 4.1: Reference lines of Devanagari, Bengali, Arabic 106 Figure 4.2: Base character proportions of Latin and Devanagari 107 Figure 4.3: Selected terminology in Latin Script, Bengali script, Tamil 109 Figure 4.4: The five guidelines of the NIE publication 110 Figure 4.5: The six reference lines by Wickrama 111 Figure 4.6: Sample of the four reference lines in current primers 112 Figure 4.7: The four reference lines illustrated by Wickrama 113 Figure 4.8: Circular grid, proposed by Kanter’s : Hastha Lekanaya 114 Figure 4.9: Terming of the five guidelines for typographic purpose 118 Figure 4.10 : Circular grid in relation to the base shape 119 Figure 4.11: Designed methodology: Research spiral 121 Figure 4.12 : visual observation of each letter, line by line 123 xix Figure 4.13 : Observing the visual form in relation to a circle 123 Figure 4.14: Different variations of the ascending stroke 126 Figure 4.15: Repetition of features on the variable cha- eye and knot 126 Figure 4.16: Initial grid: Ascender and Descender Stroke in relation to the Base Stroke 128 Figure 4.17: Visual Similarities in selected scripts 130 Figure 4.18: Distinguished feature eye : Visual representation of its divisions and subdivisions 132 Figure 4.19: Distinguished feature base stroke : Visual representation of its divisions and subdivision 134 Figure 4.20: Distinguished feature ascender stroke : Visual representation of its divisions and subdivisions 137 Figure 4.21: Distinguished feature descender stroke : Visual representation of its divisions and subdivisions 138 Figure 4.22: Distinct Visual Property: Knot 140 Figure 4.23: Distinct Visual Property: Hook/ Link 141 Figure 4.24: Distinct Visual Property: Nose/ Point 141 Figure 4.25 : Distinct Visual Property: Hump 142 Figure 4.26 : Distinct Visual Property: Stem 143 Figure 4.27: Distinct Visual Property: Spiral 143 Figure 4.28: Distinct Visual Property: Shoulder 144 Figure 4.29: Distinct Visual Property: Loop 145 Figure 4.30: Distinct Visual Property: Eye Joints 146 Figure 4.31: Distinct Visual Property: Curve to curve joint 147 Figure 4.32: Distinct Visual Property: Right angular joint 147 Figure 4.33: Distinct Visual Property: Curve to stem joint 148 Figure 4.34: Distinct Visual Property: Curve angular stroke joint 149 Figure 4.35: Distinct Visual Property: Intersections 149 Figure 4.36: Distinct Visual Property: Terminals 150 Figure 5.1 Eye: Terminology by Experts 158 Figure 5.2 Base Character: Terminology by Experts 159 Figure 5.3 Terminology by Experts: Ascender, Descender, Knot, Hook, Hump 159 xx Figure 5.4 Terminology by Experts: Stem, Spiral , Loop, Shoulder 160 Figure 5.5 Terminology by Experts: Eye Joint, Curve to Curve Joint 161 Figure 5.6 : Section of a newspaper samples– type specimens 171 Figure 5.7 : Type specimen – sample stimulus cards 173 Figure 5.8 : Identifying the height of type specimens 174 Figure 5.9 : Pa-height as the measurement 175 Figure 5.10 : Ascender and descender lines verses the top and the bottom most lines 175 Figure 5.11 : Significant visual variations of certain letters 176 Figure 5.12 : The selected four samples from the pre-newspaper era 178 Figure 5.13: stimulus card of the type specimen Pre 01 179 Figure 5.14: Stimulus card of the type specimen Pre 02 180 Figure 5.15 : Stimulus card of the type specimen Pre 03 181 Figure 5.16 : Stimulus card of the type specimen Pre 04 182 Figure 5.17: Sample letter of Mono typeface-N.J Cooray , Chithra and Monotype 577 186 Figure 5.18: Monotype 577 Series 186 Figure 5.19: Group 09 in comparison with type specimen 08 and 04 188 Figure 5.20 : group 06 in comparison with group 12 (mono 577) 190 Figure 5.21 : Significant visual variations of certain letters – early newspaper era 192 Figure 5.22 : Ascender and descender lines verses the top and the bottom most lines 193 Figure 5.23 : The selected six samples from the early-newspaper era 195 Figure 5.24: Stimulus card of the type specimen (E.) 05 196 Figure 5.25: Stimulus card of the type specimen (E.) 06 196 Figure 5.26: Stimulus card of the type specimen (E.) 07 197 Figure 5.27: Stimulus card of the type specimen (E.) 08 197 Figure 5.28: Stimulus card of the type specimen (E.) 09 198 Figure 5.29: Stimulus card of the type specimen (E.) 10 198 Figure 5.30: Grouping of the 70 type specimens of the Modern News Paper era 200 xxi Figure 5.31: Stimulus card of the type specimen (M.) 11 202 Figure 5.32: Stimulus card of the type specimen (M.) 12 202 Figure 5.33: Stimulus card of the type specimen (M.) 13 203 Figure 5.34: Stimulus card of the type specimen (M.) 14 203 Figure 5.35: Stimulus card of the type specimen (M.) 15 203 Figure 5.36 : The Tool 205 Figure 5.37 : Flesh and the Grey Value 206 Figure 5.38: Contrast and Axis 207 Figure 5.39 : Contrast and Axis of the Base, Ascender and Descender Characters 207 Figure 5.40 : Types of End Terminals 208 Figure 5.41: Use of Hand Found in Sinhala Typefaces 210 Figure 5.42 : Counter - Base 211 Figure 5.43 : Counter – Ascender 211 Figure 5.44 : Counter - Descender 211 Figure 5.45 : Counter – Opened eye, Closed Eye, Horned Eye, Navel Eye 212 Figure 5.46 : Counter – Trunk Eye 212 Figure 5.47 : Visual Variation of the Eye Joints 213 Figure 5.48 : Representation of each Category and the Visual Variation 214 Figure 5.49 : Visual Variation of the Curve to Curve Joint 215 Figure 5.50 : Representation of each Category – Curve to Curve Joint 215 Figure 5.51 : Location of the Curve to Arm Joint 216 Figure 5.52 : Crescent shaped joint 217 Figure 5.53 : Visual Variation of the Point/Horn Joint 217 Figure 5.54 : Visual Variations – Hump 218 Figure 5.55 : Contrast and Axis – Hump 218 Figure 5.56 : Visual Variations – Point and Horn 220 Figure 5.57 : Contrast and Axis - Point and Horn 220 Figure 5.58 : Visual Variations – Shoulder style 01 221 Figure 5.59 : Contrast and Axis - Shoulder style 01 221 Figure 5.60 : Visual Variations – Shoulder style 02 222 Figure 5.61 : Contrast and Axis - Shoulder style 02 222 xxii Figure 5.62 : Visual Variations – Loop 223 Figure 5.63 : Contrast and Axis – Loop 224 Figure 5.64 : Visual Variations – Spiral 225 Figure 5.65 : Contrast and Axis – Spiral 225 Figure 6.1: The composition of other letters derived from one single letter derivation 229 Figure 6.2: The derivation of stroke primitives based on the grid and letter structure 232 Figure 6.3 : Section of the Score sheet minimal letters with maximum properties 233 Figure 6.4 Sample card of root letter kna: its visual properties and common letters 235 Figure 6.5 Letter deriving out of root letter kna 236 Figure 6.6: Root letter 01- pa (m) 238 Figure 6.7 : Root letter 02- ga (.) 239 Figure 6.8 : Root letter 03- ka (l) 240 Figure 6.9 : Root letter 04- ma(u) 241 Figure 6.10 : Root letter 05- the eye of the nda(~) 242 Figure 6.11: Root letter 06- ba(n) 242 Figure 6.12 : Root letter 07- ta (G) 243 Figure 6.13: Root letter 08- ra(r) 244 Figure 6.14: Root letter 09- u(W) 245 Figure 6.15: Root letter 10- da(o) 245 Figure 7.1: Manipulation of the proposed grid to create a new typeface 261 Figure 7.2 : Sample of the designed typeface 263 Figure 7.3 : Sample of the analysis of Sinhala calligraphic forms of three temples 264 xxiii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Use of surfaces in Sinhala writings, with selected examples 16 Table 2.2 : Media, surface, tools of writing 23 Table 2.3 : Use of punctuation marks in palm leaf manuscripts 27 Table 2 .4: List of vowels; independent and dependent (vowel signs) 30 Table 2. 5: Consonant grouping 32 Table 2. 6: Visual grouping on the parts of the Sinhala letter 37 Table 2. 7 : Visual cluster of vowels, vowel signs and consonants 39 Table 2. 8: Visual grouping of non-alphabetical consonant signs 42 Table 2. 9: List of combined consonants by all three experts 46 Table 3.1 Lot 01, Reference no. 2440, the plakkaaten distribution 62 Table 3.2 : List of the establishment of Missionary Presses 80 Table 4.1 : visual similarities on the structural formation of Sinhala letter 115 Table 4.2: The circular nature of the Sinhala letters as: ascender, descender and base characters 116 Table 4.3: Listing of the Variables 122 Table 5.1 : Proposed terms by Experts and Non-experts 164 Table 5.2 Similar terminology in existent in other typographic practices 167 Table 5.3 : type specimen stimulus cards and the publication dates 178 Table 5.4 Graph of the number of Newspapers in print from 1860-1977 183 Table 5.5: List of meta-data of the typefaces of catalogues and type specimens 184 Table 5.6: Grouping of the 36 type specimens into 12 groups 189 Table 5.7: Selection of six type specimens from the 12 type specimens 191 Table 5.8: Commonly used typefaces in current (top selling) printed newspapers 201 Table 6.1 : Unique among the rest of the Sinhala letters 34 Table 6.2 : Root letter 01 and 02 evaluation 248 Table 7.1 : Contributing elements of the anatomy of type specified to script253 Table 7.2 List of surveys conducted to define the problem 255 xxiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AS - Ascending stroke BS - Base Stroke CABS - Colombo Auxiliary Bible Society CC - Combined or Conjunct Consonants CTTA - Kotte DF - Distinct feature DNA - Department of National Archives DS -Descending stroke DVP - Distinct visual Properties GP - Government Press MNLSI - Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration NAS - Non-alphabetical signs NEC - National Education Commission OSS - Other special signs RL - Root letter VP - Visual Properties VS - Vowel signs WMP - Wesleyan Mission Press