Index talk:The Poems of Sappho (1924).djvu

Metrical symbols

@EncycloPetey: is there a reason we are using embedded images for the metrical scansion symbols ⏑ and –, instead of text characters? —Beleg Tâl (talk) 20:48, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes. The text symbols are the wrong size relative to the regular text, and are the wrong size relative to each other. Each symbol should represent a syllable, and the text symbols are entirely wrong for that. They also have different relative heights and different visual weight. If you look at the Wikipedia articles on scansion, dactyls, and related topics, even there they don't use these symbols because they don't work the way they ought to. --EncycloPetey (talk) 23:03, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Would it not therefore be better to use normal methods to modify size and weight, i. e. ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ? —Beleg Tâl (talk) 17:44, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

What you've done there hasn't solved the problems I mentioned. It isn't just the weight and size relative to other text that is at issue. The two symbols are not relatively correct to each other. The short foot is still lower than the long foot symbol you've chosen, and the short foot symbol is significantly narrower then the long foot. In order for them to work properly, the two symbols need to have the same width as each other and to have the same vertical placement as each other. Right now, the short-foot symbols are narrower and lower in the line. These two symbols don't have that because they were not designed as scansion symbols. Additionally, using larger text for the symbols as you've done will vertically enlarge the line on which it appears, so the lines of poetry in a quotation will not all display with the same height. Lines with scansion symbols will have more vertical space allotted to them, which will cause undesirable vertical spacing issues within a passage of poetry. --EncycloPetey (talk) 18:05, 27 February 2020 (UTC)