Indic Matra Category
Indic Matra Category is a character classification that groups dependent vowel signs, known as matras, in Indic scripts based on their visual placement relative to a base consonant. It distinguishes forms like top, bottom, left, right, and combined positions, which are crucial for correct rendering and reordering in complex text shaping. This categorization helps determine how a matra attaches to a consonant, whether it shifts position during syllable formation, and how it interacts with other marks such as viramas or nuktas. By standardizing these positional variants, the category supports consistent font design, text processing, and typographic behavior across scripts like Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, and Thai, which share similar structural logic even when their glyph shapes differ.
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- Right
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- 0
Right is the value indicating a vowel sign that follows a consonant, specifically placed to the right side of the consonant.
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- Left
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- 0
Left is the value indicating a vowel sign placed to the left of the consonant, like in some Bengali and Oriya scripts.
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- Visual_Order_Left
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- 0
Visual Order Left is the Indic matra category for vowel signs that visually appear to the left of the consonant they modify.
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- Left_And_Right
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- 0
Left And Right is the Indic matra category for vowel signs that attach to both sides of a consonant, extending left and right.
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- Top
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- 0
Top is the default Indic Matra Category value for characters that do not form a vowel sign or inherent vowel marker.
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- Bottom
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- 0
Bottom is the value indicating a vowel sign placed below the consonant, as in Devanagari and Bengali script display.
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- Top_And_Bottom
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- 0
Top And Bottom is a value indicating a vowel sign positioned both above and below the base consonant.
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- Top_And_Right
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- 0
Top And Right is a value indicating that an Indic vowel sign attaches to the top and right of the base consonant.
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- Top_And_Left
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- 0
Top And Left is a positional marker indicating a diacritic sits above and to the left of the base consonant.
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- Top_And_Left_And_Right
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- 0
Top And Left And Right is a positioning value indicating a dependent vowel sign placed above, left, and right of a base consonant.
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- Bottom_And_Right
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- 0
Bottom And Right is a value indicating that an Indic vowel sign appears only at the bottom and right of its base consonant.
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- Top_And_Bottom_And_Right
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- 0
Top And Bottom And Right is the Indic matra category for vowel signs placed above, below, and to the right of the base consonant.
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- Overstruck
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- 0
Overstruck is a value indicating a dependent vowel sign that is placed over the consonant, combining with it in a single glyph.
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- Invisible
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- 0
Invisible is the grammatical role of vowel signs in Indic scripts, shaping syllable structure and rendering without ever being seen as standalone characters.
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- NA
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- 0
NA is a placeholder indicating that a character does not belong to any specific Indic matra category, such as vowel signs or dependent marks.