Symbol (typeface): Difference between revisions

Symbol is one of the four standard fonts available on most PostScript-based printers. It contains a complete unaccented Greek alphabet (upper and lower case) and a selection of commonly used mathematical symbols as well. Insofar as it fits into any standard classification, it is a serif font designed in the style of Times Roman.

Due to lack of diacritical characters, a non-standard character set, and inappropriate type design for continuous text, Symbol cannot easily be used to type the Greek language, though it has been used for such in the absence of proper Greek fonts. Its primary purpose is to typeset mathematical expressions. Also, the Symbol font is occasionally used -- to the amusement of those who recognize Greek characters -- as a source of wiggly dingbats.

Encoding

It is not encoded using any standard character encoding, and the Greek letters are not in alphabetical order. Instead, it uses impressionistic equivalents of Latin characters:

Symbol
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
00	unused
10
20		!	∀	#	∃	%	&	∍	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/
30	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?
40	≅	Α	Β	Χ	Δ	Ε	Φ	Γ	Η	Ι	ϑ	Κ	Λ	Μ	Ν	Ο
50	Π	Θ	Ρ	Σ	Τ	Υ	ς	Ω	Ξ	Ψ	Ζ	[	∴	]	⊥	_
60		α	β	χ	δ	ε	φ	γ	η	ι	ϕ	κ	λ	μ	ν	ο
70	π	θ	ρ	σ	τ	υ	ϖ	ω	ξ	ψ	ζ	{	|	}	~
80	unused
90
A0	€	ϒ	ʹ	≤	⁄	∞	ƒ	♣	♦	♥	♠	↔	←	↑	→	↓
B0	°	±	ʺ	≥	×	∝	∂	•	÷	≠	≡	≈	…	⏐		↵
C0	ℵ	ℑ	ℜ	℘	⊗	⊕	∅	∩	∪	⊃	⊇	⊄	⊂	⊆	∈	∉
D0	∠	∇	®	©	™	∏	√	⋅	¬	∧	∨	⇔	⇐	⇑	⇒	⇓
E0	◊	〈	®	©	™	∑	⎛	⎜	⎝	⎡	⎢	⎣	⎧	⎨	⎩	⎪
F0		〉	∫	⌠	⎮	⌡	⎞	⎟	⎠	⎤	⎥	⎦	⎫	⎬	⎭

Similarities with characters of the Latin alphabet

The font holds certain visiual similiraties with the characters of the Latin alphabet, and characters of alphabets which derive from this one, such as the English alphabet. This is due to the fact that the Latin characters derive from greek characters, which conform the font, making them similar in shape, or even exactly the same in shape, in the case of some mayuscule characters, but in certain cases. Below are several examples of these similarities.

b→b Similar, some additional features in Symbol

t→t Very similar, just some slight difference in shape of the curves

u→u Very similar, just some slight difference in shape of the curves

The similarity of the typeface consisting of the Greek Alphabet with the Latin alphabet marks quite a difference from other symbol typefaces, such as Webdings, which consists of unrelated symbols with no trace to Latin symbols.

Below is a comparism of a text in Times New Roman and the same in Symbol and in Webdings typefaces.

Times New Roman	Symbol	Webdings
To be or not to be, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end	To be or not to be, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end	To be or not to be, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end