lumpy darkness

Sunday, January 18, 2009

HTML entity codes for the Greek alphabet

I started out using the full Greek word in web pages (like in the multiple star lists) but wondering, in the back of my mind, how to generate the symbols for web pages. It's actually pretty easy.

Some HTMhell hand-coders leave off the semicolon; this is incorrect. Also, some do not appreciate that these entity keywords are case-sensitive. Clearly relevant here.

α		α		α		ν		ν		ν
β		β		β		ξ		ξ		ξ
γ		γ		γ		ο		ο		ο
δ		δ		δ		π		π		π
ε		ε		ε		ρ		ρ		ρ
ζ		ζ		ζ		σ **		σ		σ
η		η		η		τ		τ		τ
θ *		θ		θ		υ		υ		υ
ι		ι		ι		φ		φ		φ
κ		κ		κ		χ		χ		χ
λ		λ		λ		ψ		ψ		ψ
μ		μ		μ		ω		ω		ω

* Lower case theta (θ) also appears as such or in some texts and atlases. In particular, Tirion uses it in the SkyAtlas charts. I've recently learned that this character (ϑ) can be produced with the code ϑ or ϑ.

** Also, lower case sigma (σ) also appears as such in some texts. But, if I understand correctly, this form is used when a word ends with sigma... I've recently learned that this character (ς) can be produced with the code ς or ς.

To complicate matters, I recently saw another variant of sigma which looks like a Latin letter c.

Α		Α		Α		Ν		Ν		Ν
Β		Β		Β		Ξ		Ξ		Ξ
Γ		Γ		Γ		Ο		Ο		Ο
Δ		Δ		Δ		Π		Π		Π
Ε		Ε		Ε		Ρ		Ρ		Ρ
Ζ		Ζ		Ζ		Σ		Σ		Σ
Η		Η		Η		Τ		Τ		Τ
Θ		Θ		Θ		Υ		Υ		Υ
Ι		Ι		Ι		Φ		Φ		Φ
Κ		Κ		Κ		Χ		Χ		Χ
Λ		Λ		Λ		Ψ		Ψ		Ψ
Μ		Μ		Μ		Ω		Ω		Ω

It is my understanding that these HTML entity codes only work in modern browsers; and explicitly not in Netscape 4.7. I apologise if they are not readable... I've tried, in the blog proper, to always show parenthetically the Greek character I'm referring to.

If you want to practice your Greek character recognition, see some of the helpful web sites in the miscellaneous category.

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