[idn] Voluntary transliteration labels

[werner@axone.ch (Werner Staub)]

James,

Transliteration can be based on a voluntary concept as soon as we have a
standard allowing it to be displayed if need be.

One such method could involve the addition of a transliterated label in front
of the i-d-n domain label. The transliterated label would have suffix showing
that is merely represents a transliteration. Depending on user configuration,
i-d-n-aware browsers would hide the transliteration they are able to display 
the native string.

Example: The TLD zone file contains "bq--ACEstring.net" [where "ACEstring" is
the ACE the native 'ZhuangZhenHong' string. Instead of "www." you would add, say,
"JamesSeng--tl." as a 3rd-level label in front of it on your own name server. 
The suffix "--tl" would be the i-d-n marker for transliteration labels. Your 
web server and email would then run under "JamesSeng--tl.bq--ACEstring.net" 
- by your own choice. You would, of course, have been free to use 
"Pinkdragon--tl", even if it has nothing to do with the ACE string, or any
other 3rd level label.

Non-i-d-n-aware clients would show "JamesSeng--tl.bq--ACEstring.net"; those
who can would display 'ZhuanZhenHong.net' in simplified Chinese 
script. They might have "JamesSeng" shown in ASCII as a screen tip on 
mouse-over.

The choice of the transliteration rule itself would be up to the user, and
the transliteration would require any space in the 63 characters available
for the i-d-n domain label. 

The only thing needed in the i-d-n standard would be a declaration that a
certain suffix (e.g. "--tl") is used to represent that this label is
the transliteration of the one appearing to its right.

Regards,

Werner


James Seng/Personal wrote:
> 
> My name has 6-7 different transliteration, e.g.
> 
> 1. I am more commonly known to my mandarin friends as "Zhuang Zhen Hong"
>    (using China Hanyu Pinyin). Taiwanese have different transliteration
>    which I am not familiar.
> 
> 2. My mother call me "Zhon Zhin Hong".
> 
> 3. Officially I am 'Seng Ching Hong' on my travel document and no one I
>    know has been able to transliterate to this given my chinese ideograph.
> 
> So, I would prefer people to call me James Seng if they cant speak Chinese, to
> avoid confusion. :-)
> 
> -James Seng
> 
> >   I do think that there are some interesting ideas here that might be
> > quite applicable to the 'DNSng' stuff that John Klensin's paper is
> > pointing towards.  Issues of transliteration are going to be important as
> > the scope and localization of the Internet increases.  For example, your
> > (James) name as presented in the 'task force' report yesterday was in a
> > script I cannot read, yet is in (I assume) your preferred
> > representation.  Given that I am not likely to learn Chinese very soon, my
> > 'user agent' should probably help me out by providing a reasonable
> > transliteration of your name.  In the context of the Directory DNS, I
> > might want to be able to find a resource via a transliteration of its
> > name.  The VIDN work might provide a pointer to what works and doesn't
> > work here.