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archlinuxtruetype

Why Merriweather Sans duplicate l in flying point?

When I type "Col·laborador" I get exactly this with other letter types: enter image description here

but with Merryweather Sans, I get "Coll·laborador": enter image description here

I use ttf-merriweather-sans 1.006-3 in ArchLinux

Solution

  • The problem lies in that font's OpenType definition.

    Its author included a locl OpenType feature for the language code CAT (Catalan) that was supposed to replace the combination /l' /cdot' /l with /ldot. The ' characters after the first two names indicate what characters are to be replaced by the new one (http://www.adobe.com/devnet/opentype/afdko/topic_feature_file_syntax.html#5.e). However, the author made a mistake there:

    replace /periodcentered after /l before /l with /ldot

    and so it replaces just the dot character with ŀ. That means that you get this

    InDesign, original text, "Catalan" set as language

    with an OpenType-aware program such as Adobe InDesign (and only with the applied language set to "Catalan"). Note the double l, as in your own findings.

    The output from another program confirms this; characters that do not take part of a replacement are in gray, replaced characters are in black.

    partial output OpenType feature list

    Both /ls are in gray, only the center dot is black. A correct definition should have shown the left hand l and L in black as well.

    The font you link to is version 1.006; an older Merriweather Sans that I found (1.003) does not contain this particular OpenType feature and so does not display this error.

    To fix it, adjust the OpenType code and regenerate it from its source, or contact its author. Contact details are on the Google Fonts page for this font. (I have left a message in there, referring to this question.)