A report on the origin of the mysterious symbol '⍼' contained in Unicode is now available

Unicode , a large-scale character set, has been formulated with the aim of recording all characters from around the world, and many unique emojis such as 'dissolving face' and 'pregnant person' are also registered. Jonathan Chang , who is studying software at the University of British Columbia , summarizes the unidentified symbol '⍼' registered in Unicode.

U + 237C ⍼ RIGHT ANGLE WITH DOWNWARDS ZIGZAG ARROW · Jonathan Chan
https://ionathan.ch/2022/04/09/angzarr.html

'⍼' is a symbol included in fonts for mathematical symbols. For example, if you expand the '⍼' included in the mathematical formula / chemical formula font 'Cambria Math', it looks like this. It is a shape that you will never see in everyday life, which is a combination of a right angle like a key bracket and a lightning-shaped arrow. There is a theory that this symbol is 'a symbol that indicates that the Y axis continues below the X axis in plane coordinates', but its true use has not been clarified.

According to Mr. Chan, '⍼' first appeared in the character set that the STIX fonts business proposed (PDF file) in March 2000. In this proposal, '⍼' is described as 'RIGHT ANGLE WITH DOWNWARDS ZIGZAG ARROW'.

Furthermore, as a result of Mr. Chan's investigation of the source of '⍼', '⍼' is included in the data released in 1993 by the non-profit organization 'Association for Font Information Interchange (AFII)' which was dissolved at the time of writing the article. It turned out that it was. However, with AFII, anyone could register characters and symbols by paying the current value of $ 8.6 to $ 86 (about 1080 yen to 10,800 yen), so it was not possible to clarify the meaning of '⍼'.

A few days after publishing the above findings, Mr. Chan told Barbara Beaton, who was involved in the STIX fonts business, 'I don't know what'⍼'is a symbol, so'an easy-to-understand name' (right angle). I attached a downward zigzag arrow). ' 'If we couldn't find a source when the STIX fonts business and AFII were closely linked, I don't think we can discover anything new 30 years later,' said Chan. To conclude the investigation report.