Bug 148329 - Accept Hebrew Maqaf for '-' in search pattern
Summary: Accept Hebrew Maqaf for '-' in search pattern
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
Inherited From OOo
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Hebrew
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Reported: 2022-04-02 20:41 UTC by Eyal Rozenberg
Modified: 2024-03-09 09:21 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Description Eyal Rozenberg 2022-04-02 20:41:10 UTC
The Hebrew language uses a character named Maqaf - essentially a top hyphen - instead of the Latin languages' inter-word hyphen. It is not a dash (neither en nor em), and is not used as a minus sign. More about this character:

https://codepoints.net/U+05BE

Now, a Maqaf does not appear on the Hebrew keyboard; and in Hebrew files written on PCs rather the professionally typeset, it is more common than not to find hyphens used instead. When you open a document, you can't know for sure whether Maqaf's will be used, or hyphens/minus characters, or some of those and some of those.

For this reason, it would be useful if, when searching a document using patterns involving a minus sign or a Maqaf - each of those characters would match, i.e. a search for בר-כוח would also match בר־כוח (note the top hyphen!) and vice-versa.

This relaxed match should qualified so that the double-match would only be accepted for Maqafs/hyphens which come between two other Hebrew characters; or perhaps at the end or the beginning of a sequence of Hebrew characters (a bit more lax of a restriction).
Comment 1 Buovjaga 2024-03-06 15:22:30 UTC
Are there examples of this from other software? I noticed Firefox doesn't find it interchangeably. Not saying that it wouldn't be a good idea, just curious.
Comment 2 Shai Berger 2024-03-06 22:52:24 UTC
(For the record, Maqaf does appear in the standard Hebrew keyboard layout -- right-alt + minus-sign; it is true that is not commonly engraved on the keys)
Comment 3 Eyal Rozenberg 2024-03-09 09:21:28 UTC
(In reply to Buovjaga from comment #1)
> Are there examples of this from other software? I noticed Firefox doesn't
> find it interchangeably. Not saying that it wouldn't be a good idea, just
> curious.

Telegram Hebrew channel participants report that, in MS Office' Find, the regular - and the Hebrew hyphen don't match each other.

However - I still claim that, by default, they should. Or let's say, at least when the closest strongly-language-specific preceding and succeeding characters are Hebrew or Yiddish.