Bug 170347 - Santali (Ol Chiki) language is incorrectly listed under Western instead of Complex Text Layout languages
Summary: Santali (Ol Chiki) language is incorrectly listed under Western instead of Co...
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
26.8.0.0 alpha0+ master
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
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Blocks:
 
Reported: 2026-01-14 17:51 UTC by Prasanta Hembram
Modified: 2026-01-21 03:31 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

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Description Prasanta Hembram 2026-01-14 17:51:15 UTC
Description:
In LibreOffice, Santali (Ol Chiki) is incorrectly categorized under Western languages in the Default Languages for Documents settings. Since Santali (Ol Chiki) is a complex script, it should be listed under Complex Text Layout (CTL) languages.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open LibreOffice.
2. Go to Tools → Options → Languages and Locales → General → Default list of languages for documents
3. Check the Santali (Ol Chiki) in Default Languages for Documents section.

Observe the placement of Santali (Ol Chiki) in Western.

Actual Results:
Santali (Ol Chiki) appears under Western languages instead of Complex Text Layout.

Expected Results:
Santali (Ol Chiki) should be categorized and displayed under Complex Text Layout (CTL) languages.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: Yes

Additional Info:
Incorrect classification may affect font handling, shaping, and language detection for Santali (Ol Chiki).

Version: 25.8.4.2 (X86_64)
Build ID: 290daaa01b999472f0c7a3890eb6a550fd74c6df
CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 11 X86_64 (build 26100); UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: sat-Olck-IN (en_IN); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded
Comment 1 Julien Nabet 2026-01-14 23:31:38 UTC
patch waiting for review here:
https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/197304
Comment 2 Julien Nabet 2026-01-15 10:32:51 UTC
Quoting Karia's comment from Jenkins:
"The Ol Chiki script (Santali script) is generally not considered a CTL script. Because it functions as a simple alphabetic layout, similar to Latin, with no contextual shaping or reordering required by the script itself."

See https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/197304
Comment 3 Prasanta Hembram 2026-01-15 14:25:58 UTC
Sorry for not being clear earlier. The Santali language is written in two forms using the Ol Chiki script:

    Chhapa (Santali for 'print'): Used for publications.

    Usaraà (Santali for 'quick'): A cursive style mainly for handwriting, traditionally limited to pen and paper—though digital Usaraà typefaces now exist.

(Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol_Chiki_script#Print_and_cursive_styles ; Image of Chhapa and Usaraà: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol_Chiki_script#/media/File:Ol_chiki_cursive.png)

Unfortunately, the cursive Usaraà variants are not yet included in the Unicode Ol Chiki block. Key differences include the ahad diacritic, which in print style combines with ᱜ, ᱡ, ᱦ, ᱫ, and ᱵ. In cursive, these can form ligatures with ᱽ.

Unicode may add them in the future. Long-term, treating Ol Chiki as a CTL script would better support these behaviors.
Comment 4 Julien Nabet 2026-01-16 11:08:41 UTC
Just for the record, I abandoned the patch.
Comment 5 Shantanu 2026-01-21 03:30:54 UTC
I am not an expert, so I asked ChatGPT. I was told that Santali (Ol Chiki) should be placed under CTL / Complex Script / Indic Script categories, not under "simple" or "Latin-like" scripts.