Font? Character Set? Huh?
Terminology (these definitions apply to your computing environment):
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A font can be defined as "A design for a set of characters." A font is the combination of typeface and other qualities, such as size, pitch, and spacing. For example, Times Roman is a typeface that defines the shape of each character. Within Times Roman, however, there are many fonts to choose from -- different sizes, italic, bold, and so on. The term font is usually used (incorrectly) as a synonym for typeface. (reference)
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A character set can be defined as "The entire complement of alphanumeric and other symbols contained in a given font." (reference).
Another way to look at it is that the font you choose determines what specific characters look like, for example "y" versus "y" (can you see the difference? Look closely at how the letters are formed), but the character set you choose determines what characters are available to you. While most character sets have the letters and numbers we are used to, some include those funny IPA characters we want to make, and some do not -- and some character sets only include a subset of the whole IPA character set, so you'll want to be careful about what character set you use!
Choosing a Character Set:
This is how you do it on your computer:
(more info needed here)
Here are some common character sets, along with their limitations:
LATIN
(needs to be completed)
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