Since there are a number of fluent Spanish speakers on this board, I'm not going to embarass myself trying to create a list (unless no one else chimes in). But I am pretty sure that Spanish has a dearth of double-letter combinations. My classmates constantly make the mistake of using double-s's, double-f's, double-m's, double-p's, etc., which do not exist in Spanish as far as I know. Only rr and ll occur naturally. Maybe there are some loan words from English or other languages that do have other double letters, but I don't know of them.

So I guess the question is, should this list contain examples of all three types for every language or just for the languages in which they naturally occur? Maybe this is a bit picky when this project is just getting off the ground, but it's what I thought of first.

Double letters? That's Italian! I'll start a list in Italian and another in Portuguese if that's ok but I'll probably need help finishing it (Alessandro, Manlio for Italian?), it's a busy period but the project is intriguing and too tempting. Ok, let me concentrate...

Regarding double letters an their non existance in some languages: In a case where a a given letter is not doubled then a word where the letter appears in the middle is a good substitute I think.

Looking at Just van Rossum, & Peter Biľak's Letter frequency Meter ( http://just.letterror.com/ltrwiki/LetterFrequencyMeter ) I also thought about trying to get a deliberate mixture of straight sided & round sized for each letter , and both sides of each, to make the list stronger still. But maybe the best place for that is in the brute force testing model which I am also working on. So I am leaning that way for now because I think brevity is part of what makes this tool appealing. Do you agree?

The thing about this project is that it isn't really a substitute for an organzed brute force approach to testing where you can look at any & all combinations of glyphs & it is not a substitute for setting a longer text either. It's not even a substitute for pangrams really. But before you test a font with a longer text I think a quick check using a test like this might reveal a problems that would take longer to find using any of the other methods. Mostly though I think this tool is a way of seeing how another language feels in your type design so you can see if your kerning is going well for that language, to see if the ascennders and decenders are working nicely, and to see how your CE glyphs with diacritics feel.

Alejandro, would you be willing to do the Spanish one or part of it?

Lorenza, Thank you! That sounds great!

Aleksander, Would you do the Polish?

OK, Polish version as follows: [edit: reformatted]

Aa:
abażur, Abażur, ABAŻUR
mrówka, Mrówka, MRÓWKA
zaangażować, Zaangażować, ZAANGAŻOWAĆ

Ąą:
-
wchrzanią, Wchrzanią, WCHRZANIĄ
-

Bb:
brzdąc, Brzdąc, BRZDĄC
dziób, Dziób, DZIÓB
hobbistka, Hobbistka, HOBBISTKA

Cc:
czułość, Czułość, CZUŁOŚĆ
makowiec, Makowiec, MAKOWIEC
giżycczanka, Giżycczanka, GIŻYCCZANKA

Ćć:
ćwierćinteligent, Ćwierćinteligent, ĆWIERĆINTELIGENT
żółć, Żółć, ŻÓŁĆ
-

Dd:
dentystka, Dentystka, DENTYSTKA
bezład, Bezład, BEZŁAD
oddłużenie, Oddłużenie, ODDŁUŻENIE

Ee:
edukacja, Edukacja, EDUKACJA
budzenie, Budzenie, BUDZENIE
teleelektronika, Teleelektronika, TELEELEKTRONIKA

Ęę:
-
szczenię, Szczenię, SZCZENIĘ
-

Ff:
figlarz, Figlarz, FIGLARZ
cyrograf, Cyrograf, CYROGRAF
offsetowy, Offsetowy, OFFSETOWY

Gg:
gardziel, Gardziel, GARDZIEL
pług, Pług, PŁUG
jogging, Jogging, JOGGING

Hh:
hulajnoga, Hulajnoga, HULAJNOGA
łasuch, Łasuch, ŁASUCH
-

Ii:
igiełka, Igiełka, IGIEŁKA
cążki, Cążki, CĄŻKI
-

Jj:
jałowcówka, Jałowcówka, JAŁOWCÓWKA
łój, Łój, ŁÓJ
trójjęzyczność, Trójjęzyczność, TRÓJJĘZYCZNOŚĆ

Kk:
kartusz, Kartusz, KARTUSZ
cycek, Cycek, CYCEK
lekkoatletka, Lekkoatletka, LEKKOATLETKA

Ll:
liryczny, Liryczny, LIRYCZNY
bajzel, Bajzel, BAJZEL
flotylla, Flotylla, FLOTYLLA

Łł:
łyko, Łyko, ŁYKO
bęcwał, Bęcwał, BĘCWAŁ
mułła, Mułła, MUŁŁA

Mm:
maczuga, Maczuga, MACZUGA
łam, Łam, ŁAM
mammologia, Mammologia, MAMMOLOGIA

Nn:
natarcie, Natarcie, NATARCIE
żargon, Żargon, ŻARGON
chłonność, Chłonność, CHŁONNOŚĆ

Oo:
okólnik, Okólnik, OKÓLNIK
mydło, Mydło, MYDŁO
poobdzierany, Poobdzierany, POOBDZIERANY

Óó:
ósemka, Ósemka, Ósemka
-
-

Pp:
pępek, Pępek, PĘPEK
słup, Słup, SŁUP
hippika, Hippika, HIPPIKA

Rr: różany, Różany, RÓŻANY
transformator, Transformator, TRANSFORMATOR
irracjonalny, Irracjonalny, IRRACJONALNY

Ss:
sękacz, Sękacz, SĘKACZ
wąs, Wąs, WĄS
transseksualistka, Transseksualistka, TRANSSEKSUALISTKA

Tt:
tarmosił, Tarmosił, TARMOSIŁ
tętent, Tętent, TĘTENT
pięćsettysięcznik, Pięćsettysięcznik, PIĘĆSETTYSIĘCZNIK

Uu:
urżnąć, Urżnąć, URŻNĄĆ
łubudu, Łubudu, ŁUBUDU
indywiduum, Indywiduum, INDYWIDUUM

Vv:
varia, Varia, VARIA
-
-

Ww:
wizażysta, Wizażysta, WIZAŻYSTA
odpływ, Odpływ, ODPŁYW
wwóz, Wwóz, WWÓZ

Xx:
xenia, Xenia, XENIA (*)
-
-

Yy:
yeti, Yeti, YETI
chorąży, Chorąży, CHORĄŻY
-

Zz:
zadymka, Zadymka, ZADYMKA
wiąz, Wiąz, WIĄZ
rozzłoszczenie, Rozzłoszczenie, ROZZŁOSZCZENIE

Źź:
źdźbło, Źdźbło, ŹDŹBŁO
niedźwiedź, Niedźwiedź, NIEDŹWIEDŹ
-

Żż:
żałość, Żałość, ŻAŁOŚĆ
łupież, Łupież, ŁUPIEŻ
-

(*) Foreign Words Dictionary, sometimes used in written language

That was fun!

Note that in Polish commonly appearing pairs of consonants like "ch", "cz", "dz", "dź", "dż", "rz", "sz" are pronounced as one sound so they could be considered as special ligatures.

_______
AL
lenart.pl

ITALIAN (some have been left blank because there isn't any word like that or beccause I can't find it)

A
acqua, Acqua, ACQUA
alterigia, Alterigia, ALTERIGIA
aiuole Aiuole AIUOLE

B
bigotto, Bigotto, BIGOTTO
febbriccitante, Febbriccitante, FEBBRICITANTE
-

C
Capzioso, Capzioso, CAPZIOSO
peccatore, Peccatore, PECCATORE
-

D
deviazione, Deviazione, DEVIAZIONE
addio, Addio, ADDIO
-

E
esile, Esile, ESILE
assemblee, Assemblee, ASSEMBLEE
notte, Notte, NOTTE

F
fischiettare, Fischiettare, FISCHIETTARE
afflato, Afflato, AFFLATO
-

G
gemelli, Gemelli, GEMELLI
leggendario, Leggendario, LEGGENDARIO
-

H
-
-
-

I
inequivocabilmente Inequivocabilmente INEQUIVOCABILMENTE
-
lunedì, Lunedì, LUNEDÌ

L
lunatico, Lunatico, LUNATICO
scellerato, Scellerato, SCELLERATO
-

M
malanimo, Malanimo, MALANIMO
immagine, Immagine. IMMAGINE
-

N
nequizia, nequizia, NEQUIZIA
condanna, Condanna, CONDANNA
-

O
obliquo, Obliquo, OBLIQUO
scricchiolio, Scricchiolio, SCRICCHIOLIO
oggetto, Oggetto, OGGETTO

P
panegirico, Panegirico, PANEGIRICO
dappertutto, Dappertutto, DAPPERTUTTO
-

Q
quanto, Quanto, QUANTO
-
-

R
robusto, Robusto, ROBUSTO
arroganza, Arroganza, ARROGANZA
-

S
scherno, Scherno, SCHERNO
assassino, Assassino, ASSASSINO
-

T
tizio, Tizio, TIZIO
legittima, Legittima, LEGITTIMA
-

U
Unità, Unità, UNITÀ
-
-

V
vorace, Vorace, VORACE
sopravvivere, Sopravvivere, SOPRAVVIVERE
-

Z
zattera, Zattera, ZATTERA
singhiozzi, Singhiozzi, SINGHIOZZI
-

French

Aa: avenir Avenir AVENIR aubergine Aubergine AUBERGINE ma Ma MA

Bb: botte Botte BOTTE brusque Brusque BRUSQUE

Cc: carnet Carnet CARNET accent Accent ACCENT blanc Blanc BLANC

Dd: dommage Dommage DOMMAGE marchand Marchand MARCHAND

Ee: exemple Exemple EXEMPLE féerique Féerique FÉERIQUE mange Mange MANGE

Ff: faible Faible FAIBLE effort Effort EFFORT souffrant Souffrant SOUFFRANT bref Bref BREF

Gg: guise Guise GUISE rang Rang RANG

Hh: hiver Hiver HIVER

Ii: ignoble Ignoble IGNOBLE triions Triions TRIIONS ami Ami AMI

Jj: jamais Jamais JAMAIS

Kk: kilogramme Kilogramme KILOGRAMME kayak Kayak KAYAK

Ll: lutin Lutin LUTIN meilleur Meilleur MEILLEUR pareil Pareil PAREIL

Mm: manger Manger MANGER inconsciemment Inconsciemment INCONSCIEMMENT

Nn: noyer Noyer NOYER ennuyant Ennuyant ENNUYANT non Non NON

Oo: ouvert Ouvert OUVERT zoophobie Zoophobie ZOOPHOBIE

Pp: population Population POPULATION application Application APPLICATION

Qq: question Question QUESTION

Rr: rigoleux Rigoleux RIGOLEUX barrage Barrage BARRAGE rougir Rougir ROUGIR

Ss: soyeux Soyeux SOYEUX ressentir Ressentir RESSENTIR masques Masques MASQUES

Tt: tuyau Tuyau TUYAU attention Attention ATTENTION chant Chant CHANT

Uu: usure Usure USURE

Vv: visuel Visuel VISUEL

Ww: wagon Wagon WAGON

Xx: xylophone Xylophone XYLOPHONE paix Paix PAIX

Yy: yeux Yeux YEUX

Zz: zeste Zeste ZESTE pizza Pizza PIZZA

It's difficult to get a real sense of the words without including accented words.

Is Pizza a french word? I think not. I must side with Lore. ;^)

Turkish
(good for you, Eben? I need another day to type the rest :^) )

arkadașlariyla, çocuğun, milliyetçilerinden, Öğretmen, konușuyorsun

Okay, time for the Spanish. The only letters that can be doubled are vowels, n, l, c, and r. It's technically possible to have a double s in voseo regions or in Spain where the os reflexive could be used in conjunction with the indirect le morphed into an indirect se due to a final third-person direct object, but besides the fact that A- it's pretty unlikely (I can only ever think of quite off the wall statements to line all of them up), I'm quite sure the RAE's position is that it's reduced to a single s. In old Spanish, however, it was quite common though, used in the same areas where for instance Modern Portuguese would use ss. Ll was prior to ’94 sorted as a separate letter, but I'm including it (as well as ch) as I suppose for people making specifically Spanish-use fonts it could open up some interesting design considerations (the font used by Cátedra kerns the c and h when together a bit closer than normal. Also, note that the accents are not required on capital vowels (Ñ always has accent), but especially in modern times they are almost always included.

A:
[ animal, Animal, ANIMAL
- manzana, Manzana, MANZANA
2 portaaviones, Portaaviones, PORTAAVIONES
] pantera, Pantera, PANTERA

Á:
[ águila, Águila, ÁGUILA
- matemáticas, Matemáticas, MATEMÁTICAS
] nadará, Nadará, NADARÁ

B:
[ bebida, Bebida, BEBIDA
- caballo, Caballo, CABALLO
*] club, Club, CLUB

C:
[ claro, Claro, CLARO
- acontecimiento, Acontecimiento, ACONTECIMIENTO
2 inspección, Inspección, INSPECCIÓN
*] coñac, Coñac, COÑAC

Ch:
[ charlar, Charlar, CHARLAR
- mancha, Mancha, MANCHA
*] sándwich, Sándwich, SÁNDWICH

D:
[ demonio, Demonio, DEMONIO
- nadar, Nadar, NADAR
] ciudad, Ciudad, CIUDAD

E:
[ escuchar, Escuchar, ESCUCHAR
- competir, Competir, COMPETIR
2 creer, Creer, CREER
] independiente, Independiente, INDEPENDIENTE

É:
[ éramos, Éramos, ÉRAMOS
- atlético, Atlético, ATLÉTICO
] haré, Haré, HARÉ

F:
[ fonólogo, Fonólogo, FONÓLOGO
- africción, Africción, AFRICCIÓN
*] golf, Golf, GOLF

G:
[ gasolina, Gasolina, GASOLINA
- paragüeño, Paragüeño, PARAGÜEÑO
*] gong, Gong, GONG

H:
[ hielo, Hielo, HIELO
- deshacer, Deshacer, DESHACER
] oh, Oh, OH / ah, Ah, AH

I:
[ intelectual, Intelectual, INTELECTUAL
- miniatura, Miniatura, MINIATURA
2 [none]
] metrópoli, Metrópoli, METRÓPOLI

Í:
[ íntegra, Íntegra, ÍNTEGRA
- mínimo, Mínimo, MÍNIMO
] albaní, Albaní, ALBANÍ

J:
[ jarra, Jarra, JARRA
- sanguijuela, Sanguijuela, SANGUIJUELA
] reloj, Reloj, RELOJ

K:
*[ kilómetro, Kilómetro, KILÓMETRO
*- afrikáner, Afrikáner, AFRIKÁNER
*]yak, Yak, YAK

L:
[ lanza, Lanza, LANZA
- aliviar, Aliviar, ALIVIAR
] vocacional, Vocacional, VOCACIONAL

Ll:
[ llamar, Llamar, LLAMAR
- semilla, Semilla, SEMILLA
] [none]

M:
[ manera, Manera, MANERA
- inmigración, Inmigración, INMIGRACIÓN
*] quórum, Quorum, QUÓRUM

N:
[ natación, Natación, NATACIÓN
- anaranjado, Anaranjado, ANARANJADO
] sensación, Sensación, SENSACIÓN

Ñ:
*[ ñandú, Ñandú, ÑANDÚ
- señor, Señor, SEÑORA
] [none]

O:
[ oposición, Oposición, OPOSICIÓN
- colombiano, Colombiano, COLOMBIANO
2 microonda, Microonda, MICROONDA
] estado, Estado, ESTADO

P:
[ perfecto, Perfecto, PERFECTO
- septiembre, Septiembre, SEPTIEMBRE
*] clip, Clip, CLIP

Q:
[ quehacer, Quehacer, QUEHACER
- psiquiátrico, Psiquiátrico, PSIQUIÁTRICO
] [none]

R:
[ rellenar, Rellenar, RELLENAR
- armas, Armas, ARMAS
2 correr, Correr, CORRER
] teclear, Teclear, TECLEAR

S:
[ soportar, Soportar, SOPORTAR
- asimismo, Asimismo, ASIMISMO
] naciones, Naciones, NACIONES

T:
[ trabajo, Trabajo, TRABAJO
- atento, Atento, ATENTO
*] chalet, Chalet, CHALET

U:
[ unanimidad, Unanimidad, UNANIMIDAD
- denuncia, Denuncia, DENUNCIA
*2 duunviro
*] espíritu, Espíritu, ESPÍRITU

Ú:
[ último
- antepenúltimo, Antepenúltimo, ANTEPENÚLTIMO
] champú, Champú, CHAMPÚ

Ü:
[ [none]
- vergüenza, Vergüenza, VERGÜENZA
] [none]

V:
[ versos, Versos, VERSOS
- polvo, Polvo, POLVO
] [none]

W:
*[ watt, Watt, WATT
*- sóftware, Sóftware, SÓFTWARE
] [none]

X:
[ xilófago, Xilófago, XILÓFAGO
- exemplar, Exemplar, EXEMPLAR
] fénix, Fénix, FÉNIX

Y:
[ yegua, Yegua, YEGUA
- desayunar, Desayunar, DESAYUNAR
] virrey, Virrey, VIRREY

Z:
[ zapatos, Zapatos, ZAPATOS
- mozárabe, Mozárabe, MOZÁRABE
] rapidéz, Rapidéz, RAPIDÉZ

* These formations are extremely rare and found either exclusively in loan words or with a total occurrence of about 1-5 native words.

I hope that helps.

«El futuro es una línea tan fina que apenas nos damos cuenta de pintarla nosotros mismos.» (La Luz Oscura, por Javier Guerrero)

Well, I originally meant it to use greater-than and less-than signs, but apparently the forum backend was eating ’em, interpretting them as HTML mark-ups. I decided to go with open-bracket for a prime letter, and close bracket for a terminal letter. Hyphen is for a medial letter, and 2 for a double letter. Hence

[ prime
- medial
2 double
] terminal

I could probably have come up with something snazzier but I was lazy :)

«El futuro es una línea tan fina que apenas nos damos cuenta de pintarla nosotros mismos.» (La Luz Oscura, por Javier Guerrero)

Pizza is in my Larousse.

And, I am from Quebec where French is often largely English. (OK, that could be a really contentious subject. Let's not get into it...)

I'll rephrase: It has been my experience that much of the French spoken here is English. I once worked at a gas station. A man came in and with great agitation asked if I spoke French, to which I replied "oui". He proceeded to ask, and I quote, "tu-peux-tu me caller un tow-truck, mon motor a stallé." I'm sure even those of you who speak no French could figure out what he meant. Call a tow truck. My motor stalled. Pizza is the least of the anglicizing that occurs. Also, in France, "parking" and "shopping" are more common than the French terms.

Eben : Holler if you want French words with accents.

K.

One more in Italian:

afflato Afflato AFFLATO: it could be useful for the ffl ligature

r.

Amusing and useful stuff in here, today a girl told me I was looking "dapper" in my suit/jean combo, I didn't know that word, I looked up later, so here is my Italian contribution for today :

dappertutto, Dappertutto, DAPPERTUTTO (everywhere ; on all sides ; all over the place).

Ok, ok. :^D I understand that the word "pizza" is used in other languages. :^D My perception of this thread is to find stereotypically Portuguese, French, Italian, etc. words. That's all.

Dapper! You must be kidding. Dappertutto has been added. We still need to fill those blanks though. Be patient, Eben. We're getting there :)

Here's ä couple of Swedish ones for you all; enjoy.

A
andra Andra ANDRA
luciaafton Luciaafton LUCIAAFTON

B
bål Bål BÅL
aladåb Aladåb ALADÅB
krabba Krabba KRABBA

C
citron Citron CITRON
cognac Cognac COGNAC
acceptera Acceptera ACCEPTERA

D
död Död DÖD
rädda Rädda RÄDDA

E
eller Eller ELLER
inte Inte INTE
skeende Skeende SKEENDE

F
för För FÖR
räffla Räffla RÄFFLA
biograf Biograf BIOGRAF

G
glid Glid GLID
flög Flög FLÖG
rygga Rygga RYGGA

H
hjul Hjul HJUL
affisch Affisch AFFISCH
hihhulit Hihhulit HIHHULIT

I
ingen Ingen INGEN
galleri Galleri GALLERI

J
jogga Jogga JOGGA
hoj Hoj HOJ
nojja nojja

K
kök Kök KÖK
bankkonto Bankkonto BANKKONTO

L
lagom Lagom LAGOM
hål Hål HÅL
rulla Rulla RULLA

M
måttlig Måttlig MÅTTLIG
om Om OM
hemma Hemma HEMMA

N
nål Nål NÅL
fin Fin FIN
ränna Ränna RÄNNA

O
orsak Orsak ORSAK
ro Ro RO
kooperativ Kooperativ KOOPERATIV
oomstridlig Oomstridlig OOMSTRIDLIG

P
prål Prål PRÅL
läpp Läpp LÄPP
hälla Hälla HÄLLA

Q
quisling Quisling QUISLING

R
röta Röta RÖTA
år År ÅR
knorr Knorr KNORR

S
sliten Sliten SLITEN
flås Flås FLÅS
kassa Kassa KASSA

T
tokig Tokig TOKIG
söt Söt SÖT
rätta Rätta RÄTTA

U
Uv Uv UV
fru Fru FRU
bastuugn Bastuugn BASTUUGN

V
väta Väta VÄTA
håv Håv HÅV
avväga Avväga AVVÄGA

X
xylofon Xylofon XYLOFON
kex Kex KEX
yxa Yxa YXA

Y
yngre Yngre YNGRE
dy Dy DY

Z
zon Zon ZON
jazz Jazz JAZZ

Å
åsamka Åsamka ÅSAMKA
grå Grå GRÅ
råå Råå RÅÅ

Ä
älska Älska ÄLSKA
fä Fä FÄ

Ö
öl Öl ÖL
kö Kö KÖ
insjööring Insjööring INSJÖÖRING

I'm guessing hihhulit must be a loanword from Finnish, one of the few that went in that direction. It doesn't look like a native Swedish word.

I do know kassa means "cashbox" or "cashier's", which we were always confusing with kasse ("bag") all the time in Swedish class when we were talking about shopping situations.

I am so happy....

Brian & Peter Thank You!

Looking forward to the Dutch!

Matthew, thanks for the explanation!

Eben : Holler if you want French words with accents.

Pretty please, with sugar on top!

What does edelman mean?

It’s the last name of a finnish singer/actor. It doesn’t mean anything in Finnish, so I guess it’s of dutch origin then.

Eben -- I will add accented words to my original list unless you want a separate list?

K.

Kristina, I am happy to stick with your list of words except that I was thinking it might be ideal to have for instance a seprate a & aacute. Do you see what I mean? It means doubling up on the a ( or trippling?) depending on how many accents are used in french. Actually you can find ( I think...) an authoritative list here:

http://www.eki.ee/letter/

Looking there just now I see that we do need 3 'a' entries for french. We need an acircumflex too!

The eki resource can be used to check your list or test somebody else's. Libraries that have dictionaries, translating dictionaries, are good for searching for words. And then there are online sources too. If we end up missing a langauge I will use those sources to fill in that langauge.

Goran, yes I do intend to collect the examples and if needed correct or add to them because I or anybody else may have left something out or made some sort of error.

When there are a good number of them and they are reasonbaly finnished and share formatting I will try to find a place to keep them. Maybe Typophile will do that - they could live in the wiki maybe - or maybe I will see if the diacritics project will do it or maybe eki will. Certainly I will email the complete text to anybody who asks. And I may be able to serve it from a web site of my own. The main consideration as far as I am concerned is that we maintain this effort as a shared resource freely distributed and kept safe from being hijacked or copyrighted by somebody so it becomes unsharable. I also expect that people may want to make derivative works and even keep those to themselves. I don't have a problem with that as long as they don't impinge on our right to share our own versions with each other.

I have edited my basque list, because I misplaced JEEP in double J, instead of being in final P. It is corrected now.

I have completed the most part of the list myself, and searched for difficult or loan words in an online basque/spanish dictionary, plus another webpage searching basque texts from the 20th century.

The eki resource gives also Ç and Ü as characters needed to write basque. However, it seems to be an error there:

c, q, v, w, y only occur in foreign words and are not considered part of the alphabet.

As they are needed to write foreign words, they are considered part of the basque alphapet (noted by the Academy of Basque Language).

Ü is never used in standard basque (it has been historically used to represent a sound from a specific dialect, non existent in the so-called "unified basque"). Ç is considered as a variant of C, and following the online dictionary it only appears in the loan word "curaçao".

I truly like the idea of maintaining this list as a freely distributed shared resource.

Talking about 'kassa'. Thats also the Dutch word for cashier's.

Yep, cassa in Italian means box or cashier or casket if you stretch it a bit...
That basque list is awesome but chantilly, yoga, bungalow, jazz, puzzle, leitmotiv, mousse, hippy, jeep. I don't know...: )