Toward Disambiguating the Term "Roman"

Abstract

The term "roman," when it is used for describing characters of written languages, can be confusing because it is overloaded with four different meanings. This paper distinguishes among these four meanings and suggests alternative terms for each of them. For a character derived from the alphabet originally used for the Latin language, it suggests the term "Roman/Latin." For a character that is not sloped, it suggests the term "upright." For a character having one of a certain group of basic shapes, it suggests the term "Roman-shaped." For a character having the details of shape that are based on certain Roman monumental inscriptions, it suggests the term " trajanicized." These alternative terms are offered in the hope that they can be used, when necessary, to help us avoid confusion when we are discussing the characters of written language.