Charis SIL is an OpenType-enabled font family that supports the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. It includes a number of optional features that may be useful or required for particular uses or languages. This document lists all the available features.

These OpenType features are primarily specified using four-letter tags (e.g. ‘cv17’), although some applications may provide a direct way to control certain common features such as small caps. For more information on how to access OpenType features in specific environments and applications, see Using Font Features.

Please note that Graphite support has been removed in the current release, but continues to be available in the version 5 fonts. See our Previous Versions archive.

This page uses web fonts (WOFF2) to demonstrate font features and should display correctly in all modern browsers. For a more concise example of how to use Charis SIL as a web font see CharisSIL-webfont-example.html in the font package web folder. For detailed information see Using SIL Fonts on Web Pages.

If this document is not displaying correctly a PDF version is also provided in the documentation/pdf folder of the release package.

Complete feature list

Stylistic alternates

Small caps from lowercase

Affects: all lowercase letters with capital equivalents

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standarda … z (all letters with capital equivalents)smcp=0
Small capsa … z (all letters with capital equivalents)smcp=1

Small caps from capitals

This feature is not supported in TypeTuner Web.

Affects: all capitals

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardA … Z (all capitals)c2sc=0
Small capsA … Z (all capitals)c2sc=1

Single-story a and g

This feature was formerly called ‘Literacy alternates’.

Affects: U+0061 U+00AA U+00E0 U+00E1 U+00E2 U+00E3 U+00E4 U+00E5 U+0101 U+0103 U+0105 U+01CE U+01DF U+01E1 U+01FB U+0201 U+0203 U+0227 U+1E01 U+1E9A U+1EA1 U+1EA3 U+1EA5 U+1EA7 U+1EA9 U+1EAB U+1EAD U+1EAF U+1EB1 U+1EB3 U+1EB5 U+1EB7 U+2C65 U+2090 U+1D43 U+0363 U+0067 U+011D U+011F U+0121 U+0123 U+01E7 U+01F5 U+01E5 U+1E21 U+A7A1 U+1D4D

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standarda ª à á â ã ä å ā ă ą ǎ ǟ ǡ ǻ ȁ ȃ ȧ ḁ ẚ ạ ả ấ ầ ẩ ẫ ậ ắ ằ ẳ ẵ ặ ⱥ ₐ ᵃ ◌ͣ g ĝ ğ ġ ģ ǧ ǵ ǥ ḡ ꞡ ᵍ ss01=0
Single-storya ª à á â ã ä å ā ă ą ǎ ǟ ǡ ǻ ȁ ȃ ȧ ḁ ẚ ạ ả ấ ầ ẩ ẫ ậ ắ ằ ẳ ẵ ặ ⱥ ₐ ᵃ ◌ͣ g ĝ ğ ġ ģ ǧ ǵ ǥ ḡ ꞡ ᵍ ss01=1

Single-story a (only)

Affects: U+0061 U+00AA U+00E0 U+00E1 U+00E2 U+00E3 U+00E4 U+00E5 U+0101 U+0103 U+0105 U+01CE U+01DF U+01E1 U+01FB U+0201 U+0203 U+0227 U+1E01 U+1E9A U+1EA1 U+1EA3 U+1EA5 U+1EA7 U+1EA9 U+1EAB U+1EAD U+1EAF U+1EB1 U+1EB3 U+1EB5 U+1EB7 U+2C65 U+2090 U+1D43 U+0363

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standarda ª à á â ã ä å ā ă ą ǎ ǟ ǡ ǻ ȁ ȃ ȧ ḁ ẚ ạ ả ấ ầ ẩ ẫ ậ ắ ằ ẳ ẵ ặ ⱥ ₐ ᵃ ◌ͣ ss11=0
Single-storya ª à á â ã ä å ā ă ą ǎ ǟ ǡ ǻ ȁ ȃ ȧ ḁ ẚ ạ ả ấ ầ ẩ ẫ ậ ắ ằ ẳ ẵ ặ ⱥ ₐ ᵃ ◌ͣ ss11=1

Single-story g (only)

Affects: U+0067 U+011D U+011F U+0121 U+0123 U+01E7 U+01F5 U+01E5 U+1E21 U+A7A1 U+1D4D

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardg ĝ ğ ġ ģ ǧ ǵ ǥ ḡ ꞡ ᵍ ss12=0
Single-storyg ĝ ğ ġ ģ ǧ ǵ ǥ ḡ ꞡ ᵍ ss12=1

Barred-bowl forms

Affects: U+0111 U+0180 U+01E5

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardđ ƀ ǥss04=0
Barred-bowlđ ƀ ǥss04=1

Slant italic specials

Affects: U+0061 U+00E3 U+00E0 U+00E1 U+00E2 U+00E4 U+00E5 U+0101 U+0103 U+01CE U+01DF U+01E1 U+01FB U+0201 U+0203 U+0227 U+1E01 U+1E9A U+1EA3 U+1EA5 U+1EA7 U+1EA9 U+1EAB U+1EAD U+1EAF U+1EB1 U+1EB3 U+1EB5 U+1EA1 U+1EB7 U+2C65 U+0250 U+00E6 U+0066 U+1E1F U+0069 U+00EC U+00ED U+00EE U+00EF U+0129 U+012B U+012D U+012F U+01D0 U+0209 U+020B U+1E2D U+1E2F U+1EC9 U+1ECB U+0131 U+006C U+013A U+1E37 U+1E39 U+1E3B U+1E3D U+0076 U+1E7D U+1E7F U+007A U+017A U+017C U+017E U+1E91 U+1E93 U+1E95 U+0493 U+04FB U+F327 U+A749 U+A75F U+2097

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standarda ã à á â ä å ā ă ǎ ǟ ǡ ǻ ȁ ȃ ȧ ḁ ẚ ả ấ ầ ẩ ẫ ậ ắ ằ ẳ ẵ ạ ặ ⱥ ɐ æ f ḟ i ì í î ï ĩ ī ĭ į ǐ ȉ ȋ ḭ ḯ ỉ ị ı l ĺ ḷ ḹ ḻ ḽ ꝉ ₗ v ṽ ṿ ꝟ z ź ż ž ẑ ẓ ẕ ғ ӻ  fi ffiss05=0
Slanteda ã à á â ä å ā ă ǎ ǟ ǡ ǻ ȁ ȃ ȧ ḁ ẚ ả ấ ầ ẩ ẫ ậ ắ ằ ẳ ẵ ạ ặ ⱥ ɐ æ f ḟ i ì í î ï ĩ ī ĭ į ǐ ȉ ȋ ḭ ḯ ỉ ị ı l ĺ ḷ ḹ ḻ ḽ ꝉ ₗ v ṽ ṿ ꝟ z ź ż ž ẑ ẓ ẕ ғ ӻ  fi ffiss05=1

Character alternates

B hook

Affects: U+0181

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƁcv13=0
Lowercase-styleƁcv13=1

D hook

Affects: U+018A

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƊcv17=0
Lowercase-styleƊcv17=1

H stroke

Affects: U+0126

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardĦcv28=0
Vertical strokeĦcv28=1

J stroke hook

Affects: U+0284

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardʄcv37=0
Top serifʄcv37=1

Eng

Affects: U+014A

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardŊcv43=0
Lowercase style on baselineŊcv43=1
Uppercase style with descenderŊcv43=2
Alt. lowercase style on baselineŊcv43=3

N left hook

Affects: U+019D

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƝcv44=0
Lowercase-styleƝcv44=1

Open-O

Affects: U+0186 U+0254 U+1D10 U+1D53 U+1D97

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƆ ɔ ᴐ ᵓ ᶗcv46=0
Top serifƆ ɔ ᴐ ᵓ ᶗcv46=1

OU

Affects: U+0222 U+0223 U+1D3D U+1D15

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardȢ ȣ ᴕ ᴽcv47=0
OpenȢ ȣ ᴕ ᴽcv47=1

p hook

Affects: U+01A5

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardƥcv49=0
Right hookƥcv49=1

R tail

Affects: U+2C64

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardⱤcv55=0
Lowercase-styleⱤcv55=1

T hook

Affects: U+01AC

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƬcv57=0
Right hookƬcv57=1

V hook

Affects: U+01B2 U+028B U+1DB9

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƲ ʋ ᶹcv62=0
Straight with low hookƲ ʋ ᶹcv62=1
Straight with high hookƲ ʋ ᶹcv62=2

Y hook

Affects: U+01B3

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƳcv68=0
Left hookƳcv68=1

Ezh

Affects: U+01B7 U+04E0

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardƷ Ӡcv20=0
Reversed sigmaƷ Ӡcv20=1

ezh curl

Affects: U+0293

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardʓcv19=0
Large bowlʓcv19=1

rams horn

Affects: U+0264

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardɤcv25=0
Large bowlɤcv25=1
Small gammaɤcv25=2

Clicks

Affects: U+01C0 U+01C1 U+01C2 U+2980

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard (descending)ǀ ǁ ǂ ⦀cv69=0
Baselineǀ ǁ ǂ ⦀cv69=1

Diacritic and symbol alternates

Vietnamese-style diacritics

Affects: U+1EA4 U+1EA5 U+1EA6 U+1EA7 U+1EA8 U+1EA9 U+1EAA U+1EAB U+1EAE U+1EAF U+1EB0 U+1EB1 U+1EB2 U+1EB3 U+1EB4 U+1EB5 U+1EBE U+1EBF U+1EC0 U+1EC1 U+1EC2 U+1EC3 U+1EC4 U+1EC5 U+1ED0 U+1ED1 U+1ED2 U+1ED3 U+1ED4 U+1ED5 U+1ED6 U+1ED7

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardẤấ Ầầ Ẩẩ Ẫẫ Ắắ Ằằ Ẳẳ Ẵẵ Ếế Ềề Ểể Ễễ Ốố Ồồ Ổổ Ỗỗcv75=0
Vietnamese-styleẤấ Ầầ Ẩẩ Ẫẫ Ắắ Ằằ Ẳẳ Ẵẵ Ếế Ềề Ểể Ễễ Ốố Ồồ Ổổ Ỗỗcv75=1

Kayan diacritics

Affects: U+0300 U+0301

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard◌̀́cv79=0
Side by side◌̀́cv79=1

Ogonek

Affects: U+0328 U+0104 U+0105 U+0118 U+0119 U+012E U+012F U+0172 U+0173 U+01EA U+01EB U+01EC U+01ED

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardanything with ◌̨ (Ąą Ęę Įį Ųų Ǫǫ Ǭǭ)cv76=0
Straightanything with ◌̨ (Ąą Ęę Įį Ųų Ǫǫ Ǭǭ)cv76=1

Caron

Affects: U+010F U+013D U+013E U+0165

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardď Ľ ľ ťcv77=0
Global-styleď Ľ ľ ťcv77=1

Modifier apostrophe

Affects: U+02BC U+A78B U+A78C

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardʼ Ꞌ ꞌcv70=0
Largeʼ Ꞌ ꞌcv70=1

Modifier colon

Affects: U+A789

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard꞉cv71=0
Expanded꞉cv71=1

Empty set

Affects: U+2205

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard∅cv98=0
Zero-style∅cv98=1

Cyrillic alternates

There are also Cyrillic characters affected by the “Ezh” and “Small capitals” features. Some languages may also use the “Modifier apostrophe”.

Cyrillic E

Affects: U+042D U+044D

FeatureSampleFeature setting
StandardЭ эcv80=0
Mongolian-styleЭ эcv80=1

Cyrillic shha

Affects: U+04BB

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardһcv81=0
Uppercase-styleһcv81=1

Cyrillic breve

Affects: U+0306

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardanything with ◌̆ (Ә̆ә̆)cv82=0
Cyrillic-styleanything with ◌̆ (Ә̆ә̆)cv82=1

Serbian Cyrillic alternates

These alternate forms mainly affect italic styles. Unlike other features this is activated by tagging the span of text as being in the Serbian language, not by turning on an OpenType feature. It is also not available through TypeTuner Web although a similar feature is supported (cv84).

Affects: U+0431 U+0433 U+0434 U+043F U+0442 U+0453

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardб г д п т ѓ
Serbianб г д п т ѓlang='sr'

Macedonian Cyrillic alternates

These alternate forms mainly affect italic styles. Unlike other features this is activated by tagging the span of text as being in the Macedonian language, not by turning on an OpenType feature. It is also not available through TypeTuner Web although a similar feature is supported (cv84).

Affects: U+0431 U+0433 U+0434 U+043F U+0442 U+0453

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardб г д п т ѓ
Macedonianб г д п т ѓlang='mk'

Serbian and Macedonian Cyrillic alternates

This feature provides an alternate way to activate the Serbian and Macedonian forms in applications that do not support language-specific features.

Affects: U+0431 U+0433 U+0434 U+043F U+0442 U+0453

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardб г д п т ѓcv84=0
Serbian Macedonian formsб г д п т ѓcv84=1

Tone alternates

Chinantec tones

Affects: U+02CB U+02C8 U+02C9 U+02CA

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standardˋ ˈ ˉ ˊcv90=0
Chinantec-styleˋ ˈ ˉ ˊcv90=1

Tone numbers

This feature is not supported in TypeTuner Web.

Affects: U+02E5 U+02E6 U+02E7 U+02E8 U+02E9 U+A712 U+A713 U+A714 U+A715 U+A716

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩ ꜒ ꜓ ꜔ ꜕ ꜖cv91=0
Numbers˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩ ꜒ ꜓ ꜔ ꜕ ꜖cv91=1

Hide tone contour staves

This feature is not supported in TypeTuner Web.

Affects: U+02E5 U+02E6 U+02E7 U+02E8 U+02E9 U+A712 U+A713 U+A714 U+A715 U+A716

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩ ꜒ ꜓ ꜔ ꜕ ꜖ (˩˦˥˧˨ ꜖꜓꜒꜔꜕)cv92=0
Hide staves˥ ˦ ˧ ˨ ˩ ꜒ ꜓ ꜔ ꜕ ꜖ (˩˦˥˧˨ ꜖꜓꜒꜔꜕)cv92=1

Numeral alternates

Subscript numerals

This feature is not supported in TypeTuner Web.

Affects: U+0030 U+0031 U+0032 U+0033 U+0034 U+0035 U+0036 U+0037 U+0038 U+0039

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9subs=0
Subscript0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9subs=1

Superscript numerals

This feature is not supported in TypeTuner Web.

Affects: U+0030 U+0031 U+0032 U+0033 U+0034 U+0035 U+0036 U+0037 U+0038 U+0039

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9sups=0
Superscript0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9sups=1

Automatic fractions

When activated this feature will automatically create fractions when numerals are separated by either the fraction slash (U+2044) or the solidus (U+002F). This feature is not supported in TypeTuner Web.

Affects: U+0030 U+0031 U+0032 U+0033 U+0034 U+0035 U+0036 U+0037 U+0038 U+0039 U+002F U+2044

FeatureSampleFeature setting
Standard (none)1⁄2 456⁄789 1/2 456/789frac=0
Automatic1⁄2 456⁄789 1/2 456/789frac=1