Charis SIL

Charis SIL
CategorySerif
ClassificationSlab serif
DesignerSIL International
Date released2006
LicenseSIL Open Font License
Design based onBitstream Charter
Sample
Websitesoftware.sil.org/charis/

Charis (/ˈkɛərɪs/) or Charis SIL is a slab serif typeface developed by SIL International based on Bitstream Charter, one of the first fonts designed for laser printers. The font offers four family members: roman, bold, italic, and bold italic.

Its design goal is to "provide a single Unicode-based font family that would contain a comprehensive inventory of glyphs needed for almost any Roman- or Cyrillic-based writing system, whether used for phonetic or orthographic needs."[1]

Charis SIL supports OpenType and AAT technologies for advanced rendering features. Along with Doulos SIL and Gentium, it is licensed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL),[2] and can be downloaded free of charge.[3]

Version 6.2 of the font, with over 3,800 glyphs,[4] was released on 1 February 2023.[5] Version 7 was released on 2 June 2025.[6]

Gentium Book Plus font with 'a' and 'g' set to single-story style
Andika font with two features selected

Variant forms of many characters can be chosen in supporting word-processors such as LibreOffice. For example, for single-story a and single-story g, append ss01=1 to the name of the font in the font-selection window.[7] (Features are appended with a colon and linked with an ampersand – see images at left.) Alternatively, customized versions of the fonts can be created with TypeTuner, prior to download, that have those forms preset.[8]

Features that may be chosen include small capitals, single-story 'a' and 'g', double-story 'a' in italic typeface, variant forms of capital 'Ŋ', large modifier letter apostrophe and Saltillo, Vietnamese-style diacritics, Serbian-style italics (in Cyrillic), staveless tone letters, and automatic fractions.[7]

Phonetician John C. Wells has recommended Charis SIL as an excellent font for displaying IPA symbols.[9]

Since version 7, it is now simply called Charis.

Sources

References

  1. ↑ "Charis SIL (Home Page)". 2 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "SIL Open Font License (OFL)". scripts.sil.org.
  3. ↑ Download page on sil.org
  4. ↑ "Character Set Support". Charis SIL. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "Previous Versions". SIL International. 2025. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  6. ↑ "Download - Charis". SIL International. 2025. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  7. 1 2 Charis: features
  8. ↑ TypeTuner Web homepage
  9. ↑ Wells, John (2012-06-04). "IPA transcription in Unicode". University College London. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02.
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