Sagitype

Sagitype is a system for representing Sagittal symbols as plain text, using characters that approximate their parts. For example, the Sagitype for  is /|).

Sagitype is useful in environments where access to the actual musical notation glyphs is unavailable, such as email, spreadsheets, and so forth, or when a text-based interface to the glyphs is useful, such as with the Sagittal template on this wiki; the Sagittal symbol in the previous paragraph, for example, was produced by inserting the /|) Sagitype into the template, like so:

{{ sagittal| /|) }}.

Sagittal symbols — or "sagittals", for short — are composed of a few parts, each of which is represented separately in Sagitype: the shaft, which is the main vertical stroke, plus any flags, which are the elements extending out from the shaft to the right or left.

Shafts

Sagittals, like arrows, point either up or down depending on which direction they are altering pitch, and that direction is captured by the Sagitype for the shaft:

• A pipe | is used for the shaft of an up sagittal, such as  , which is |).
• A bang ! is used for the shaft of a down sagittal, such as  , which is !).

Flags

Sagittal has four types of flags: the barb, arc, scroll, and boathook. Each of these flags may appear either on the left or right side of a sagittal's shaft

The table below gives a minimal demonstration of the Sagitype for each of the four flags as it appears on each of the two sides of the shaft, in each of the two directions a sagittal can point.

Flags in Sagitype

flag	left				right
	up		down		up		down
	Sagitype	Sagittal	Sagitype	Sagittal	Sagitype	Sagittal	Sagitype	Sagittal
barb	/|		\!		|\		!/	
arc	(|		(!		|)		!)	
scroll	)|		)!		|(		!(	
boathook	~|		~!		|~		!~	

So, Sagitype represents:

• The barb with the slash / and slosh \
• The arc with the opening parenthesis ( and the closing parenthesis )
• The scroll also with opening and closing parentheses (differentiated from the arc by whether they curve towards or away from the shaft)
• The boathook with the tilde ~

Representing a sagittal with flags on both sides is straightforward. We've already seen how the sagittal  , which is the combination of the sagittal with the left barb  and the sagittal with the right arc  , is represented with a combination of their respective Sagitypes: /| + |) = /|). To produce other multi-flag sagittals, then, we can follow this same pattern; for another example, ~! + !( = ~!( just as  +  =  .

Multiple flags per side

Some sagittals have multiple flags on one side of the shaft. When the flags are of different types, parentheses are placed further from the shaft than other characters. Here are all the valid flag combinations on each side:

Valid flag combinations on each side
in Sagitype

up		down
Sagitype	Sagittal	Sagitype	Sagittal
~~|		~~!	
//|		\\!	
)~|		)~!	
)/|		)\!	
)//|		)\\!	
(/|		(\!	
|\)		!/)	
|\\		!//	

Multiple shafts

A sagittal always has one or more shafts. When using the Evo flavor of Sagittal notation, sagittals always have exactly one shaft; it's only when using the Revo flavor that sagittals can have two, three, or four shafts, except that instead of actually having four shafts, sagittals at that point instead use two crossed shafts, similar to a conventional double-sharp. An X is used for the upward version and a Y for the downward.

Multiple shafts in Sagitype

shafts	up		down
	Sagitype	Sagittal	Sagitype	Sagittal
1: single-shafted	/|\		\!/	
2: double-shafted	/||\		\!!/	
3: triple-shafted	/|||\		\!!!/	
(4): ex-shafted	/X\		\Y/	

The table above uses the double-barb as the example flag combination to demonstrate every possible combination of shaft count and direction; many other shaft and flag combinations exist, of course, such as (||| =  and Y~ =  .

See also

• The Sagittal-SMuFL Character Map which gives the Sagitype for every possible sagittal individually, including accents used for fine pitch alterations