Narrow space

Articles are i. d. Usually by means of notes such as ...
Articles are usually by means of notes such as ...

Above: The narrow spaces after the points lead to optically harmonious spacing between words within a sentence and thus increase legibility.

Bottom: Due to the usual space, the dots appear prominently like at the end of a sentence, which hinders reading flow.

A narrow space is used in typography to visually structure a coherent group of characters, but also to compensate for excessive spaces in sentences compared to the spaces between words.

use

Type of separation	example 1	Example 2
no space	e.g.	usually
narrow registered blank U + 202F	z. B.	i. d. R.
narrow space U + 2009 (thinsp)	z. B.	i. d. R.
non-breaking space U + 00A0 (nbsp)	z. B.	i. d. R.
normal space U + 0020	z. B.	usually

The narrow space is intended to improve the legibility of a confusing group of characters, such as multi-digit numbers or abbreviations. By using narrow spaces, individual groups of characters can be recognized more quickly and appear better proportioned. In contrast to the usual space , however, it should clearly show that the group belongs together.

In the text set , it also helps to reduce the formation of unwanted holes and alleys , which can otherwise impair the legibility of entire paragraphs.

Another use is in equations and formulas, such as 3¦ + ¦6 ␣= ␣5¦ + ¦4

Typical examples of text with different types of white space
use	Examples	Looks like
abbreviation	e.g. ... i.¦d.¦R.	z. B. i. d. R.
date	May 1, `␣`2006, December 31, 2006 but: December 31, 2006 or December 31, 2006 `␣`2006	May 1, 2006, December 31, 2006 but: December 31, 2006 or December 31, 2006
number	IBAN `␣`DE27¦1007¦7777¦0209¦2997¦00	IBAN DE27 1007 7777 0209 2997 00
Abbreviation with number	§¦315c `␣`StGB Abs.¦3 No.¦2 S.¦78¦ff. but: §¦315c `˾`Paragraph¦3 `˾`No.¦2 `␣`StGB	Section 315c Paragraph 3 No. 2 p. 78 ff. But: Section 315c Paragraph 3 No. 2 StGB
Number ( thousands separator )	3¦456¦789 `␣`inhabitants	3 456 789 inhabitants
Number with unit symbol	220¦V 37¦ ° C 33¦% 20¦ € `␣`sales 98¦765¦t `␣`bananas but: angle `␣`of `␣`90 °	220 V 37 ° C 33% 20 € turnover 98 765 t of bananas but: angle of 90 °
equation	3¦ + ¦6 `␣`= `␣`5¦ + ¦4 but: 3¦ − ¦4 `␣`= `␣`−1 however: decrease by␣900␣votes␣ (−¦10¦%)	3 + 6 = 5 + 4 but: 3 - 4 = −1 but: decrease by 900 votes (-10%)

Legend: The usual space is represented here by " ␣", the narrow space by "¦". The protected, but normal-width space, as in "Abbreviation with number", corresponds to " ˾".

new line

From space , there are international variations of different widths. There is, in turn, a variant encoded in Unicode that allows a line break and one that does not allow it. The latter is called “ non-breaking space ”. In particular, there is both a narrow space where a line break is allowed and one where this is not allowed.

For Germany, Austria and Switzerland, however, the recommendations of the Duden (see literature ) and DIN 5008 are relevant. Here, “narrow space” and “fixed spacing” (narrow protected space) coincide. Line breaks are not permitted at such a line. The counterparts are "normal" spaces, which form a word or sentence space and allow a line break .

When excluding , a narrow space always retains its fixed width, while the space between words is slightly increased. The reason is that it would otherwise be in one line 12 345, but could 12 345result in another line when the margin is adjusted . However, this would no longer show that both cases are a coherent, identical five-digit number.

Digital texts

Only with the Unicode character sets have narrow spaces become available for electronic publications , for which there are two codings:

	Unicode			HTML / XML entity
	hexadecimal	decimal	named	decimal	hexadecimal	named
narrow space	U + 2009	8201	THIN SPACE	& # 8201;	& # x2009;	& thinsp;
narrow break-protected space	U + 202F	8239	NARROW NO-BREAK SPACE	& # 8239;	& # x202f;	n. z.

For German typography , both characters are initially possible; there is no visual difference. The width should be one sixth of the basic characterem width ( ) , but one eighth would also be permissible.

With the last-mentioned character U+202F, the text system should prevent a line break at this point; U+2009A break is allowed for the first character , as well as widening the space, for example in justification . But because never allowed to take place a line break in an articulated by narrow space character group and no widening is desired is for the body text , only the second coding (U + 202F) in question.

In English , the long dash can be separated from the adjacent words with an even narrower hair space , U + 200A (decimal 8202).

Office communication

According to DIN 5008 , typists should use the protected space for business letters and other business documents instead of a narrow space. This is a compromise between quick copywriting and an appealing design.

Interim solutions

This development is still very young; the representation of characters as well as the correct interpretation is by no means carried out correctly by every software. With automatic line breaks , make sure that there is no separation. However, the rules for this may not yet have been correctly implemented in the software. However, if the small space is interpreted as an unknown letter character, there would be no break and that would be exactly the desired effect.

In most proportional fonts , the protected space is not displayed too wide, so it can be used as a substitute without too much impairment.

In the context of HTML, there are several methods of simulating a non-breaking narrow space. A simple method is  to halve the font size of a single non-breaking space ( ):

 .

However, there are browsers that limit the width of the non breaking space downwards (typically 0.25 em), so this method fails.

The construction can be more reliable

 … 

create a white space of any width that does not belong to the text, d. This means that if the text is selected and copied on the HTML page, there is no space in its place on the clipboard. This is definitely advantageous for numbers with grouping of digits, as the spaces would be annoying for screen readers and for further use of the numbers in other applications such as spreadsheets . For this reason, this solution is even preferable to the narrow non-breaking space for grouping digits in HTML. If the span construction is used as a substitute for the narrow space - for example for abbreviations - it makes sense, however, to "hide" an invisible narrow space or substitute character in the white space for the text to be copied, something like this:

 .

The following sentence is an application of the methods presented here:

With regard to § 555 he held i. d. R. 18,500 ft from the ground.

In some browsers, the nature of the white spaces can be identified by marking the corresponding text with the mouse.

Use on Microsoft Windows

Actually, characters should be provided via the operating system and the keyboard driver. However, only the characters visible in the keyboard layout and a few key combinations are supported, so that temporary solutions for each application program are sought individually. Under Windows, any special character can basically be entered by Altentering the decimal Unicode number using the numeric keypad (here 8239 for a protected narrow space). With some keyboard drivers, this special character can also be assigned to a key combination that is easier to remember (e.g. Alt Gr + space).

Microsoft Word

So far there is no general solution for Microsoft's word processing programs, even if the most frequently used combinations, e.g. B. could deal with the autocorrect function.

For some fonts (eg “Palatino Linotype”), the character with the hexadecimal code in Unicode format can be selected under Insert → Symbol2009 . This character can now be assigned to a key combination (for example Strg+ Alt+ Leertaste). By pressing these keys, this symbol, which corresponds to a narrow (non-break-protected) space, is inserted in the text. In the case of other fonts (e.g. "Times New Roman"), 202Fa narrow, non-breaking space can also be generated with the hexadecimal code in Unicode format, if you proceed accordingly. This has to do with the fact that the current versions of these character sets are gradually being equipped with very many of the Unicode characters. Most of the fonts used by Windows, such as "Arial" and "Times New Roman", have a relatively large number of encodings.

As a substitute auxiliary structure may, however using the key combination Strg+ ⇧+ Leertastethe subsequently applied a non-breaking space, Insert → Font → character spacing → scaling (older versions of Word), or by selecting the non-breaking space and then select → Right mouse button font → scaling to a Width of 50% is set.

LibreOffice

Since the main version 6, LibreOffice offers a cross-system option to enter protected narrow spaces via the menu »Insert« → »Formatting Characters« or via the included, direct key combination ⇧+ Alt+ Leertaste. The order is important, Alt + ⇧ + space bar calls up the search dialog under KDE Plasma 5 (otherwise via Alt + F2).

Use under LaTeX

Under LaTeX inserts \,a narrow space. Outside of formulas , this is a protected narrow space. The text cannot break at this point, which is desirable in most applications (e.g. abbreviations).

example

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
  Ein Beispiel sieht z.\,B.\ so aus.
\end{document}

Others

Letter spacing : In the lead type were used for the generation of letters, words, or other narrow intervals Spatien used; the traditional typographical rules for this apply to the narrow space in a corresponding and contemporary way.

literature

Werner Scholze-Stubenrecht (Red.): Duden. The German spelling. 24th completely revised and expanded edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim a. a. 2006, ISBN 3-411-04014-9 ( Der Duden. Volume 1: Book ), section "Word processing and e-mails" - also contains a selection from DIN 5008 (here the "narrow space" is also listed under fixed spacing , however not sharply distinguished from the "protected space").

Individual evidence

↑ Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm Introduction
↑ \, is essentially \ifmmode\mskip\thinmuskip\else\thinspace\fidefined as - see Johannes Braams and others: The LaTeX 2 _ε Sources (PDF, 2.3 MB), 2011/06/27, p. 65. Within a formula \mskip, something becomes what glue creates and therefore one Line breaks allowed - see DE Knuth: The TeXbook , Addison-Wesley, Reading 1984 and later, p. 290 and Chapter 12. Otherwise, this results \thinspacein a \kern...
↑ ... The TeXbook p. 75.

[1] Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm Introduction

[2] \, is essentially \ifmmode\mskip\thinmuskip\else\thinspace\fidefined as - see Johannes Braams and others: The LaTeX 2 _ε Sources (PDF, 2.3 MB), 2011/06/27, p. 65. Within a formula \mskip, something becomes what glue creates and therefore one Line breaks allowed - see DE Knuth: The TeXbook , Addison-Wesley, Reading 1984 and later, p. 290 and Chapter 12. Otherwise, this results \thinspacein a \kern...

[3] ... The TeXbook p. 75.