Types of Furigana brackets in text

Japanese Language Reading
1

This thread is basically a request for information. I have been cooking up something that I hope to reveal in the API and Third Party Apps topic in the next few months, and for part of it I need a list of the different styles of brackets you might come across in Japanese texts. If you have any suggestions (and examples of where they are used) I would love to hear them, even if I don’t include them.
Also, some idea of how common the styles are as I only intend to include the most common ones by default, and let you add your own custom ones if you like.

The bracket sets tend to have three parts:

  1. An optional opening bracket for the Kanji;
  2. One or more middle delimiters or an opening bracket for the Furigana; and
  3. A closing bracket for the Furigana

At the moment my list is as follows:

  • {ζΌ’ε­—|γ‹γ‚“γ˜} Markdown It Ruby
  • ζΌ’ε­—γ€Šγ‹γ‚“γ˜γ€‹ Aozora
  • |ζΌ’ε­—γ€Šγ‹γ‚“γ˜γ€‹ Aozora with half-width pipe
  • ο½œζΌ’ε­—γ€Šγ‹γ‚“γ˜γ€‹ Aozora with full-width pipe
  • ζΌ’ε­—(γ‹γ‚“γ˜) Maru-kakko
  • ζΌ’ε­—γ€γ‹γ‚“γ˜γ€‘ Dictionary
  • <.ζΌ’ε­—>[γ‹γ‚“γ˜] IME2Furigana

I may not use all of them, especially if it turns out that they aren’t very common.

Technically you could also think of ruby tags as brackets:
<ruby>ζΌ’ε­—<rt>γ‹γ‚“γ˜</rt></ruby>
Opener: <ruby>
Delimiter: <rt>
Closer: </rt></ruby>
I probably won’t put that in my default list though, the possible presence of <rp> tags complicates matters.

Let me know if you have suggestions to add to the list

2

I’ve come across one recently that looks like β¦… ⦆ (albeit being used to designate lines of dialogue rather than furigana).

3
  • ζΌ’ε­—[γ‹γ‚“γ˜] with {{furigana:Field}} Anki
  • [ζΌ’ε­—]{γ‹γ‚“γ˜} markdown-it-furigana

HTML ruby tags have some more features. Furigana markdown parsers just don’t support these. I also see towered Furigana (e.g. 3-storied) in manga.

ζΌ’γ‹γ‚“ε­—γ˜ <ruby>ζΌ’<rt>かん</rt>ε­—<rt>じ</rt></ruby>

multiple <rt>

ζΌ’ε­—γ‹γ‚“γ˜ <ruby><rb>ζΌ’</rb>ε­—<rt>かん</rt><rt>じ</rt></ruby>

Furigana per <rb> tag

ζΌ’ε­—(γ‹γ‚“γ˜) <ruby>ζΌ’ε­—<rp>(<rp><rt>γ‹γ‚“γ˜</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>

ζΌ’ε­—(γ‹γ‚“γ˜) <ruby><rb>ζΌ’</rb>ε­—<rp>(</rp><rt>かん</rt><rt>じ</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>

Hidden brackets with <rp> tags, except when copied as plain text or chosen as correct answer.

4

Admittedly not a furigana bracket, but I recently came across these (I think for the first time in 100+ books) so please allow me a honorable mention here:

IMG7136
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