Myanmar Font Render in Terminal

Myanmar_Text_Terminal.md

Myanmar Text in Terminal (Linux / macOS)

Problem

• Myanmar = complex script (stacking + shaping)

• Issues:

  • missing fonts
  • no Harfbuzz shaping
  • wrong glyph width
  • bad font fallback
  • monospace limitation

---

Requirements

• Terminal must support:

  • Harfbuzz (complex text shaping)
  • font fallback

• System must have:

  • proper Myanmar fonts

---

Recommended Fonts

• Noto family:

  • Noto Sans Myanmar
  • Noto Sans Myanmar UI
  • Noto Sans Mono

Install (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt install fonts-noto-core fonts-noto-extra fonts-noto-ui-core fonts-noto-ui-extra

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Fontconfig (Linux)

~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
  <alias>
    <family>monospace</family>
    <prefer>
      <family>Noto Sans Mono</family>
      <family>Noto Sans Myanmar</family>
      <family>Noto Sans Myanmar UI</family>
    </prefer>
  </alias>
</fontconfig>

Apply:

fc-cache -fv

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Terminal Support Matrix

Terminal	Status	Notes
KDE Konsole	✅ Best	Works out-of-box
WezTerm	✅ Good	Stable shaping
Ghostty	⚠️ Medium	Needs config
GNOME Terminal	⚠️ Medium	Depends on fontconfig
Kitty	⚠️ Medium	Needs tuning
Alacritty	❌ Weak	Shaping issues
xterm.js	✅ Good	Browser rendering

---

Ghostty Config

~/.config/ghostty/config

font-family = "Noto Sans Mono"
font-family-bold = "Noto Sans Mono"
font-family-italic = "Noto Sans Mono"

font-fallback = "Noto Sans Myanmar,Noto Sans Myanmar UI"

line-height = 1.2

Notes:

• avoid Nerd Fonts (Myanmar glyph issues)
• disable ligatures if needed

---

macOS Notes

• Use:

  • Noto Sans Myanmar
  • Myanmar MN

• iTerm2 / Terminal:

  • fallback font important
  • rendering less consistent than Linux

---

Myanmar Developer Tools / Projects

• mterm

  • Browser-based terminal (xterm.js approach)
  • Uses web rendering → better Myanmar shaping
  • Useful workaround when native terminals fail

• myanso

  • Native-focused Myanmar terminal experiment
  • Open-source project targeting better Unicode handling
  • Available builds (e.g. macOS) + source on GitHub (Facebook)

• Htain Lin Shwe

  • Myanmar developer active in Unicode ecosystem
  • Also created tools like Rabbit Converter (Zawgyi ↔ Unicode) (GitHub)

---

Test

echo "မြန်မာစာ စမ်းသပ်နေပါတယ်"

---

Known Limitations

• alignment issues in:

  • vim
  • htop

• column width mismatch

• stacked glyph spacing imperfect

---

Recommendation

• Best:

  • KDE Konsole
  • WezTerm

• Acceptable:

  • Ghostty (with config)

• Alternative approach:

  • xterm.js / mterm (web rendering)

---

Summary

• Not a terminal problem only

• Key factors:

  • shaping engine (Harfbuzz)
  • font + fallback
  • width handling

• Myanmar dev community is actively solving this via:

  • browser terminals (mterm)
  • native experiments (myanso)

• Native terminals can support Myanmar well with proper setup