karakteron

Karakteron is a term used in speculative discussions of text representation to denote a single character token in a given writing system or encoding scheme. The coinage combines the word karakter, used in several languages for "character," with the -on suffix found in various units. In practice, a karakteron refers to the smallest indivisible unit that a particular system treats as a character, irrespective of its underlying storage size.

In encoding terms, karakteron abstracts away from bytes or code points. Depending on the design, one karakteron may correspond to a single code point, or it may encompass a grapheme cluster that resolves to one character in rendering. Some models use fixed-length mappings, whereas others allow variable-length representations where a karakteron could incorporate multiple code points or diacritics.

Applications of the concept are mainly in theoretical discussions, world-building, or alternative script design, where it helps discuss character counts and typography without committing to a standard encoding. It provides a way to compare text sizes across scripts with different symbol inventories and display conventions.

Examples might include a fictional manuscript described as containing 1,200 karakterons, representing units of character tokens rather than bytes, or a conlang where a karakteron is defined as the smallest unit capable of distinguishing a phoneme or a visually distinct glyph in the proposed script.

See also: character, grapheme, code point, byte, token.