The text-combine-upright CSS property sets the combination of characters into the space of a single character. If the combined text is wider than 1em, the user agent must fit the contents within 1em. The resulting composition is treated as a single upright glyph for layout and decoration. This property only has an effect in vertical writing modes.

/* Keyword values */ text-combine-upright: none; text-combine-upright: all;  /* Digits values */ text-combine-upright: digits;     /* fits 2 consecutive digits horizontally inside vertical text */ text-combine-upright: digits 4;   /* fits up to 4 consecutive digits horizontally inside vertical text */  /* Global values */ text-combine-upright: inherit; text-combine-upright: initial; text-combine-upright: revert; text-combine-upright: unset; 

text-combine-upright

The text-combine-upright CSS property sets the combination of characters into the space of a single character. If the combined text is wider than 1em, the user agent must fit the contents within 1em. The resulting composition is treated as a single upright glyph for layout and decoration. This property only has an effect in vertical writing modes.

This is used to produce an effect that is known as tate-chū-yoko (縦中横) in Japanese, or as 直書橫向 in Chinese.

/* Keyword values */ text-combine-upright: none; text-combine-upright: all;  /* Digits values */ text-combine-upright: digits;     /* fits 2 consecutive digits horizontally inside vertical text */ text-combine-upright: digits 4;   /* fits up to 4 consecutive digits horizontally inside vertical text */  /* Global values */ text-combine-upright: inherit; text-combine-upright: initial; text-combine-upright: revert; text-combine-upright: unset; 

Syntax

Values

none

There is no special processing.

all

Attempts to typeset all consecutive characters within the box horizontally, such that they take up the space of a single character within the vertical line of the box.

digits <integer>?

Attempts to display a sequence of consecutive ASCII digits (U+0030–U+0039) that has as many or fewer characters than the specified integer, such that it takes up the space of a single character within the vertical line box. If the integer is omitted, it computes to 2. Integers outside the range of 2-4 are invalid.

Formal definition

Initial value	none
Applies to	non-replaced inline elements
Inherited	yes
Computed value	specified keyword, plus integer if 'digits'
Animation type	Not animatable

Formal syntax

none | all | [ digits <integer>? ]

Examples

Example using "digits"

The digits value requires less markup than the all value when digits are being combined, but it is currently not very widely supported by browsers.

HTML

<p lang="ja" class="exampleText">平成20年4月16日に</p> 

CSS

.exampleText {   writing-mode: vertical-lr;   text-combine-upright: digits 2;   font: 36px serif; } 

Results

Screenshot	Live sample

Example using "all"

The all value requires markup around every piece of horizontal text, but it is currently supported by more browsers than the digits value.

HTML

<p lang="zh-Hant">民國<span class="num">105</span >年<span class="num">4</span >月<span class="num">29</span>日</p> 

CSS

html { writing-mode: vertical-rl; font: 24px serif } .num { text-combine-upright: all } 

Results

Screenshot	Live sample

Specifications

Specification
CSS Writing Modes Level 4 # text-combine-upright

See also

writing-mode, text-orientation

Last modified: Feb 5, 2022, by MDN contributors