[Tex/LaTex] How to typeset an i with asterisk above

amsmathxetex

I tried it with a modification of \overset as suggested by Werner in this question: Creating non-math mode substitutes for \overset and \underset not dependent on the amsmath package

With the new command, I used \overset{$*$}{ı}, but the asterisk is too high and increases the line height. How can I overset the asterisk as in a dotted i?

In German, there is an internal I for gender-neutral forms like “TeXnikerIn” TeXnician for “TeXnikerin” (female) or “TeXniker” (male). Then there is the suggestion to combine it with an asterisk (“TeXniker*In”) for genderqueer people. So my idea is to use a lowercase i with an asterisk instead of a dot as an agglutination.

Best Answer

Here's a “hand made i with asterisk”:

\documentclass{article}

\makeatletter
\newcommand{\asti}{%
  \check@mathfonts
  \leavevmode
  {\ooalign{%
    \hidewidth
    \raisebox{.8ex}{\fontsize{\ssf@size}{0}\selectfont*}%
    \hidewidth\cr
    \i\cr
  }}%
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
Here \asti s \asti t.

\LARGE
Here \asti s \asti t.
\end{document}

The \check@mathfonts instruction is needed to access the scriptscript size for the current font size.

enter image description here

Related Question