N2598
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2
PROPOSAL SUMMARY FORM TO ACCOMPANY SUBMISSIONSFOR ADDITIONS TO THE REPERTOIRE OF ISO/IEC 106461
Please fill all the sections A, B and C below.
(Please read Principles and Procedures Document for guidelines and details before filling this form.)
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/WG2/docs/summaryform.html for latest Form.
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/WG2/docs/principles.html for latest Principles and Procedures document.
See http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/WG2/docs/roadmaps.html for latest roadmaps.

A. Administrative
1. Title:
Proposal to encode additional Arabic-script characters_______________________________________________________________________________
2. Requester's name: ___________________________________________________________________________
INCITS/L2; Unicode Technical Committee; Jonathan Kew, SIL International
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution):
Member; Liaison; expert contribution____________________________________
4. Submission date:______________
2003-07-10
5. Requester's reference (if applicable): _____________________________________________________________
L2/02-274; L2/03-159; L2/03-168; L2/03-176; L2/03-210
6. (Choose one of the following:)
This is a complete proposal:______________
Yesor,More information will be provided later:______________
B. Technical - General
1. (Choose one of the following:)
a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters):______________
No
Proposed name of script: __________________________________________________________
b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block:______________Yes
Name of the existing block:Arabic, and proposed Arabic Supplementary block___________________________________________
2. Number of characters in proposal:______________
30
3. Proposed category (see section II, Character Categories):______________
A
4. Proposed Level of Implementation (1, 2 or 3) (see clause 14, ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000):______________
2
Is a rationale provided for the choice?
______________Yes
If Yes, reference: ________________________________________________________________
Includes combining marks
5. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
______________
Yesa. If YES, are the names in accordance with the 'character naming guidelines
in Annex L of ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000?
______________Yes
b. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
______________
Yes
6. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font (ordered preference: True Type, or PostScript format) for
publishing the standard? ________________________________________________________________
Jonathan Kew, SIL International
If available now, identify source(s) for the font (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.) and indicate the tools
used:jonathan_kew@sil.org______________________________________________________________________________________
TrueType font generated with FontLab 4.5____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. References:a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided? Yes______________
b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources)of proposed characters attached?
______________
Yes
8. Special encoding issues:
Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing (if applicable) such as input,
presentation, sorting, searching, indexing, transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)?
Yes: suggested Unicode character properties are included______________________________________________________________________________________
9. Additional Information:
Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) or Scriptthat will assist in correct understanding of and correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.
Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information, Currency information, Display behaviour
information such as line breaks, widths etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directional behaviour, Default
Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalence and other Unicode normalization
related information. See the Unicode standard at http://www.unicode.org for such information on other scripts. Also
see http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/UnicodeCharacterDatabase.html and associated Unicode Technical
Reports for information needed for consideration by the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the UnicodeStandard.

N2352-F
2001-09-04
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N2598
C. Technical - Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before?
Not to WG2______________
If YES explain __________________________________________________________________________(but characters approved for encoding at UTC #95, June 2003)
2. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body,
user groups of the script or characters, other experts, etc.)?
______________Yes
If YES, with whom? ______________________________________________________________
Local communities, linguists, NGOs working in S. Asia & N. Africa
If YES, available relevant documents: ________________________________________________
See §4 below
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example:
size, demographics, information technology use, or publishing use) is included?
______________
Yes
Reference: ____________________________________________________________________________
See §3 below
4. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)______________
Various
Reference: ____________________________________________________________________________
See §3 below
5. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
______________Yes
If YES, where? Reference: _______________________________________________________________South Asia, North African countries
6. After giving due considerations to the principles in Principles and Procedures document (a WG 2 standing
document) must the proposed characters be entirely in the BMP?
______________Yes
If YES, is a rationale provided?
______________Yes
If YES, reference: _________________________________________________________
Extensions to BMP Arabic repertoire, see §3 below
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)?
_______
Yes
8. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an existing
character or character sequence?
______________No
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
9. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character sequence of either
existing characters or other proposed characters?
______________No
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
10. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (in appearance
or function) to an existing character?
______________Yes
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
______________Yes
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
See §3.2 below
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences(see clauses 4.12 and 4.14 in ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)?
______________Yes
If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
______________Yes
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
Arabic-script vowels (see §3.1.2 below) are combining marks
Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols)
provided?
______________No
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________
12. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as
control function or similar semantics?
______________No
If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary)______________
13. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)?
______No
If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s) identified? ____________
If YES, reference: ________________________________________________________

1

Form number: N2352-F (Original 1994-10-14; Revised 1995-01, 1995-04, 1996-04, 1996-08, 1999-03, 2001-05, 2001-09)

N2352-F
2001-09-04
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N2598
Submitter's Responsibilities
The national body or liaison organization (or any other organization or an individual) proposing new
character(s) or a new script shall provide:1.
Proposed category for the script or character(s), character name(s), and description of usage.
2.
Justification for the category and name(s).
3.
A representative glyph(s) image on paper:
If the proposed glyph image is similar to a glyph image of a previously encoded ISO/IEC 10646
character, then additional justification for encoding the new character shall be provided.

Note: Any proposal that suggests that one or more of such variant forms is actually a distinct character
requiring separate encoding, should provide detailed, printed evidence that there is actual, contrastive use of
the variant form(s). It is insufficient for a proposal to claim a requirement to encode as characters in theStandard, glyphic forms which happen to occur in another character encoding that did not follow theCharacter-Glyph Model that guides the choice of appropriate characters for encoding in ISO/IEC 10646.
Note: WG 2 has resolved in Resolution M38.12 not to add any more Arabic presentation forms to thestandard and suggests users to employ appropriate input methods, rendering and font technologies to meetthe user requirements.

4.
5.

6.
7.

8.
9.

Mappings to accepted sources, for example, other standards, dictionaries, accessible publishedmaterials.
Computerized/camera-ready font:Prior to the preparation of the final text of the next amendment or version of the standard asuitable computerized font (camera-ready font) will be needed. Camera-ready copy is mandatory
for final text of any pDAMs before the next revision. Ordered preference of the fonts is True Typeor PostScript format. The minimum design resolution for the fontis 96 by 96 dots matrix, forpresentation at or near 22 points in print size.
List of all the parties consulted.
Equivalent glyph images:
If the submission intends using composite sequences of proposed or existing combining and noncombining characters, a list consisting of each composite sequence and its corresponding glyph
image shall be provided to better understand the intended use.
Compatibility equivalents:
If the submission includes compatibility ideographic characters, identify the equivalent unified CJK
Ideograph character(s).
Any additional information that will assist in correct understanding of the different characteristics
and linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.

N2352-F
2001-09-04
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N25981.

Proposed character additions (shaded cells)
060

061

062

063

064

065

075

076

A

L



0

‫ݠ ݐ‬

0

 

1

 

2

B

M 

1

‫ݡ ݑ‬

2

 

3

C

N



2

‫ݢ ݒ‬

3

 

4

D O



3

‫ݣ ݓ‬

4



5

E P



4

‫ݤ ݔ‬

5

.

6

F Q



5

‫ݕ‬

‫ݥ‬

6

7 G R



6

‫ݖ‬

‫ݦ‬

7

8

H

S



7

‫ݗ‬

‫ݧ‬

8

9 I

T



8

‫ݘ‬

‫ݨ‬

9

:

J U

9

‫ݙ‬

‫ݩ‬

A

; K V 

A

‫ݚ‬

<





B

‫ݛ‬



C

‫ݜ‬

/

B

C

%

=



D

‫؍‬

>



D

‫ݝ‬

E

؎

‫؞‬

?



E

‫ݞ‬

F

؏

1

@



F

‫ݟ‬

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N25982.

Names list for character additions

Listing of file ArabicUTC95-names.txt; additions to the 0600 Arabic block
;
@@
0600
Arabic
06FF;@
Punctuation
061E
ARABIC TRIPLE DOT PUNCTUATION MARK;@
Other combining marks;;See Everson/Pournader's proposal L2/03-133R or N2581R2;0659
ARABIC ZWARAKAY;* Pashto;
065A
ARABIC VOWEL SIGN SMALL V ABOVE* African languages
065B
ARABIC VOWEL SIGN INVERTED SMALL V ABOVE* African languages
065C
ARABIC VOWEL SIGN DOT BELOW* African languages;; new Arabic Supplementary block
;
@@
0750
Arabic Supplementary
077F;@
Extended Arabic letters@+
These are primarily used in Arabic-script orthographies of African languages.
0750
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH THREE DOTS HORIZONTALLY BELOW
0751
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH DOT BELOW AND THREE DOTS ABOVE
0752
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTING UPWARDS BELOW
0753
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTING UPWARDS BELOW AND TWO DOTS ABOVE
0754
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH TWO DOTS BELOW AND DOT ABOVE
0755
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH INVERTED SMALL V BELOW
0756
ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH SMALL V
0757
ARABIC LETTER HAH WITH TWO DOTS ABOVE
0758
ARABIC LETTER HAH WITH THREE DOTS POINTING UPWARDS BELOW
0759
ARABIC LETTER DAL WITH TWO DOTS VERTICALLY BELOW AND SMALL TAH* Saraiki
075A
ARABIC LETTER DAL WITH INVERTED SMALL V BELOW
075B
ARABIC LETTER REH WITH STROKE THROUGH
075C
ARABIC LETTER SEEN WITH FOUR DOTS ABOVE* Shina075D
ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH TWO DOTS ABOVE
075E
ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH THREE DOTS POINTING DOWNWARDS ABOVE
075F
ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH TWO DOTS VERTICALLY ABOVE
0760
ARABIC LETTER FEH WITH TWO DOTS BELOW
0761
ARABIC LETTER FEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTING UPWARDS BELOW
0762
ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE* old Malay, preferred to 06AC
x (kaf with dot above - 06AC)
0763
ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE* Moroccan Arabic, Amazighx (arabic letter ng - 06AD)
0764
ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTING UPWARDS BELOW
0765
ARABIC LETTER MEEM WITH DOT ABOVE
0766
ARABIC LETTER MEEM WITH DOT BELOW* Maba0767
ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH TWO DOTS BELOW AND DOT ABOVE
0768
ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH DOT ABOVE AND SMALL TAH* Saraiki, Pathwari
0769
ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH SMALL V* Gojri

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N25983.

Discussion of the proposed additions

The proposed characters can be considered in several categories: a collection of letters that have beenused to extend Arabic script for various African languages; two gaf letters that merit individual discussion; several
additional letters used in South Asian languages; and a punctuation character traditionally used when writing
African languages in Arabic script.

3.1

North African extensions to Arabic script

The principal source of information concerning many of the characters proposed for encoding here is
Chtatou (1992). By way of general information on the languages involved, Chtatou writes:
FulfuldeThis language is also known by other names, mainly: Fula, Peul, Pular and Pulaar, and is spoken in
many countries … Fulfulde covers a larger geographical area than any other African language and, as aresult, is considered as one of the principal languages of Africa: it is spoken by between 12 and 15 million
people.
In the field of education, Fulfulde is used as a language of instruction in Guinea and Nigeria andthere are pilot-projects considering its use in the Gambia, Mauritania and Niger. In addition, it is used as alanguage of instruction at secondary school level for the first two years in Guinea and at the university levelin Nigeria. The language in question is used by the press and, as a result, two monthlies appear in it: one in
Mali with a circulation of 500 copies and another in Niger with 3000 copies.

Hausa
Geographically speaking, Hausa is less spread out than Fulfulde; it is one of the principal
languages of Africa, spoken by 40 million people … An intense literary activity involving this language has
been signaled mainly in the field of fiction and poetry. At the same time, the mass media have started using
it more and more; in fact, there are in this country [Nigeria] 3 weekly newspapers published in thislanguage. As for education, Hausa is optional at primary school level in Nigeria and obligatory at thesecondary school level. In Niger, on the other hand, there is a pilot project to use Hausa as a language of
instruction in secondary as well as in higher education.

SonghoyThis language is known as Zarma in Niger and Nigeria. Dendi, which is spoken in Benin, is
considered as the same language as Songhoy because of mutual intelligibility.
Songhoy is the second language in Niger, in terms of the number of speakers … in Mali it is thethird. A lot of research on this language is being conducted in various countries … in order to use it as ameans to undertake literacy programmes in these areas. As for education, Songhoy is utilized as a languageof instruction in the first three years of primary school. It is also taught at the university as an optional
subject.
This language is also used in the mass media with a monthly newspaper selling 500 copies in Beninand three other monthlies in Niger with a circulation of 3,000 copies for one and 1,000 copies each of theremaining two.

Wolof
This language is currently spoken in Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. It is considered in all
three countries as a community language. … In all three countries where it is used, there are several pilot
projects to use it as a language of instruction at the primary level of education; … As for literacy, there are
43,000 people in the Gambia who have been initiated to this language, which is written in the Arabic script.
There is a similar activity in Senegal, where the authorities use television to teach people to write thelanguage.

Chtatou then goes on to discuss the desire in several African countries to develop Arabic-script
orthographies for these languages:…in the wake of decolonization, the interest in these languages was revived and governments set
out to give them the status the deserve on a national level. … These languages were also used to promotemuch-needed literacy programmes for people of different ages. As for some countries of Muslim Africa,
their top priority was to devise for their languages an Arabic script in which they can be written so that thelanguage can be used for the purpose of promoting literacy…
Keen on the development of such a script for their languages, African governments approachedsuch international organizations as UNESCO and ISESCO … The first workshops were organized by UNESCO
through BREDA (Bureau Régional d’Education pour l’Afrique), and later on ISESCO joined in the effort andsponsored other workshops on the same topic.
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N2598The bulk of Chtatou’s work consists of reports on the writing conventions adopted at these workshops
during the late 1980s. The charts he shows of existing and proposed transcription systems (either already in use or
proposed as a result of the effort to standardize the writing systems) include a number of Arabic-script letters thatare not supported in Unicode. This proposal, therefore, aims to extend the UCS repertoire to include the African
characters documented in this study, as well as additional characters found in other African-language publications(see References).

3.1.1 Base (consonant) characters
The following 20 extended Arabic letters are found in the sources for African languages. All these
proposed characters are of General Category Lo; Combining Class 0; Bidi Type AL. The suggested codepoints arethose approved by the UTC in June 2003. (Gaps in the sequence of codepoints will be filled with characters
discussed in subsequent sections of this document.) These characters are placed in a proposed new Arabic
Supplementary block at U+0750, leaving the remaining spaces in the U+0600 block for Arabic-script diacritics,
punctuation, etc.
Glyph

‫ݐ‬
‫ݑ‬
‫ݒ‬
‫ݓ‬
‫ݔ‬
‫ݕ‬
‫ݖ‬
‫ݗ‬
‫ݘ‬
‫ݚ‬
‫ݛ‬
‫ݝ‬
‫ݞ‬
‫ݟ‬
ArabicUTC95.tex

CodeCharacter name

Shaping

See figures

0750

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH THREE DOTS HORIZONTALLY
BELOW

BEH

3, 7, 90751

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH DOT BELOW AND THREE
DOTS ABOVE

BEH

4, 7, 90752

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTINGUPWARDS BELOW

BEH

4, 7, 8, 10, 110753

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTINGUPWARDS BELOW AND TWO DOTS ABOVE

BEH

5

0754

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH TWO DOTS BELOW AND DOT
ABOVE

BEH

7, 8, 90755

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH INVERTED SMALL V BELOW

BEH

10

0756

ARABIC LETTER BEH WITH SMALL V

BEH

10

0757

ARABIC LETTER HAH WITH TWO DOTS ABOVE

HAH

2, 3, 7, 8

0758

ARABIC LETTER HAH WITH THREE DOTS POINTINGUPWARDS BELOW

HAH

8

075A

ARABIC LETTER DAL WITH INVERTED SMALL V BELOW

DAL

11

075B

ARABIC LETTER REH WITH STROKE THROUGH

REH

11

075D

ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH TWO DOTS ABOVE

AIN

2, 3, 7, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13

075E

ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH THREE DOTS POINTINGDOWNWARDS ABOVE

AIN

6, 8

075F

ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH TWO DOTS VERTICALLY
ABOVE

AIN

8

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N2598

‫ݠ‬
‫ݡ‬
‫ݤ‬
‫ݥ‬
‫ݦ‬
‫ݧ‬

0760

ARABIC LETTER FEH WITH TWO DOTS BELOW

FEH

3, 7, 8, 90761

ARABIC LETTER FEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTINGUPWARDS BELOW

FEH

11

0764

ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTINGUPWARDS BELOW

GAF

11

0765

ARABIC LETTER MEEM WITH DOT ABOVE

MEEM

3, 7

0766

ARABIC LETTER MEEM WITH DOT BELOW

MEEM

12, 130767

ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH TWO DOTS BELOW AND
DOT ABOVE

NOON

1, 11, 13

3.1.2 Vowel signs
Several new signs have been used in African languages to represent vowel sounds not present in standard
Arabic. The following three signs are proposed for encoding as combining characters in the Arabic block. The
codepoints shown here are are those approved by the UTC in June 2003. (Note that the ARABIC ZWARAKAY, as
proposed in L2/03-133 (Everson & Pournader 2003), is to be encoded at U+0659.)
Glyph





Code

Character name

GC

CC

Bidi

See figures

065A

ARABIC VOWEL SIGN SMALL V ABOVE

Mn

30

NSM

12, 13065B

ARABIC VOWEL SIGN INVERTED SMALL V ABOVE

Mn

30

NSM

12, 13065C

ARABIC VOWEL SIGN DOT BELOW

Mn

32

NSM

14, 15, 16, 17

3.1.3 Samples showing African characters
The consonant and vowel characters listed above are illustrated in the following samples from Chtatou(1992) and other sources.

Figure 1: Chtatou (1992), page 28. This also shows a

BEH WITH TWO DOTS VERTICALLY ABOVE RIGHT SIDE,

but it is unclear whether this needs to be
distinguished from U+067A, and it is therefore notproposed for encoding at this time.

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Figure 2: Chtatou (1992), page 29.

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N2598Figure 3: Chtatou (1992), page 34. This also shows a BEH WITH THREE DOTS POINTING DOWNWARDS ABOVE RIGHT SIDE,
but it is unclear whether this needs to be distinguished from U+067D, and it is therefore not proposed for encoding
at this time.

Figure 4: Chtatou (1992), page 39. The positioning of the dots over/under the right end of the base form, rather

than centrally, is considered to be an idiosyncrasy that does not merit separate encoding.

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N2598Figure 5: Chtatou (1992), page 42.

Figure 6: Chtatou (1992), page 43.

Figure 7: Chtatou (1992), page 45. It seems clear that the writer is making a conscious distinction between threedots in a horizontal row and three dots in a triangle formation here.

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N2598Figure 8: Chtatou (1992), page 47.

Figure 9: Chtatou (1992), page 50.

Figure 10: Chtatou (1992), page 54.

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N2598Figure 11: Chtatou (1992), page 58. Note that most of the characters shown in this chart are already encoded; only

the indicated ones are relevant to this proposal.

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N2598Figure 12: Nodjindaina et al (2002), pages 6–7.

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N2598Figure 13: Dahab et al (2002), page 19.

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N2598Figure 14: Addis (1963), page 9: see item 5 in list of vowel marks.

Figure 15: Chtatou (1992), page 40: see transcriptions for /e/. Results of Workshop on the formulation of astandardized system of transcription of Wolof and Pulaar, 16–21 March 1987, Dakar, Senegal.

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N2598Figure 16: Taylor (1929), page 26: see item 3 in table of vowel signs.

Figure 17: Taylor (1929), page 51: showing use of dot for /e/ in running text (Fulani), and triple-dot punctuation

mark (see section 3.4).

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N2598
3.2

Jawi and Moroccan GAF characters

The Arabic letter kaf, nominally representing a /k/ phoneme, has several clearly distinct graphical forms.
These derive from varying calligraphic traditions, and Arabic speakers understand them to be mere variations inthe style of writing a single letter. As such, all can be represented by a single encoded character, U+0643 ARABICLETTER KAF. Representative glyphs showing the three major forms of this letter, labeled A, B, and C, are shown infigure 18:

O  
A

B

C

Figure 18: Three forms of the Arabic letter kaf

O

Form A ( ) is the form most commonly used in current text fonts, and is appropriately chosen for the
representative glyph in the Unicode standard; it is also the form seen in typical charts of the Arabic alphabet, suchas figure 19:

Figure 19: From chart of the Arabic alphabet, Daniels & Bright (1996), page 560.

However, where the Arabic script has been adopted for writing non-Arabic languages, variations in form
that in Arabic were free variation or stylistic variants have sometimes been co-opted to make meaningful
distinctions that merit encoding as separate characters. A clear example of this can be seen in Sindhi, where twoforms of kaf are used as separate letters of the alphabet. The important phonemic distinction between /k/(unaspirated) and /kʰ/ (aspirated) is represented by using form C ( ) for /k/ and form B ( ) for /kʰ/, as shownin figure 20; the typical Arabic form A ( ) is not used in Sindhi.



O



Figure 20: From chart of the Sindhi alphabet, Daniels & Bright (1996), page 757.

To support the Sindhi usage (and other similar situations), we note that Unicode encodes the three kaf
forms separately as distinct characters:
Code
0643
06A9
06AA

Glyph

O



Name

Joining

ARABIC LETTER KAF

KAF

ARABIC LETTER KEHEH

GAF

ARABIC LETTER SWASH KAF

SWASH KAF

Figure 21: Forms of Arabic kaf encoded in Unicode 4.0(The name KEHEH used for U+06A9 is probably an attempt to transcribe the Sindhi name for the letter
representing aspirated /kʰ/.) Figure 21 also shows that Unicode assigns these three characters to distinct joining
groups, reflecting the fact that they are substantially different graphical forms and must each be shaped according
to a different pattern.
A similar example of the disunification of Arabic glyph variants to become distinct characters when used
for another language can be seen in the Urdu usage of the letter heh. Here, a contrast between and (and theirrelated linking forms) is consistently used to distinguish the independent letter /h/, written with , from

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N2598
aspiration of plosives and affricates, written with . Arabic speakers would consider these variants of a single
letter, but a clear distinction must be encoded for some other languages (and is therefore supported in Unicode).
Yet another example occurs with yeh: to an Arabic speaker, the formis merely a calligraphic variant of
the letter (or ). But in Urdu, the form
has been adopted to write the vowel /e/, while the form
represents /i/. This distinction must be encoded, and so Unicode includes U+06D2
as a separate character.
So we see that where there are clearly distinct graphical forms in existence for an Arabic letter, it may
well be appropriate to encode these forms separately. The fact that they originate as different calligraphic stylesof a single letter in the Arabic language does not mean that this interpretation is adequate for all languages andregions.
Given that Unicode encodes these three forms of kaf separately, it seems appropriate to treat modified
forms of kaf in a similar way. Where additional letters have been created by adding dots or other marks to anunderlying kaf, this has often been done to one specific form of the letter (or in Unicode terms, to one of the threecharacters U+0643, 06A9, 06AA), and substitution of a different base form may not be at all acceptable. This is clear,for example, in the case of the Persian and Urdu /ɡ/, written as U+06AF ; the added ‘bar’ that creates the letter
gaf can only be added to form B of the kaf.
The following two characters, representing gaf as written in different regions, are therefore proposed for
encoding; they are discussed individually following the summary table. Both share similar Unicode properties:
general category Lo; combining class 0; bidi type AL.

V

U





U





Glyph

‫ݢ‬
‫ݣ‬

Code

Character name

Shaping

See figures

0762

ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE

GAF

22, 240763

ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE

GAF

25, 26, 27, 28, 29

3.2.1 Jawi GAF
In the Jawi script (Arabic script used to write Malay), the /ɡ/ sound is written using a kaf with one dot
above. Such a character is encoded in Unicode at U+06AC ( ), with representative glyph based on form A of kaf.
However, the Jawi gaf is properly based on form B, not form A:Figure 22: From chart of the Jawi alphabet, Daniels & Bright (1996), page 761.

Note in figure 22 that form B is used as the basis for the /ɡ/ character, despite the fact that form A is used
for /k/. This is a characteristic of Jawi writing, and not an artifact of this particular book’s typography. Comparing
the chart for Uighur, found on the previous page, we see that in some cases form A is used as the base for amodified kaf; the use of form B in the Jawi chart is no accident.

Figure 23: From chart of the Uighur alphabet, Daniels & Bright (1996), page 760.

Figure 23 shows a form A kaf with three dots above, used for the /ŋ/ sound. Comparing this with the Jawi
chart, we see that new letters based on kaf may involve a deliberate choice of one of the three forms of kaf, which
may not be interchangeable or treated as glyph variants in this context.

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N2598All Jawi sources I have seen show the use of form B as the basis of the /ɡ/, even though form A is
commonly used for /k/. Figure 24 is taken from an introduction to the Jawi script published in Malaysia.

Figure 24: From Muhani (1998), page 6.



It is clear from the notes in the names list that the Unicode character U+06AC ( ) was encoded with theintent that it be used for Jawi /ɡ/; however, we see that the representative glyph shown in the code charts and thejoining group listed in ArabicShaping.txt are inappropriate for this purpose.
One possible response would be to change the glyph and the joining group of U+06AC to those expected in
Jawi, thus making this character suitable for its originally-intended purpose. However, given the tendency,
especially once modifying marks are added, for users to make a clear distinction between the different forms of kaf,
not considering them merely as glyph variants of a single character, this comes dangerously close to changing thefundamental identity of the character. Moreover, there can be no assurance that a character having the specificform A with a dot above has not been deliberately used in some context, given that it exists in the current standard.
The fact that the Arabic joining group is considered a normative property of the Unicode character also
weighs against the position that andcould be considered variants of the same character; they mustnecessarily have different joining groups. It is therefore proposed that a new character ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH
DOT ABOVE should be encoded, and a note added to U+06AC indicating that the new character is preferred for old
Malay.

‫ݢ‬

3.2.2 Moroccan GAF
Although standard Arabic does not write a /ɡ/ sound, in Morocco the use of a form B kaf with three dots
above is well established as the letter representing /ɡ/. Published literature is generally in standard Arabic, and assuch does not use this letter, but it is seen in other situations such as road signs, product labels, etc. It is also usedin writing the Amazigh languages of Morocco. The following photographs show examples of this letter used in
Moroccan Arabic:

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N2598Figure 26: Petrol pump, labeled ‘gasoil’ in Arabic
Figure 25: Street name in Arabic and Latin scripts.

script.

Figure 27: Medicine package ‘Megamag’, showing that the gaf is based on kaf form B.

Figure 28 is taken from the Royal Moroccan Academy’s new Amazigh dictionary, and shows the letter ininitial, medial, and isolated forms.

Figure 28: From Shafiq (1996), page 136; note the “makeshift” isolated gaf.

Close examination of figure 28 shows that the author did not have an appropriate character available, andtherefore used a standard kaf and added the three dots by hand. The isolated form is of particular interest, as here
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N2598the author deliberately added a kashida (extender) character in order to achieve an approximation of kaf form B, inpreference to simply adding the dots to the form A kaf which would otherwise have appeared.
A similar form is seen in Mauritanian texts, where a kaf written in shape B with three dots added is also
used to represent /ɡ/:Figure 29: From Norris (1968), page 73. Note contrasting basic shape used for final kaf and gaf.

Here again, the printer has been forced to make do with a limited selection of available glyphs, and theresults are instructive. The final and isolated forms of gaf are constructed by adding the ‘tail’ of a kaf (intended for
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N2598use in building form A) to a medial or initial kaf with three dots added, giving a result that resembles form B in
having the added bar on top, but also has the ‘flourish’ typical of form A. The importance of the ‘form B-ness’ of
this letter is evident when we note the trouble that has been taken to build it, in contrast to the simple form A used
for kaf itself (highlighted in blue in figure 29).
In initial and medial joined forms, this letter would be visually identical to U+06AD ARABIC LETTER NG.
However, in final and isolated forms the difference is clear; Moroccan /ɡ/ is consistently based on form B of kaf,even though form A is commonly used for the letter kaf itself. Given the clear distinction between these forms inusers’ minds; the fact that the forms andare not considered interchangeable, even where andareunderstood to be variants of the same letter kaf; and the different joining groups required, it is proposed that a
new character ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE should be encoded in the UCS to represent the
Moroccan/Amazigh gaf.





3.3

‫ݣ‬

O



South Asian extensions to Arabic script

The characters listed in this section have been used in writing several languages in the South Asia region;
examples of the use of each character in one or more languages are included, but these should not be interpreted
as representing the entire scope of use. It also seems likely that as additional minority languages in the same areas
establish orthographic conventions, they may adopt some of these characters.
Four characters from South Asian languages are proposed for encoding; they are discussed further inindividual subsections following the summary table. All share similar Unicode properties: general category Lo;
combining class 0; bidi type AL.
Glyph

‫ݙ‬
‫ݜ‬
‫ݨ‬
‫ݩ‬

Code

Character name

Shaping

See figures

0759

ARABIC LETTER DAL WITH TWO DOTS VERTICALLYBELOW AND SMALL TAH

DAL32, 33, 34

075C

ARABIC LETTER SEEN WITH FOUR DOTS ABOVE

SEEN

30, 310768

ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH DOT ABOVE AND SMALL
TAH

NOON

32, 33, 34, 35, 36

0769

ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH SMALL V

NOON37, 383.3.1 Retroflex DAL with two dots below
This character is used by Saraiki writers to represent an implosive retroflex /d/. Other Saraiki retroflexes
are written with a small TAH above, following Urdu (e.g., U+0679, U+0688); other implosives are written with two
dots vertically below, following Sindhi practice (e.g., U+067B, U+06B3). The natural tendency for a writer needing
to write an implosive retroflex /d/, then, is to add the dots below a character like U+0688. Examples can readily befound in Saraiki newspapers and other books.

3.3.2 SEEN with four dots above
Writers of the Shina language in Kashmir, needing to write a retroflex /s/ letter, have adopted theconvention of using a letter based on SHEEN but with four dots in place of three.
As a pattern of four dots is not normally seen in the area (though it does occur in southern Pakistanilanguages such as Sindhi; see U+067F, U+0680, etc.), some writers have tended to replace the four dots with two
horizontal lines. This is seen in some of the examples (below). However, as it is common in handwritten script tosee horizontal pairs of dots written as a single line, it seems appropriate to consider this a glyph or stylistic
variation, encoding the character as SEEN WITH FOUR DOTS and leaving it to font designers to determine whether tooffer glyphs with the dots replaced by lines. (It does appear from Taj (1989) that some writers specifically choose
to write the retroflex /s/ with horizontal lines, even when well-formed dots are used on other letters.
Nevertheless, it seems clear that the form with four dots and that with two lines are glyph variants of the sameunderlying character.)
It may be noted that Akbar (1985) also shows a character with the form of HAH WITH FOUR DOTS ABOVE
used by a Shina writer (to represent the phoneme /ts/). The information currently available suggests that thisArabicUTC95.tex

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N2598character has not been as widely adopted as the others shown here, with other writers using U+0685 or U+0697 forthis sound, so the case for adding it to the UCS repertoire may be less clear-cut, at least until further data is
obtained.

3.3.3 Retroflex NOON with dot
A number of languages use this character to represent a retroflex /n/. The use of a small TAH as part of an
Arabic-script letter to indicate retroflexion is derived from Urdu usage, but Urdu itself does not have a retroflex/n/.
Sindhi has this sound, and writes it with a NOON where the dot is replaced by the small TAH (rather than
the small TAH being added, while retaining the dot as well). However, this is not an option in languages where theorthography is based on Urdu, as the initial and medial forms would be indistinguishable from the retroflex /t/(U+0679). Writers of such languages have therefore devised this letter, which is not yet encoded in Unicode.
To reduce the likelihood of confusion with the Sindhi retroflex /n/ letter (encoded as U+06BB ARABICLETTER RNOON), the suggested name explicitly mentions the presence of the dot in this character; a name such as
NOON WITH SMALL TAH might be taken to imply that the small TAH replaces the dot instead of being an addition,
which would result in a character identical to U+06BB.

3.3.4 NOON with small V
The Gojri community is found in both India and Pakistan, and there has been a significant amount ofliterature published in both countries from the 1980s onwards. While there has been some variation inorthographic conventions, there is widespread use of a NOON WITH SMALL V to represent the retroflex nasal
consonant. (Gojri writers also use a LAM WITH SMALL V, as seen in the examples, but this is already encoded at
U+06B5.)
Phonologically, this character is used (at least in the Gojri language) to write the same sound as Sindhi
RNOON or the NOON WITH DOT AND SMALL TAH proposed here, but it clearly represents a distinct choice ofextended-Arabic character for this sound; the SMALL V and SMALL TAH show two different conventions for thecreation of new Arabic-script letters. The fact that the phoneme being written may be the same is irrelevant to theencoding of the written characters.

3.3.5 Samples showing South Asian characters
The examples shown here are drawn largely from books and newspapers published in Pakistan (an Indian
example is also included), written in Shina, Saraiki, Pathwari, and Gojri. However, it can be expected that as
literacy becomes more widespread among minority language communities in South Asia, many of these writing
conventions may be “borrowed” by neighboring communities. The languages cited here serve to demonstrate theneed to encode these characters, but should not be assumed to be the only users of them.

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N2598Figure 31: Taj (1989), page 29 (Shina): examples of

SEEN WITH FOUR DOTS ABOVE written using two lines

in place of four dots (a practice also used for otherfour-dot letters in this book)Figure 30: Akbar (1985), page 221 (Shina).

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N2598Figure 32: Mughal (1994), pages 12-13 (Saraiki).

Figure 33: Saraiki poem printed in Daily Jhoke, 29 January 2002. The small size of the added TAH and TWO DOTS on

the special Saraiki letters arises because these letters are not supported in Urdu software used to produce thisnewspaper, so these have been added manually. A similar size anomaly can be seen in the dots under BEEH
(U+067B) in line 2 of the poem; this character is also not available in the Urdu font used, so the Urdu BEH (with onedot) has been typed, and a second dot added manually.

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N2598Figure 34: Bhaya (1984), introductory page explaining special Saraiki letters

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N2598Figure 35: Chitka (n.d.), inside front cover and page 20 (Pathwari). The alphabet chart also shows a second“modified NOON” character, but it is unclear whether this form can be considered well enough established forstandardization.

Figure 36: Mehmood (2001), extract from page 41 (Pathwari).

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N2598Figure 37: Azeem (1996), unnumbered page (Gojri).

3.4

Figure 38: Afaqi (n.d.), page 57 (Gojri).

Triple-dot Arabic punctuation markTraditional orthographic practice when writing African languages such as Hausa, Wolof, Fulani,
Mandinka, etc., in Arabic script includes the use of a characteristic punctuation mark as a “stop”. This markconsists of three dots in a triangle, similar to the pattern of dots found on Arabic letters such as THEH and SHEEN,
but used independently as a punctuation mark.
Although there is some suggestion that this mark is falling out of favor, with present-day writers tending
to use more Latin-like punctuation, its widespread use in older texts appears to justify its encoding.
The following character is therefore proposed for addition to the UCS, with a suggested code value of
U+061E:
Glyph

Code

Character name

GC

CC

Bidi

See figures

‫؞‬

061E

ARABIC TRIPLE DOT PUNCTUATION MARK

Po

0

AL

17, 39, 40, 41

The character properties proposed here are analogous to those of other Arabic-script punctuation marks
such as U+061B and U+06D4.
This character should be treated similarly to the other punctuation marks in collation; it is suggested thatit be given a primary weight such that it sorts after U+06D4 ARABIC FULL STOP by default, although this is a rather
arbitrary choice. The collation weight can of course be tailored as needed if a different behavior is desired in any
particular language.
The following figures show examples of the use of this character.

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N2598Figure 39: Addis (1963), extract from page 13.

Figure 40: Piłaszewicz (1992), page 168. Many examples of the proposed character.

Figure 41: Taylor (1929), extract from page 33.
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N25984.

References

Addis, R. T. 1963. A study on the writing of Mandinka in Arabic script. [SOAS library, London: call # LY Mandingo
A/574203]
Afaqi, Dr. Sabir. n.d. Pegham-in-qalab. Pakistan. [Gojri poetry]
Akbar, Akbar Hussain. 1985. Sumulo Rasuul (Holy Prophet). Islamabad, Pakistan: Modern Book Depot.
Azeem, Iqbal Chaudhry, ed. 1996. Sheeraza. Srinagar: Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.
[Gojri periodical]
Bhaya, Bashir Ahmad. 1984, revised 1998. Saraiki quaid te zubandani [Saraiki, father of languages]. Bahawalpur,
Pakistan: Saraiki Adabi Majlis.
Chitka Committee. n.d. Pathwari/Pahari nã pahala qaidah [First Pathwari/Pahari primer]. Jhelum, Pakistan: Praala
Publishers.
Chtatou, Mohamed. 1992. Using Arabic script in writing the languages of the peoples of Muslim Africa. Rabat: Institute ofAfrican Studies. [Reports on a series of workshops held in several countries to work towards
standardization of Arabic-script orthographies for major African languages.]
Dahab, Abdoulay Ali, Abdoulay Issakha, Badour Adbelkerim and Evodie Zürcher. 2002. Kitab aafe kiraa naa [Livret
sur la santé]. Abéché: Projet de développement de la langue maba. [Simple health booklet in the Maba
language of Chad, Arabic script edition.]
Daily Jhoke. Multan, Pakistan. [Saraiki daily newspaper]
Daniels, Peter T. and William Bright (eds). 1996. The world’s writing systems. New York/Oxford: OUP.
Kew, Jonathan. 2002. Proposal for extensions to the Arabic block. L2/02-274.
. 2003. Proposal to encode Arabic triple dot punctuation mark. L2/03-159.
. 2003. Proposal to encode Arabic-script letters for African languages. L2/03-168.
. 2003. Proposal to encode Jawi and Moroccan Arabic GAF characters. L2/03-176.
. 2003. Draft chart showing UTC #95 additions to Arabic blocks. L2/03-210.
Mansour, Kamal. 2003. http://www.bisharat.net/A12N/Afro-Arabic_Symbols.pdf. [A collection of glyphs designed
for African-language use; it is unclear in some cases whether actual use is established.]
Mehmood, Tariq. 2001. Sayana gidhar [Clever jackal]. Jhelum, Pakistan: Praala Publishers.
Mughal, Shaukat. Saraiki qaidah [Saraiki primer]. Multan, Pakistan: Saraiki Isha’ati Idarah.
Muhani, Hj. Abdul Ghani. 1988. Teman pelajar Jawi. Petaling Jaya (Malaysia): Fajar Bakti.
Nodjindaina, Jean-Bosco, Gami Ssane Mogaye, Mbanji Bawe Ernest, Susan Rose and Matt Day (illus.). 2002. Erniŋe
kadade-naanu (Ernime) [Les animaux sauvages de la brousse]. 2ème édition révisée. N’Djaména/Abéché:Association SIL. [Picture book of animals and birds of the Maba area, Chad.]
Norris, H. T. 1968. Shinqiti folk literature and song. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Piłaszewicz, Stanisław. 1992. The Zabarma conquest of north-west Ghana and Upper Volta: A Hausa narrative “Histories ofSamory and Babatu and others” by Mallam Abu. Warsaw: PWN—Polish Scientific Publishers.
Shafiq, Muḥammad (ed). 1990. al-Muʿjam al-ʿArabi al-Amazighi. Rabat: Akadimiyat al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah[Royal Moroccan Academy].
Taj, Abdul Khaliq. 1989. Shina qaidah [Shina primer]. Gilgit, Pakistan: Muhammad Book Stall.
Taylor, F. W. 1929. Fulani-Hausa readings in the native scripts: With transliterations and translations. Oxford: OUP.

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