Salaam Mohammed, > I agree with you that since sequential fathatan > are only used > in the Qur'an, the font can assume that the needed > character > is the one in the image. > But my point is that they have to consistent with > the regular > fathatan. > If I typed regular fathatan and then Alef, How can > the font > decide if I want the form like in the image (where > the fathatan > is as high as the end of the Alef), or the > expected form for > regular text (where the fathatan is *just* above > the previous > character not as high as the end of the Alef).
The phenomenon you are referring to - the variance in the absolute positioning of superscript alef - is not a graphemic matter, it is a calligraphic matter. The typeface used in the King Fuad codex prefers to position the superscript alef there whereas in other codices the position the superscript alef may be slightly different, and in regular everyday Arabic text it can be just above the previous character. These are calligraphic style issues. Unicode does not encode calligraphic data, it encodes character data (or graphemic data). Font designers design different fonts for different calligraphic styles. There are fonts for Naskh - and there are many variances of Naskh - Nastaliq, Riqaa, Kufic, and other calligraphic styles. The difference between these calligraphic styles is not recorded at the encoding level (i.e. Unicode level). These differences are recorded at the font level (i.e. the rendering domain). Unicode is not meant for encoding calligraphic data. In order to render Unicode Quran text 'exactly' like the popular Quran mushaf that you find in your home (King Fuad or the handwritten clone printed by QuranComplex) you have to design a font typeface that is exactly like it. And this typeface will have differences from the typefaces found in the Ottoman, Maghribi, or Rushdi Quran mushafs. Personally for me, it is not crucial to design a typeface that is exactly like the King Fuad mushaf. The Quran is not dependent on the calligraphic style used to write it, it is the content that matters most to me. But I also see value in designing a typeface that is like the King Fuad Quran since that is what people are familiar with. > But in anyway, I didn't mean to offend you, we are > all busy but > this issue is extremely important to me and I want > my reply to > be reasonable that's why they are long, if I write > short replies, > you will find them incomplete. I understand. Yes the need to encode the Quran in Unicode is also an extremely important issue for me too. Insha'Allah we can propose a proper solution to this problem together. Kind regards, Mete _______________________________________________ General mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.arabeyes.org/mailman/listinfo/general
