Dear all, The conclusion we can draw from this discussion is not exactly what I had in mind, but that's ok. I think , for now most of us agree that farsi yeh is probably the best code point to encode the yeh in the Quran. Just for your info, let me quote from the following document: http://www.nic.ps/idns/egypt.pdf "Regarding this debate, we referred to Arabic linguistic experts and to the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo (Magmaa Al Logha Al Arabia), which is the Egyptian authority in charge of the Arabic language. We were advised that YEH, in its form at the end of the word with dots below, is not an original Arabic letter, rather it was added to the language in some Arab countries, then it spread to other parts of the Arab world. The dots below were added to differentiate the YEH, at word endings, from the ALEF MAKSOURA, which was historically written with SUPERSCRIPT ALEF (U+0670) above. This is supported by the fact that old publications and manuscripts have no occurrence of the letter YEH (U+064A), written at the end of the word with dots below. Therefore we recommend ADN not to support folding, except the folding of YEH (U+064A) at the end of the word to ALEF MAKSOURA (U+0649)."
That's seems like a farsi yeh to me. Anyway, as Tom mentioned, if we have a good Locale system, we can actually use 64A, without worrying about the dots, isn't that right, Tom? Unfortunately, we don't have that ATM. However, to me, there are still 2 issues remaining. Yeh with hamza above/below and alef maksura. 1. I would prefer to use 626 for the first case, since it does not, actually represent yeh. So, probably it is a good idea to use a different code for it. Also, if we were to use 649 + hamza above/below, that is probably creates problems for the definition for alef maksura (problem 2). 2. I'm still not satisfied with the definition of alef maksura. Is alef, or yeh, or depends on the context? Is it true as what Greg mentioned, it is not just the dotless yeh with alef sound, but sometimes it is written as alefs? If alef maksura only at the end of words, or it can happen in the middle as well? Does it always wirtten with small alef, as the above document describe? To solve this probem, I think we need the following information: 1. List of common words that uses alef maksura and how it changes when combine with suffixes/prefixes. 2. Investigate any other use of dotless yeh in initial/medial position other than in combination with small alef and hamza. 3. To define what is exactly dotless yeh with small alef in initial/medial position. What do you guys think? Regards.
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