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L2/20-071RProposaltoencodeanArabictailcharacterusedforabbreviationRoozbehPournader(WhatsApp)andBornaIzadpanah(UniversityofReading)May1,2020

BackgroundOneoftheauthors,BornaIzadpanah,isaresearcherintothehistoryofArabicscriptprintingandtypography.Theotherauthor,RoozbehPournader,“discovered”thecharacterproposedhereinapresentationgivenbyBornaIzadpanahatISType2019.Furtherresearchledtofindingseveralmoreexamplesoftheproposedcharacter.Sofar,thischaracterhasbeenobservedinseveralofthepublicationsbythefirstprintingpressinTehran,knownasChap-eMo’tamediorMo’tamediImprint,establishedin1820s.ThemetaltypeswithwhichthesepublicationswereprintedweremostlikelydesignedinIranbyIranians.ThesetypeswerebasedonthePersianflavoroftheNaskhstyle.EncodingthecharacterwouldhelpinthedigitizationeffortsofearlyPersianmovabletypeprintinginIran.

ProposalEncodethefollowingcharacterintheUnicodeStandard:

Glyph Codepoint Name

088E ARABICVERTICALTAIL

Theproposedcharacterpropertiesfollow:UnicodeData.txt 088E; ARABIC VERTICAL TAIL;Lo;0;AL;;;;;N;;;;; ArabicShaping.txt 088E; VERTICAL TAIL; R; VERTICAL TAIL AllotherpropertiesshouldbesimilartoU+08ACARABICLETTERROHINGYAYEH.

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SuggestionforNamesLists.txt088E ARABICVERTICALTAIL

*UsedanabbreviationmarkerinearlyPersianmovabletypeprintinginIran;onlyobservedinfinalform

AnalysisThecharacterissimilarinfunctiontoanabbreviationperiodinEnglish.Itdenotesthattherestofthewordorphraseismissing,andthatthereaderisexpectedtofigureoutthemissingpartfromthecontext.Intheexamplesofusageprovided,wehavementionedthefullphraseinthecaptions.ThisabbreviationmarkershouldpredatePersiantypography,sinceitalsoexistsinmodernUrduhonorificswhichdon’tseemtohaveaclearrelationtoearlyPersiantypography.TheUrduhonorificshavemovedabovethebaselinethough,ascanbeseeninalreadyencodedcharacterssuchasU+0611 ARABICSIGNALAYHEASSALLAM,seenhereinasamplefromL2/01-426:

Weexpectthatovertime,moreexamplesoftheproposedcharacterwillbefound,includinginlineusageinolderUrdutexts.Notethevisibletoothaftertheaininthesampleabove,whichsignifiesthatthisisnotacutisolatedain(oranotherkindofmodifiedain),butaninitialainfollowedbytheabbreviationmarker.ThisisincontrastwiththecutainseenintheUrduequivalentofAnnoDomini,whichlookslikeahamzatotheuntrainedeye,butisindeedacutisolatedain,shortfor یوس"ع (“ofJesus”).Here’sanexamplefromTheUnicodeStandard,Version13.0,page372,Figure9-6:

TheproposedcharacterhassomesimilaritywithU+FE73ARABICTAILFRAGMENT(seeL2/01-095).Butthatcharactercamefromlegacycharactersetsthatdidnothaveautomatic

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shapingandisonlyexpectedtooccurnexttootherpresentationformsthatdon’thaveautomaticshapingeither.Ourproposedcharactershouldinsteadbeencodedasanormalshapingcharacter,sothatitcancomeafternormalArabiclettersandaffecttheirshapes.Weconsiderthecharacterproposedheretobeaseparatecharacterwithclearsemanticandorthographicdistinctionsandnotamodificationoftheletterbeforeit.Webelieveitisaletter-likeshapingcharacterwhichhasbeenusedproductivelyincombinationswithotherletters.Theoretically,insteadofonecharacter,morecharacterscouldbeencoded:asadfollowedbyatail,anainfollowedbyatail,etc.Butconsideringthat:

1. Theproposedcharacterisaseparatepieceofwriting(andaseparatepieceoftype,ascanbeseeninFigure5)withnosemanticrelationtoitspreviousletterexceptforhappeningtooccurafterit;and

2. Weexpectexamplesofthecharactertobefoundafterotherletters,suchasafterdad(asusedinU+0613ARABICSIGNRADIALLAHOUANHU),andwedon’twanttoturnthisintoa“Where’sWaldo?”chaseacrosshard-to-findearlyPersianbooksandmanuscripts,withproposalafterproposaltocomewhenwefindnewexamples;

WethinkitservestheUnicodeStandardbetterifitisencodedasasinglecharacter.Anotherobjectionmaybethatthismaynotbeaplaintextcharacter,butanadvancedtypographicfeature,comparabletoaswash.Consideringthatthecharacterhasaveryclearsemanticvalueandremovingitfromtheplaintextrepresentationresultsinunreadableandmeaninglesswordssuchas

عتقح ,aswellasnoticingthatthesampletextsotherwisecontainnotypographicoraestheticfeaturewithsemanticvalue,werejectthatanalysis.Wehaveonlyobservedtheproposedcharacterinitsfinalform.Wedon’tknowifiteveroccursinisolatedform.Inthisway,it’ssimilartoU+08ACARABICLETTERROHINGYAYEH(seeL2/10-288R).Ifadesignforthenot-yet-observedisolatedformisdesired,itcouldlooklikethefinalformwithnoright-sideconnection.Samplesofusage

Figure1.Theproposedcharacteroccurringaftersad,followingareferencetotheprophetMuhammadtorepresentthehonorific ه/لع - +ص oroneofitsvariationssuchas هلآ و ه1لع - +ص or

ملس و ه1لع - +ص or ملس و هلآ و ه1لع - +ص .FromMajlesi1825,page71.

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Figure2.Theproposedcharacteroccurringaftersad,followingareferencetotheprophetMuhammad,torepresentthehonorific ه/لع - +ص oritsvariations.FromMajlesi1825,page71.

Figure3.Theproposedcharacteroccurringaftersad,followingareferencetotheprophetMuhammad,torepresentthehonorific ه/لع - +ص oritsvariations.FromMajlesi1825,page56.

Figure4.Theproposedcharacteroccurringafterain,followingareferencetoAli,torepresentthehonorific مالسلا ه/لع .FromMajlesi1825,page71.

Figure5.Theproposedcharacteroccurringafterain,followingthenameofFatimah,torepresentthehonorific مالسلا ا;یلع .FromMajlesi1825,page72.Notethegapbetweenainandthetail,showingthatthiswasmostprobablyadifferentpieceoftype.

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Figure6.Theproposedcharacteroccurringafterain,followingthenameofHusaynibnAli,torepresentthehonorific مالسلا ه/لع .FromMajlesi1825,page53.

Figure7.Theproposedcharacteroccurringattheendofaword-likephrase,hah-qaf-teh-ain,asanabbreviationforthephrase @اعت قح whichisanameofGod.FromMajlesi1825,page72.

Figure8.Theproposedcharacteroccurringattheendofaword-likephrase,hah-qaf-teh-ain,asanabbreviationforthephrase @اعت قح .FromMajlesi1825,page56.

Figure9.Theproposedcharacteroccurringattheendofaword-likephrase,hah-qaf-teh-ain,asanabbreviationforthephrase @اعت قح .FromMajlesi1843,lastpage.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999,page215.

Figure10.Theproposedcharacteroccurringafterain,followingareferencetoAli,torepresentthehonorific مالسلا ه/لع .FromVa’ezHeravi1845,page37.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999,page242.

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Figure11.Theproposedcharacteroccurringafterain,followingthenameofHusaynibnAli,torepresentthehonorific مالسلا ه/لع .FromVa’ezHeravi1845,page168.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999,page243.

Figure12.Theproposedcharacteroccurringtwiceaftersad,followingreferencestotheprophetMuhammad,torepresentthehonorific ه/لع - +ص oritsvariations.FromNaraghi1832,lastpage.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999,page231.Thismaybealigatedform,sincethesadsappeartohavelosttheirteeth.

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Figure13.Theproposedcharacteroccurringeighttimesonasinglepage,aftersadandain,aswellastheword-likephrase,hah-qaf-teh-ain.FromMajlesi1845,lastpage.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999,page246.

Bibliography

1. ShahlaBabazadeh.1999.TheHistoryofPrintinginIran(Taarikh-eChaapdarIraan).Tehran:Tahoori.ISBN964-6414-08-7.

2. IBMEgyptandtheUnicodeConsortium.2001.“Proposaltoadd"ArabicTailFragment"character.”UTCDocumentRegisterL2/01-095,TheUnicodeConsortium.https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2001/01095-N2322-ArabicTail.pdf

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3. BornaIzadpanah.2019.“TheemergenceofprintinginQajarIran.”PresentedJune15,2019atIstanbulTypographyConference(ISType).VideopostedtoYouTubeonSep8,2019.https://youtu.be/n67bRO3PYBs

4. JonathanKew.2001.“ProposaltoaddArabic-scripthonorificsandothermarks:Appendix”.UTCDocumentRegisterL2/01-425,TheUnicodeConsortium.https://unicode.org/L2/L2001/01426-arabic_marks_examples.pdf

5. Mohammad-BagherMajlesi.1825(1240AH).Jalaa’al-’Ayun.Tehran:Mo’tamediImprint.FromthepersonalcollectionofBornaIzadpanah.

6. Mohammad-BagherMajlesi.1843(1259AH).Haqqol-Yaqin.Tehran:ZeynolabedinTabrizi.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999.

7. Mohammad-BagherMajlesi.1845(1261AH).Hayaatol-Qolub.Tehran:MohammadEsmail,Mo’tamediImprint.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999.

8. MehdiNaraghi.1832(1247AH).Moharreqal-Qolub.Tehran:ZeynolabedinTabriziofMo’tamediImprint.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999.

9. LornaA.PriestandMartinHosken.2010.“ProposaltoaddArabicscriptcharactersforAfricanandAsianlanguages.”UTCDocumentRegisterL2/10-288R,TheUnicodeConsortium.https://unicode.org/L2/L2010/10288r-arabic-proposal.pdf

10. TheUnicodeConsortium.2020.TheUnicodeStandard.Version13.0—CoreSpecification.MountainView,CA:TheUnicodeConsortium.ISBN978-1-936213-26-9.https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode13.0.0/UnicodeStandard-13.0.pdf

11. Ata’ollahVa’ezHeravi.1845(1261AH).Mokhtaarnaameh=Rowzatol-Mojaahedin.Tehran:Abdolkarim.ReproducedinBabazadeh1999.

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ISO/IECJTC1/SC2/WG2PROPOSALSUMMARYFORMTOACCOMPANYSUBMISSIONSFORADDITIONSTOTHEREPERTOIREOFISO/IEC10646

A.Administrative

1.Title:ProposaltoencodeanArabictailcharacterusedforabbreviation2.Requester’sname:RoozbehPournaderandBornaIzadpanah3.RequesterType:ExpertContribution4.Submissiondate:May1,20205.Requester’sreference,ifapplicable:N/A6.Chooseoneofthefollowing: Thisisacompleteproposal:Yes (or)Moreinformationwillbeprovidedlater:No

B.Technical–General

1.Chooseoneofthefollowing: a.Thisproposalisforanewscript(setofcharacters):No Proposednameofscript:N/A b.Theproposalisforadditionofcharacter(s)toanexistingblock:Yes Nameofexistingblock:ArabicExtended-B2.Numberofcharactersinproposal:13.Proposedcategory:D-AttestedExtinct4.Isarepertoireincludingcharacternamesprovided?Yes

a.IfYES,arethenamesinaccordancewiththe“characternamingguidelines”inAnnexLofP&Pdocument?Yesb.Arethecharactershapesattachedinalegibleformsuitableforreview?Yes

5.Fontsrelated:a.WhowillprovidetheappropriatecomputerizedfonttotheProjectEditorof10646forpublishingthestandard?BornaIzadpanahb.Identifythepartygrantingalicenseforuseofthefontbytheeditors(includeaddress,e-mail,ftp-site,etc.):BornaIzadpanah

6.References:a.Arereferences(toothercharactersets,dictionaries,descriptivetextsetc.)provided?Nob.Arepublishedexamplesofuse(suchassamplesfromnewspapers,magazines,orothersources)ofproposedcharactersattached?Yes.

7.Specialencodingissues:Doestheproposaladdressotheraspectsofcharacterdataprocessing(ifapplicable)suchasinput,presentation,sorting,searching,indexing,transliterationetc.(ifyespleaseendorseinformation)?Yes.

8.Additionalinformation:SubmittersareinvitedtoprovideanyadditionalinformationaboutPropertiesoftheproposedCharacter(s)orScriptthatwillassistincorrectunderstandingofandcorrectlinguisticprocessingoftheproposedcharacter(s)orscript.Examplesofsuchpropertiesare:Casinginformation,Numericinformation,Currencyinformation,Displaybehaviourinformationsuchaslinebreaks,widthsetc.,Combiningbehaviour,Spacingbehaviour,Directionalbehaviour,DefaultCollation

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behaviour,relevanceinMarkUpcontexts,CompatibilityequivalenceandotherUnicodenormalizationrelatedinformation.SeetheUnicodestandardathttp://www.unicode.orgforsuchinformationonotherscripts.AlsoseeUnicodeCharacterDatabase(http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr44/)andassociatedUnicodeTechnicalReportsforinformationneededforconsiderationbytheUnicodeTechnicalCommitteeforinclusionintheUnicodeStandard.

C.Technical-Justification

1.Hasthisproposalforadditionofcharacter(s)beensubmittedbefore?NoIfYESexplain:N/A

2.Hascontactbeenmadetomembersoftheusercommunity(forexample:NationalBody,usergroupsofthescriptorcharacters,otherexperts,etc.)?Yes

IfYES,withwhom?Thesecondauthorispartoftheusercommunity,anexpertresearcherstudyingthehistoryoftheArabicscriptprintingandtypography

IfYES,availablerelevantdocuments:N/A3.Informationontheusercommunityfortheproposedcharacters(forexample:size,demographics,informationtechnologyuse,orpublishinguse)isincluded?Yes

Reference:4.Thecontextofusefortheproposedcharacters(typeofuse;commonorrare):Rare

Reference:5.Aretheproposedcharactersincurrentusebytheusercommunity?No

IfYES,where?N/AReference:

6.AftergivingdueconsiderationstotheprinciplesintheP&PdocumentmusttheproposedcharactersbeentirelyintheBMP?Yes

IfYES,isarationaleprovided?Yes.Needstobenexttosimilarcharacters.IfYES,reference:

7.Shouldtheproposedcharactersbekepttogetherinacontiguousrange(ratherthanbeingscattered)?N/A8.Cananyoftheproposedcharactersbeconsideredapresentationformofanexistingcharacterorcharactersequence?No

IfYES,isarationaleforitsinclusionprovided?N/AIfYES,reference:N/A

9.Cananyoftheproposedcharactersbeencodedusingacomposedcharactersequenceofeitherexistingcharactersorotherproposedcharacters?No

IfYES,isarationaleforitsinclusionprovided?N/AIfYES,reference:N/A

10.Cananyoftheproposedcharacter(s)beconsideredtobesimilar(inappearanceorfunction)to,orcouldbeconfusedwith,anexistingcharacter?Yes

IfYES,isarationaleforitsinclusionprovided?Yes.Seeproposal.IfYES,reference:Seeproposal.

11.Doestheproposalincludeuseofcombiningcharactersand/oruseofcompositesequences?No

IfYES,isarationaleforsuchuseprovided?N/AIfYES,reference:N/A

Isalistofcompositesequencesandtheircorrespondingglyphimages(graphicsymbols)provided?N/A

IfYES,reference:N/A

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12.Doestheproposalcontaincharacterswithanyspecialpropertiessuchascontrolfunctionorsimilarsemantics?No

IfYES,describeindetail(includeattachmentifnecessary):N/A13.DoestheproposalcontainanyIdeographiccompatibilitycharacters?No

IfYES,aretheequivalentcorrespondingunifiedideographiccharactersidentified?N/AIfYES,reference:N/A