See the lexicon

General Script Characteristics

Shape

rectangular

Internal Structure

stacked

tight interwoven

large presence of positive space

sinuous

Groups of Characters Baseline

irregular undulations

oblique

Character Spacing

regular spaces between characters

Ligature

Conventional - curvilinear

Shading / Contrast

medium contrast

Letter Morphology

Point

inclined square

Ascenders

Alif Ascenders

alif - bevelled head

alif - top right serif

alif - shaft tapers from thick to thin

Lām Ascenders

lām - vertical

lām - bevelled head

lām - top right serif

lām - shaft tapers from thick to thin

Kāf Ascenders

initial medial and final elongated (mabsūṭah)

medial, initial vertical shaft

final vertical shaft

no top arm and superscript kāf

ṭā' ẓā' ascenders

rounded body

vertical shaft no serif

Descenders

wāw descenders

circular ascending tail

wāw - long flattened, tapered tail

rā' zā' descenders

rā'/zā' - long flattened, tapered tail

rā'/zā' - s-shape ending in ascending hairline

mīm descenders

mīm - s-shape ending in ascending hairline

nūn sīn shīn sādḍād yā’ lām and qāf descenders

deep bowl ending in ascending hairline

deep bowl

nūn, sīn/shīn, sād/ḍād, yā', lām, qāf - curvilinear flattened bowl

yā’ al-rāji’ah descenders

backward horizontal stroke

horizontals

bāʾ tāʾ thāʾ fāʾ kāf horizontals

bāʾ, tāʾ, thāʾ, fāʾ, kāf - curvilinear flattened bowl

denticles

sīn shīn denticles

rounded base denticles

counters

hā' counters

isolated one-eyed round (mu'arrāh)

final s-shape with upstroke hairline

medial swollen double-eyed top and bottom (mulawwazah)

initial / medial rounded double eyed (wajh al-hirr)

fā' qāf wāw counters

rounded head

medial 'ain ghayn counters

compact inverted triangle / open or closed eye

mīm counters

circular head

Other

additional characteristics

Vertical elongation

Shafts are lengthened in the ascenders letters, like alif, mim, ta, tha...