See the lexicon

General Script Characteristics

Shape

rectangular

Internal Structure

tight interwoven

Line of Writing

horizontal

broken

Groups of Characters Baseline

oblique

one group of characters underpins the next

Character Spacing

irregular spaces between characters

irregular spaces between groups of words

Elongated Letters

lām bowl

nūn, sīn/shīn, sād/ḍād, yā’, lām and qāf bowl

Shading / Contrast

medium contrast

Letter Morphology

Point

inclined square

Ascenders

Alif Ascenders

alif - vertical

alif - top right serif

alif - foot with left spur

Lām Ascenders

lām - vertical

lām - top right serif

Kāf Ascenders

initial /medial compact form rounded body

rounded body, long top flat arm

medial and final elongated (mabsūṭah)

top arm long diagonal stroke

Descenders

wāw descenders

wāw - rounded tail

wāw - crescent tail

rā' zā' descenders

rā'/zā' - s-shaped

hooked tail

nūn sīn shīn sādḍād yā’ lām and qāf descenders

shallow bowl

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

jīm ḥāʾ khā' and ‘ain ghayn descenders

semicircular backward tail

opening horizontal

yā’ al-rāji’ah descenders

backward horizontal stroke

final downward spur

denticles

sīn shīn denticles

short denticles

rounded base denticles

initial and medial bāʾ tāʾthāʾ nūn yāʾ denticles

initial slightly inclined to left

medial short pointed denticles

counters

hā' counters

isolated one-eyed round loop, left stem extended upwards

isolated one-eyed round loop, right stem extended upwards

initial / medial double eyed (wajh al-hirr)

final s-shaped (muḥdawdibah)

fā' qāf wāw counters

rounded pointed head

medial 'ain ghayn counters

wide inverted triangle

mīm counters

rounded head

vocalization and diacritics

ḍamma vocalization and diacritics

comma

hamza vocalization and diacritics

small inverse Z

Other

additional characteristics

Plunging elongated final dāl

Distinctive lam-alif ligature with pronounced base hook

Closed initial ‘ayn