See the lexicon

General Script Characteristics

Shape

rectangular

Internal Structure

linear

stacked

Line of Writing

horizontal

broken

Groups of Characters Baseline

oblique

partial stacking of characters

Character Spacing

regular spaces between characters

regular spaces between words

Elongated Letters

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

Ligature

Abusive - ‘alif and lām

Shading / Contrast

medium contrast

Letter Morphology

Point

round dot

Ascenders

Alif Ascenders

alif - vertical

alif - top right serif

alif - top left serif

alif - foot with left hook

Lām Ascenders

lām - vertical

lām - top right serif

Kāf Ascenders

top arm short diagonal stroke

ṭā' ẓā' ascenders

vertical shaft with serif

shaft inclined to right

rounded body

Descenders

wāw descenders

wāw - rounded tail

wāw - crescent tail

rā' zā' descenders

rā'/zā' - s-shaped

hooked tail

rā'/zā' - rounded tail

nūn sīn shīn sādḍād yā’ lām and qāf descenders

shallow bowl

elongated curvilinear deep bowl

jīm ḥāʾ khā' and ‘ain ghayn descenders

closing upward

horizontals

bāʾ tāʾ thāʾ fāʾ kāf horizontals

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

denticles

sīn shīn denticles

short pointed denticles

initial and medial bāʾ tāʾthāʾ nūn yāʾ denticles

initial nuanced top right hook

medial short pointed denticles

counters

fā' qāf wāw counters

rounded head

triangular pointed head

medial 'ain ghayn counters

wide inverted triangle

mīm counters

rounded head

circular head open eye

vocalization and diacritics

ihmāl vocalization and diacritics

subscript miniature letter for hā’/ ʿayn/ sīn / sād / ṭa

Other

additional characteristics

Oversize initial ‘ayn