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1. Introduction
1.1 Primary Syriac Joining Classes
Each Syriac letter must be depicted by one of a number of possible contextual glyph forms. The appropriate form is determined on the basis of its joining class and the joining class of adjacent characters. The following two tables, right and left refer to visual order.
| Symbols | Joining Class | Members |
|---|---|---|
| R | Right-joining | Alaph, Dalath, Dotless Dalath Rish, He, Waw, Yudh He, Sadhe, Rish, Taw |
| L | Left-joining | None |
| D | Dual-joining | Beth, Gamal, Gamal Garshuni, Heth, Teth ... |
| C | Join-causing | ZERO WIDTH JOINER, TATWEEL (kashida) Distinguish from dual-joining characters in that they do not change shape. |
| U | Non-joining | ZERO WIDTH NON-JOINER and all spacing characters |
| T | Transparent | All combining marks and format marks |
1.2 Derived Syriac Joining Classes
| Joining Class | Members |
|---|---|
| Right join-causing | Superset of dual-joining, left-joining, and join-causing |
| Left join-causing | Superset of dual-joining, right-joining, and join-causing |
1.3 Formula
Characters of joining type T can be derived by the following formula:
T = Mn + Cf - ZWNJ -ZWJ
Where Mn and Cf are the general category values. In other words, any non-spacing
mark or any format control character, except U+200C ZERO WIDTH NON-JOINER
(joining type U) and U+200D ZERO WIDTH JOINER (joining type C).
There are currently no characters of type L defined in Unicode. Joining type U includes all characters which are neither joining type T, nor explicitly marked as types R, L, D, or C.
2. Syriac Characters
| Positions in UCS | Character | Joining Type | Joining Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0710 | Letter Alaph | R | Alaph |
| 0712 | Letter Beth | D | Beth |
| 0713 | Letter Gamal | D | Gamal |
| 0714 | Letter Gamal Garshuni | D | Gamal |
| 0715 | Letter Dalath | R | Dalath Rish |
| 0716 | Letter Dotless Dalath Rish | R | Dalath Rish |
| 0717 | Letter He | R | He |
| 0718 | Letter Waw | R | Syriac Waw |
| 0719 | Letter Zain | R | Zain |
| 071A | Letter Heth | D | Heth |
| 071B | Letter Teth | D | Teth |
| 071C | Letter Teth Garshuni | D | Teth |
| 071D | Letter Yudh | D | Yudh |
| 071E | Letter Yudh He | R | Yudh He |
| 071F | Letter Kaph | D | Kaph |
| 0720 | Letter Lamadh | D | Lamadh |
| 0721 | Letter Mim | D | Mim |
| 0722 | Letter Nun | D | Nun |
| 0723 | Letter Semkath | D | Semkath |
| 0724 | Letter Final Semkath | D | Final Semkath |
| 0725 | Letter E | D | E |
| 0726 | Letter Pe | D | Pe |
| 0727 | Letter Reversed Pe | D | Reversed Pe |
| 0728 | Letter Sadhe | R | Sadhe |
| 0729 | Letter Qaph | D | Qaph |
| 072A | Letter Rish | R | Dalath Rish |
| 072B | Letter Shin | D | Shin |
| 072C | Letter Taw | R | Taw |