Arabic Presentation Forms-A

See also: Arabic Presentation Forms-B (Unicode block) and Alphabetic Presentation Forms (Unicode block)
For a list of all Arabic characters encoded in Unicode, see Arabic script in Unicode.
Arabic Presentation Forms-A
RangeU+FB50..U+FDFF
(688 code points)
PlaneBMP
ScriptsArabic (629 char.)
Common (2 char.)
Major alphabetsCentral Asian languages
Pashto
Persian
Kurdish
Sindhi
Urdu
Symbol setscontextual forms
multi-letter and
word ligatures
Assigned631 code points
Unused25 reserved code points
32 non-characters
Unicode version history
1.1 (1993)593 (+593)
3.2 (2002)594 (+1)
4.0 (2003)595 (+1)
6.0 (2010)611 (+16)
14.0 (2021)631 (+20)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note: [1][2]
This range was initially part of the Private Use Area in Unicode 1.0.0,[3] and removed from it in Unicode 1.0.1.[4]

Arabic Presentation Forms-A is a Unicode block encoding contextual forms and ligatures of letter variants needed for Persian, Urdu, Sindhi and Central Asian languages. This block also allocates 32 noncharacters in Unicode, designed specifically for internal use.

The presentation forms are present only for compatibility with older standards such as codepage 864 used in DOS, and are typically used in visual and not logical order.[5] It has been agreed no further presentation forms will be encoded; though the block still sees further encodings including a contiguous range of 32 noncharacters. [6]

Block

Arabic Presentation Forms-A[1][2][3]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+FB5x ﭐ ﭑ ﭒ ﭓ ﭔ ﭕ ﭖ ﭗ ﭘ ﭙ ﭚ ﭛ ﭜ ﭝ ﭞ ﭟ
U+FB6x ﭠ ﭡ ﭢ ﭣ ﭤ ﭥ ﭦ ﭧ ﭨ ﭩ ﭪ ﭫ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ
U+FB7x ﭰ ﭱ ﭲ ﭳ ﭴ ﭵ ﭶ ﭷ ﭸ ﭹ ﭺ ﭻ ﭼ ﭽ ﭾ ﭿ
U+FB8x ﮀ ﮁ ﮂ ﮃ ﮄ ﮅ ﮆ ﮇ ﮈ ﮉ ﮊ ﮋ ﮌ ﮍ ﮎ ﮏ
U+FB9x ﮐ ﮑ ﮒ ﮓ ﮔ ﮕ ﮖ ﮗ ﮘ ﮙ ﮚ ﮛ ﮜ ﮝ ﮞ ﮟ
U+FBAx ﮠ ﮡ ﮢ ﮣ ﮤ ﮥ ﮦ ﮧ ﮨ ﮩ ﮪ ﮫ ﮬ ﮭ ﮮ ﮯ
U+FBBx ﮰ ﮱ ﮲ ﮳ ﮴ ﮵ ﮶ ﮷ ﮸ ﮹ ﮺ ﮻ ﮼ ﮽ ﮾ ﮿
U+FBCx ﯀ ﯁ ﯂
U+FBDx ﯓ ﯔ ﯕ ﯖ ﯗ ﯘ ﯙ ﯚ ﯛ ﯜ ﯝ ﯞ ﯟ
U+FBEx ﯠ ﯡ ﯢ ﯣ ﯤ ﯥ ﯦ ﯧ ﯨ ﯩ ﯪ ﯫ ﯬ ﯭ ﯮ ﯯ
U+FBFx ﯰ ﯱ ﯲ ﯳ ﯴ ﯵ ﯶ ﯷ ﯸ ﯹ ﯺ ﯻ ﯼ ﯽ ﯾ ﯿ
U+FC0x ﰀ ﰁ ﰂ ﰃ ﰄ ﰅ ﰆ ﰇ ﰈ ﰉ ﰊ ﰋ ﰌ ﰍ ﰎ ﰏ
U+FC1x ﰐ ﰑ ﰒ ﰓ ﰔ ﰕ ﰖ ﰗ ﰘ ﰙ ﰚ ﰛ ﰜ ﰝ ﰞ ﰟ
U+FC2x ﰠ ﰡ ﰢ ﰣ ﰤ ﰥ ﰦ ﰧ ﰨ ﰩ ﰪ ﰫ ﰬ ﰭ ﰮ ﰯ
U+FC3x ﰰ ﰱ ﰲ ﰳ ﰴ ﰵ ﰶ ﰷ ﰸ ﰹ ﰺ ﰻ ﰼ ﰽ ﰾ ﰿ
U+FC4x ﱀ ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ
U+FC5x ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ
U+FC6x ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ
U+FC7x ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ ﱴ ﱵ ﱶ ﱷ ﱸ ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ
U+FC8x ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ
U+FC9x ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ
U+FCAx ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ
U+FCBx ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ ﲾ ﲿ
U+FCCx ﳀ ﳁ ﳂ ﳃ ﳄ ﳅ ﳆ ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ
U+FCDx ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ
U+FCEx ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ ﳣ ﳤ ﳥ ﳦ ﳧ ﳨ ﳩ ﳪ ﳫ ﳬ ﳭ ﳮ ﳯ
U+FCFx ﳰ ﳱ ﳲ ﳳ ﳴ ﳵ ﳶ ﳷ ﳸ ﳹ ﳺ ﳻ ﳼ ﳽ ﳾ ﳿ
U+FD0x ﴀ ﴁ ﴂ ﴃ ﴄ ﴅ ﴆ ﴇ ﴈ ﴉ ﴊ ﴋ ﴌ ﴍ ﴎ ﴏ
U+FD1x ﴐ ﴑ ﴒ ﴓ ﴔ ﴕ ﴖ ﴗ ﴘ ﴙ ﴚ ﴛ ﴜ ﴝ ﴞ ﴟ
U+FD2x ﴠ ﴡ ﴢ ﴣ ﴤ ﴥ ﴦ ﴧ ﴨ ﴩ ﴪ ﴫ ﴬ ﴭ ﴮ ﴯ
U+FD3x ﴰ ﴱ ﴲ ﴳ ﴴ ﴵ ﴶ ﴷ ﴸ ﴹ ﴺ ﴻ ﴼ ﴽ ﴾ ﴿
U+FD4x ﵀ ﵁ ﵂ ﵃ ﵄ ﵅ ﵆ ﵇ ﵈ ﵉ ﵊ ﵋ ﵌ ﵍ ﵎ ﵏
U+FD5x ﵐ ﵑ ﵒ ﵓ ﵔ ﵕ ﵖ ﵗ ﵘ ﵙ ﵚ ﵛ ﵜ ﵝ ﵞ ﵟ
U+FD6x ﵠ ﵡ ﵢ ﵣ ﵤ ﵥ ﵦ ﵧ ﵨ ﵩ ﵪ ﵫ ﵬ ﵭ ﵮ ﵯ
U+FD7x ﵰ ﵱ ﵲ ﵳ ﵴ ﵵ ﵶ ﵷ ﵸ ﵹ ﵺ ﵻ ﵼ ﵽ ﵾ ﵿ
U+FD8x ﶀ ﶁ ﶂ ﶃ ﶄ ﶅ ﶆ ﶇ ﶈ ﶉ ﶊ ﶋ ﶌ ﶍ ﶎ ﶏ
U+FD9x ﶒ ﶓ ﶔ ﶕ ﶖ ﶗ ﶘ ﶙ ﶚ ﶛ ﶜ ﶝ ﶞ ﶟ
U+FDAx ﶠ ﶡ ﶢ ﶣ ﶤ ﶥ ﶦ ﶧ ﶨ ﶩ ﶪ ﶫ ﶬ ﶭ ﶮ ﶯ
U+FDBx ﶰ ﶱ ﶲ ﶳ ﶴ ﶵ ﶶ ﶷ ﶸ ﶹ ﶺ ﶻ ﶼ ﶽ ﶾ ﶿ
U+FDCx ﷀ ﷁ ﷂ ﷃ ﷄ ﷅ ﷆ ﷇ ﷏
U+FDDx
U+FDEx
U+FDFx ﷰ ﷱ ﷲ ﷳ ﷴ ﷵ ﷶ ﷷ ﷸ ﷹ ﷺ ﷻ ﷼ ﷽ ﷾ ﷿
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points
3.^ Black areas indicate noncharacters (code points that are guaranteed never to be assigned as encoded characters in the Unicode Standard)

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Arabic Presentation Forms-A block:

Version Final code points[a] Count L2 ID WG2 ID Document
1.1 U+FB50..FBB1, FBD3..FD3F, FD50..FD8F, FD92..FDC7, FDF0..FDFB 593 (to be determined)
L2/06-008R2 Moore, Lisa (2006-02-13), "Motion 106-M3", UTC #106 Minutes, Drop U+FD3E ORNATE LEFT PARENTHESIS and U+FD3F ORNATE RIGHT PARENTHESIS from the list of characters with Bidi Mirrored property proposed in Public Review Issue 80.
L2/14-026 Moore, Lisa (2014-02-17), "Consensus 138-C21", UTC #138 Minutes, Change the General Category and linebreak properties of U+FD3E LEFT ORNATE PARENTHESIS to gc=Pe and lb=CL; and change General Category and linebreak properties of U+FD3F RIGHT ORNATE PARENTHESIS to gc=Ps and lb=OP, in Unicode 7.0.
L2/20-289 N5155 Evans, Lorna Priest (2020-12-07), Request for glyph changes and annotations for Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uyghur [Affects U+FBD7-FBD8, U+FBDD, and U+FBE0-FBE1]
L2/21-016R Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; Pournader, Roozbeh; Moore, Lisa; Liang, Hai (2021-01-14), "11a. Glyph changes and annotations for Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uyghur", Recommendations to UTC #166 January 2021 on Script Proposals
L2/21-009 Moore, Lisa (2021-01-27), "B.1 — 11a", UTC #166 Minutes
3.1 U+FDD0..FDEF 32 L2/00-187 Moore, Lisa (2000-08-23), "Not a Character", UTC minutes -- Boston, August 8-11, 2000
L2/00-341 N2277 Addition of reserved characters for internal processing uses, 2000-09-19
L2/01-050 N2253 Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2001-01-21), "7.20 Proposal for Reserved Positions for Processing Purposes", Minutes of the SC2/WG2 meeting in Athens, September 2000
3.2 U+FDFC 1 L2/01-148R Pournader, Roozbeh (2001-04-07), Proposal: Arabic Ligature Rial
L2/01-184R Moore, Lisa (2001-06-18), "Motion 87-M6", Minutes from the UTC/L2 meeting
L2/01-354 N2373 Pournader, Roozbeh (2001-09-20), Proposal: Arabic Currency Sign Rial
L2/02-154 N2403 Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2002-04-22), "7.8", Draft minutes of WG 2 meeting 41, Hotel Phoenix, Singapore, 2001-10-15/19
4.0 U+FDFD 1 L2/02-005 Hussain, Sarmad; Afzal, Muhammad (2001-12-18), Urdu Computing Standards (Charts and Exhibits)
L2/02-006 (pdf, doc) N2413-1 Zia, Khaver (2002-01-10), Towards Unicode Standard for Urdu
L2/02-003 N2413-2 Afzal, Muhammad; Hussain, Sarmad (2001-12-28), Urdu Computing Standards: Development of Urdu Zabta Takhti (UZT) 1.01
L2/02-004 N2413-3 Hussain, Sarmad; Afzal, Muhammad (2001-12-28), Urdu Computing Standards: Urdu Zabta Takhti (UZT) 1.01
L2/02-163 N2413-4 (pdf, doc) Proposal to add Marks and Digits in Arabic Code Block (for Urdu), 2002-04-30
L2/02-011R Kew, Jonathan (2002-01-12), Comments on L2/02-006: Towards Unicode Standard for Urdu
L2/02-197 Freytag, Asmus (2002-05-01), Urdu Feedback from Bidi Committee
L2/02-166R2 Moore, Lisa (2002-08-09), "Motion 91-M3", UTC #91 Minutes
L2/02-372 N2453 (pdf, doc) Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2002-10-30), "7.9 Urdu contribution", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 42
L2/02-466 N2567 Everson, Michael; Pournader, Roozbeh (2002-12-09), Towards resolution on the name of U+FDFD
L2/02-467 N2568 Everson, Michael; Pournader, Roozbeh; Hussain, Sarmad; Afzal, Muhammad (2002-12-10), Consensus on the name of U+FDFD
L2/04-196 N2653 (pdf, doc) Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2004-06-04), "a-3", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 44
6.0 U+FBB2..FBC1 16 L2/98-274 Davis, Mark; Mansour, Kamal (1998-07-28), Proposed Arabic Script Additions for Minority Languages
L2/98-409 Davis, Mark; Mansour, Kamal (1998-12-01), Proposal to add 25 Arabic characters to the BMP
L2/98-419 (pdf, doc) Aliprand, Joan (1999-02-05), "Additional Arabic characters", Approved Minutes -- UTC #78 & NCITS Subgroup L2 # 175 Joint Meeting, San Jose, CA -- December 1-4, 1998
L2/02-021 Davis, Mark; Mansour, Kamal (2002-01-17), Proposal To Amend Arabic repertoire
L2/03-154 Kew, Jonathan; Mansour, Kamal; Davis, Mark (2003-05-16), Proposal to encode productive Arabic-script modifier marks
L2/06-039 N3460-A Durrani, Attash (2006-01-29), Preliminary Proposal to add Nuqta Characters to Arabic Block
L2/06-240 Kew, Jonathan (2006-07-19), Letter to Dr. Durrani
L2/06-322 Durrani, Attash (2006-10-04), Letter to Jonathan Kew re Nuqtas
L2/07-094 Durrani, Attash (2007-04-03), Regarding Nuqta Characters
L2/07-174 Durrani, Attash (2007-05-14), The Case Folding Solution for the Arabic Script
L2/08-159 Durrani, Attash; Mansour, Kamal; McGowan, Rick (2008-04-18), Proposal to Encode 22 Characters for Arabic Pedagogical Use
L2/08-230 Anderson, Deborah (2008-05-23), Comments on Proposal to Encode 22 Characters for Arabic Pedagogical Use
L2/08-159R N3460R Durrani, Attash; Mansour, Kamal; McGowan, Rick (2008-06-24), Proposal to Encode 16 Characters for Arabic Pedagogical Use
L2/08-161R2 Moore, Lisa (2008-11-05), "Motion 115-M3", UTC #115 Minutes
L2/08-412 N3553 (pdf, doc) Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2008-11-05), "M53.19", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 53
L2/08-361 Moore, Lisa (2008-12-02), "Consensus 117-C26", UTC #117 Minutes
L2/09-011 Pournader, Roozbeh (2009-01-13), Consistent naming and better properties for Arabic Pedagogical Symbols
L2/09-110 N3606 Pandey, Anshuman (2009-03-30), Proposal to Advance the Renaming of Arabic Pedagogical Symbols
L2/09-234 N3603 (pdf, doc) Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2009-07-08), "M54.06a", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 54
L2/09-104 Moore, Lisa (2009-05-20), "Consensus 119-C25", UTC #119 / L2 #216 Minutes
14.0 U+FBC2 1 L2/19-306 N5142 Pournader, Roozbeh; Anderson, Deborah (2019-09-29), Arabic additions for Quranic orthographies
L2/19-343 Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; Pournader, Roozbeh; Moore, Lisa; Liang, Hai (2019-10-06), "a. Additions for Quranic orthographiesFD4C:c. Arabic honorifics", Recommendations to UTC #161 October 2019 on Script Proposals
L2/19-323 Moore, Lisa (2019-10-01), "Consensus 161-C4", UTC #161 Minutes
L2/20-105 Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; Pournader, Roozbeh; Moore, Lisa; Constable, Peter; Liang, Hai (2020-04-20), "3f. Comments on L2/19-306", Recommendations to UTC #163 April 2020 on Script Proposals
U+FD40..FD4B, FDFE..FDFF 14 L2/14-147 Pournader, Roozbeh (2014-07-27), Proposal to encode seventeen Arabic honorifics
L2/14-170 Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; McGowan, Rick; Pournader, Roozbeh; Iancu, Laurențiu (2014-07-28), "5. L2/14‐147", Recommendations to UTC #140 August 2014 on Script Proposals
L2/19-289R Pournader, Roozbeh; Jibaly, Mustafa (2019-07-26), Proposal to encode fourteen Arabic honorifics
L2/19-270 Moore, Lisa (2019-10-07), "Consensus 160-C25", UTC #160 Minutes
U+FD4C..FD4D 2 L2/19-319 Pournader, Roozbeh; Jibaly, Mustafa (2019-09-29), Proposal to encode two more Arabic honorifics
L2/19-323 Moore, Lisa (2019-10-01), "Consensus 161-C3", UTC #161 Minutes
U+FD4E..FD4F 2 L2/20-042 Pournader, Roozbeh; Hooshdaran, Soheil; Jibaly, Mustafa (2020-01-15), Proposal to encode yet two more Arabic honorifics
L2/20-015R Moore, Lisa (2020-05-14), "C.5.3", Draft Minutes of UTC Meeting 162
U+FDCF 1 L2/20-081 Pournader, Roozbeh; Evans, Lorna (2020-03-10), Proposal to encode an Arabic honorific used in Christian texts
L2/20-105 Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; Pournader, Roozbeh; Moore, Lisa; Constable, Peter; Liang, Hai (2020-04-20), "3a. Arabic Honorific", Recommendations to UTC #163 April 2020 on Script Proposals
L2/20-102 Moore, Lisa (2020-05-06), "Consensus 163-C13", UTC #163 Minutes
  1. ^ Proposed code points and characters names may differ from final code points and names

References

  1. ^ "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ^ "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  3. ^ "3.5: Private Use Area" (PDF). The Unicode Standard, Version 1.0, Volume 1. Unicode Consortium. 1991. pp. 118–119. ISBN 0-201-56788-1.
  4. ^ "Version 1.0.1 Notice Page" (PDF). Unicode Consortium.
  5. ^ The Unicode Consortium. The Unicode Standard, Version 6.0.0, (Mountain View, CA: The Unicode Consortium, 2011. ISBN 978-1-936213-01-6), Chapter 8
  6. ^ "Private-Use Characters, Noncharacters & Sentinels FAQ". www.unicode.org. Retrieved 2023-07-24.