English ∷ Bahasa Melayu Rumi ∷ بهاس ملايو جاوي

Jawi Font

Edited version of Arabic font files to add support for Jawi alphabets.

What is this repository?

This repository contains the original release files of selected open-source Arabic fonts, the FontForge files of edited Arabic fonts, and the released packages of the edited Arabic fonts with support for Jawi alphabet.

Why did you edit the font files?

There is a limited number of open-source Arabic fonts, and out of those, only small amount of them actually support Jawi alphabet.

The fonts released from this repository will have full support for Jawi alphabet and they will also be usable in older applications where usage of styling sets (ss01 etc) are not possible.

When was this repository created?

The repository was created on 30 May 2020 (UTF+8).

Where are the font editing being done?

Some fonts are edited on FontForge running on Ubuntu instance via UserLAnd app on my phone. Newer fonts are edited on FontForge on computer running either Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or Windows 10 20H2.

Old technical details:

• FontForge version: 11:12 UTC 24-Sep-2017 (latest version available on APT as of 30 May 2020)
• Ubuntu version: Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS aarch64 (default installation of Ubuntu on UserLAnd)
• UserLAnd version: UserLAnd 2.7.2 (latest version available on my Play store as of 30 May 2020)
• Android version: 8.0.0 (latest version available for this phone as of 30 May 2020)
• Phone model: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (SM-G935F), handed to me from my aunt in December 2019 (before that, I've been using Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Dual from 2014, it finally ended its life in March 2020, unable to boot anymore)

New technical details:

• FontForge version: 20201107 (2020-11-07 21:17 UTC-ML-TtfDb-D-GDK3)
• Operating system 1: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS amd64
• Operating system 2: Windows 10 20H2 (19042.685)
• Central processing unit: Intel® Core™ i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz
• Memory: 8.0 GB DDR3 1600 MHz DIMM
• Graphical processing unit: Intel® HD Graphics 4600
• Internet hardware 1: Realtek RTL8192EE Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC
• Internet connection: Maxis Hotlink Prepaid Unlimited
• Internet subscription: Unlimited internet and calls (6Mbps) 30-day @ RM 45.00 + Hotspot @ RM 5.00 (renewed every half month because the fair usage quota of 50GB will be used up on half month)

Who maintain these edited fonts?

The owner of the repository, Yaya MNH48, acting as the sole owner of the organization jawi-mnh48.

Why not use the original tools for fonts that has its source available?

I do not have any device that could run them. If any of the fonts in the repository actually have source that is editable natively on FontForge then I would already use it. Most of the fonts I saw uses a paid software known as Glyph, not only does the software very expensive, but it also not available on arm64 Linux.

How the fonts are edited?

By following the steps in the tutorial titled "Adding Glyphs to an Arabic Font" on the website Design With FontForge.

The glyphs that I edit to make it support Jawi alphabet:

• Add glyph for Reversed comma (⹁) at U+2E41, this is the Jawi comma.
  • Some people used Arabic Comma at U+060C because of various reasons and that will not be changed, if people want to display Jawi comma then they should change to U+2E41.
• Add glyph for Reversed semicolon (⁏) at U+204F, this is the Jawi semicolon.
  • Some people used Arabic Semicolon at U+061B because of various reasons and that will not be changed, if people want to display Jawi semicolon then they should change to U+204F.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter NGA (ڠ) at U+06A0, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Ain with Three Dots Above, used in Malay for the sound /ŋ/.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter GA (ݢ) at U+0762, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Keheh with Dot Above, used in Malay for the sound /g/.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter VA (ۏ) at U+06CF, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Waw with Dot Above, used in Malay for the sound /v/.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter NYA (ڽ) at U+06BD, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Noon with Three Dots Above, used in Malay for the sound /ɲ/.
• Add glyph for Jawi old letter GA (ڬ) at U+06AC, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Kaf with Dot Above, formerly used in Malay for the sound /g/ when Arabic Letter Keheh with Dot Above (ݢ) at U+0762 was not accessible on keyboard.
  • Glyph is for compatibility purposes.
  • In real life handwriting, ڬ was never used in old writing, and it is not used unless for stylistic choice in new writing or used by mistake by people who learnt Jawi using digital tools created in those time when ݢ is not accessible on keyboard, it should always be ݢ in actual writing.
  • ڬ is not formally recognized as a letter in Malay.
• Add glyph for Jawi Tilde (∽) at U+223D, known in Unicode as Reversed Tilde, used in Malay to denote elongated sound or act as subtitution marker.
  • Some people used Tilde at U+007E because of various reasons and that will not be changed, if people want to display Jawi tilde then they should change to U+223D.

The different hamza variations will also be added for compatibility reasons, related works including:

• Changing the glyph of Arabic high hamza (ٴ) at U+0674 to Jawi three quarter hamza.
  • Jawi three quarter hamza does not exist in Unicode,^[5][6][8] so this is a workaround.
  • Some people used U+0621 for three quarter hamza replacing the Arabic hamza but that is wrong as Malay uses both version and altering that would now make it hard to be distinguished.
  • Three quarter hamza is used in Malay native words^[7] whereas Arabic hamza is used for Arabic loanwords in Malay sentence, they are not interchangeable.
  • Jawi three quarter hamzah looked like this:
    .
• Keep the glyph of Arabic Hamza at U+0621 as it is used for Arabic loanwords in Malay sentences.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter ALIF WITH HAMZAH (أ) at U+0623, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Alef with Hamza Above.
  • Used with prefix di-, se-, and ke- in Malay language. Example: دأسه (diasah) which is د di- (prefix for turning sentence into passive form) combined with اسه asah.^[1][2]
  • Used as a part of diphtongs that can't be used with standalone three quarter hamzah nor without any hamzah. Example: أيمن (aiman) is different from اٴيمن (a'iman), اءيمن (a‘iman), اعيمن (a'eman) and ايمن (iman).
  • See image version below
    
• Add glyph for non-Jawi letter known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Alef with Hamza Below at U+0625.
  • Used in Arabic loanwords in Malay sentences. Example: وإما (waimma).^[1][3]
• Add glyph for non-Jawi letter known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Yeh with Hamza Above (ئ) at U+0626.
  • Used in Arabic loanwords in Malay sentences. Example: ملائکة (malaikat)^[1][4].
  • Incidentally, this was used in old Jawi as the diphtongs /ai/ and /ae/ (both are now written as أي or اٴي), and the sound /iʔ/ and /eʔ/ (both are now written as يٴ).
  • Still in used as part of the Malay family name Nik (نئ) such as Nik Abdul Aziz (نئ عبدالعزيز).

Some Arabic fonts had even less glyph coverage and those need more works to do including:

• Add glyph for Jawi letter CA (چ) at U+0686, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Tcheh, used in Malay for the sound /t͡ʃ/.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter PA (ڤ) at U+06A4, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Veh, used in Malay for the sound /p/.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter KAF (ک) at U+06A9, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Keheh, used in Malay for the sound /k/.
• Add glyph for Jawi letter YE (ى) at U+0649, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Alef Maksura, used in Malay for the final sound /ə/.
• Add glyph for Jawi Opening Quotation Mark (‟) at U+201F, known in Unicode as Double High-Reversed-9 Quotation Mark.
• Add glyph for Jawi Closing Quotation Mark (”) at U+201D, known in Unicode as Right Double Quotation Mark.
• Add glyph for Jawi Opening Single Quotation Mark (‛) at U+201B, known in Unicode as Single High-Reversed-9 Quotation Mark.
• Add glyph for Jawi Closing Single Quotation Mark (’) at U+2019, known in Unicode as Right Single Quotation Mark.

For compatibility reason, a few more glyphs will also be checked and added if they don't exist:

• Add glyph for non-Jawi letter known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Waw with Hamza Above (ؤ) at U+0624.
  • Glyph added for compatibility reason.
  • This was used in old Jawi as the diphtongs /ao/ and /au/ (both are now written as أو or اٴو) and the sounds /uʔ/ and /oʔ/ (both are now written as وٴ).
• Add glyph for non-Jawi letter known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Dul (ڎ) at U+068E.
  • Glyph added for compatibility reason.
  • This was used in some area to spell Sundanese and Javanese words in Malay.
  • Spelt as DH in Rumi, sound like /ɖʱ/.
  • Currently in use in Pegon script in Indonesia with the name Dha, Pegon script is based on Jawi.
• Add glyph for non-Jawi letter known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Tah with Three Dots Above (ڟ) at U+069F.
  • Glyph added for compatibility reason.
  • This was used in some area to spell Sundanese and Javanese words in Malay.
  • Spelt as TH in Rumi, sound like /tʰ/.
  • Currently in use in Pegon script in Indonesia with the name Tha, Pegon script is based on Jawi.
• Add glyph for non-Jawi letter known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Kaf with Dot Below (ࢴ) at U+08B4.
  • Glyph added for compatibility reason.
  • This was used in some area to spell Sundanese and Javanese words containing letter G in Malay.
  • Spelt as G in Rumi, sound like /g/.
  • Currently in use in Pegon script in Indonesia with the name Gaf, Pegon script is based on Jawi.
  • For Jawi users, please use the proper letter Ga at U+0762 (ݢ) instead of this.

All other letters should already exist in common Arabic fonts, including one deprecated letter:

• Jawi letter OLD KAF (ك) at U+0643, known in Unicode as Arabic Letter Kaf, formerly used in Malay for the sound /k/ when Arabic Letter Keheh (ک) at U+06A9 was not accessible on keyboard.
  • Glyph is for compatibility purposes.
  • In real life handwriting, ك was never used in old writing, and it is not used unless for stylistic choice in new writing or used by mistake by people who learnt Jawi using digital tools created in those time when ک is not accessible on keyboard, it should always be ک in actual writing.
  • ك is not formally recognized as a letter in Malay.
  • ك is called as Arabic Kaf by Malays, as opposed to just Kaf, because Kaf in Malay is ک.

I'm also adding support for Pegon script as well, check the last table on the full list of tables.

Full list of tables can be read at here

What is the license?

All edited font files and the generated FontForge files are licensed the same as the license of the original font files, check the directory of the fonts for the exact license.

The website theme is temporarily Midnight by mattgraham available under MIT.

All other contents in the repository and corresponding website generated from the repository are released under The MIT License.

References

1. ↵ Report for Malaysia's Internationalized Domain Name: Jawi Language Issues, page 13. Retrieved from http://css.escwa.org.lb/ictd/0960/01.pdf via https://www.unescwa.org/events/global-harmonization-arabic-script-use-domain-names-4th-meeting
2. ↵ Daftar Kata Bahasa Melayu - Sebutan Jawi Jilid 1 (A-K), page 117-118. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
3. ↵ Daftar Kata Bahasa Melayu - Sebutan Jawi Jilid 2 (L-Z), page 1551. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
4. ↵ Daftar Kata Bahasa Melayu - Sebutan Jawi Jilid 2 (L-Z), page 947. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
5. ↵ Report for Malaysia's Internationalized Domain Name: Jawi Language Issues, page 5. Retrieved from http://css.escwa.org.lb/ictd/0960/01.pdf via https://www.unescwa.org/events/global-harmonization-arabic-script-use-domain-names-4th-meeting
6. ↵ Submit Jawi charcter to IANA - final, page 3. Retrieved from https://www.iana.org/domains/idn-tables/tables/my_ms-my_1.0.pdf
7. ↵ Daftar Kata Bahasa Melayu - Sebutan Jawi Jilid 1 (A-K), page 83. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
8. ↵ Linguistic Diversity in the Internet Root: The Case of the Arabic Script and Jawi. Retrieved from https://www.icann.org/news/blog/linguistic-diversity-in-the-internet-root-the-case-of-the-arabic-script-and-jawi