Hi.
Does anybody know (or keep a database) about the typographic differences/uses between the various Arabic scripts.
I am especially interested in what styles of font are acceptable for different languages and cultures.
Urdu, for example, can be displayed using Naskh style fonts, but to quote a recent email...
<<Arabic (or Naskh) fonts are not really that commonly used with Urdu, because
Urdu speakers actually have a 'blind spot' with Naskh. A complicated problem
which is more serious than most of them admit or are capable of explaining.>>
Urdu newspapers in the UK use the Nastaliq script for body text, but use an occasional splash of Naskh for headlines and adverts. Quote...
<< ...used as headline in some commercial Urdu publications, under the influnece of the Arabic media: Aswad, Aswad Old, Bombay Black, Unwan.>>
Another example I came across recently was the use of 'Arabic Simplified (Arabic Windows)' for the display of Sorani (Kurdish). This was not deemed entirely acceptable by one Kurdish reader.
Any help in this area would be very appreciated.
Charlie Jolly
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