Re: Arabic Script: A new Hamza is required for Urdu and Sindhi

Hi,

Lateef Sagar <lateef_sagar@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Hi,

>Gentlemen, my question was about including a new Hamza for Sindhi and Urdu. The issue with teh marboota >might be solved easily if a medial shape is introduced. But for my initial question, it may not, because all the >Hamza's in Unicode are used in Arabic and introducing a separate shape for existing Hamza's will definitely >cause issues.

>The Hamza that is taught to children in schools, for Sindhi and Urdu is just one, with the shapes that I >mentioned in my earlier email. If you like I can post a scanned picture of text books for clarification. All other >characters, required for Sindhi and Urdu are very well supported by Unicode. Local printing industry is using ?>Unicode based?software?and web development houses are making Unicode based Sindhi and Urdu web sites. >ut as I mentioned in my early email, sorting and searching is now creating problem with words with Hamza, >nd particularly verbs and their forms. In Arabic Grammar there might be a rule for replacing teh marboota >ith teh, when required in initial or medial forms, but since there is only one Hamza in Urdu and Sindhi and >here is no Hamza above yeh in these languages,

 

I didn’t know that there is no hamza above yeh in Urdu and Sindhi. Sorry. I thought it would make visual ambiguity in the coding of the same language.

 

> therefore no such rule exist in Sindhi and Urdu Grammar that says to change the isolated hamza with hamza >above yah when?initial or  medial forms are required.

 

I think you are right, but what about hamza in its isolated or final form in the middle of the word as in the Arabic word قراءة (kera'a reading) is there any case like this in Urdu or Sindhi (use the proposed hamza +ZWNJ?????)

 

>I want to know your opinion so that I can push Urdu Language Authority, Sindhi Language Authority and >CRULP to submit a detailed proposal for new hamza.

 

As the Urdu and Sindhi consider your proposed hamza a letter in their Arabic alphabet, I think you are right . Go on and contact the Urdu Language Authority and the Sindhi Language Authority. But it would be still useful to post -as Mr. Gregg Reynolds said- scans of an alphabet learning book on a website that shows letters in their isolated, initial, medial and final forms including of course the proposed hamza among them.

Michael Fayez