WAZU JAPAN's Gallery of Unicode Fonts

Pashto

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Introduction

Several letters specific to Pashto were added to the Persian script, which itself is an adaptation of Arabic script.

Arabic script is written from right-to-left but numbers are written from left-to-right. Numerals vary by language and Unicode has set aside two ranges for Arabic script numbers: "Arabic-Indic digits" (U+0660 - U+0669) for use with the Arabic language and "Eastern Arabic-Indic digits" (U+06F0 - U+06F9) for use with all other languages that employ Arabic script.

Since Arabic script is cursive, the appearance of a letter changes depending on its context/position: isolated, initial (joined on the left), medial (joined on both sides), and final (joined on the right). Arabic codepoints in the U+0600 - U+06FF range represent all of the letters without regard to their position. It is up to the font to show the letter with the proper appearance. For compatibility with existing standards, Unicode also defined codepoints with explicit positions for most letters (ARABIC PRESENTATION FORMS-A & -B), although use of these characters is discouraged. Likewise, explicit ligatures are also encoded in the PRESENTATION blocks.

Font Samples

font sample *	font information
	Arabic Typesetting    [ show all samples ]  (arabtype.volt.ttf) Note: Includes VOLT tables. Source: Available from the Microsoft VOLT users community. Once you sign up, download the "Volt supplemental files" self-extracting archive (voltsupplementalfiles.exe) listed under "What's New". A later, more complete version comes with Microsoft Office Proofing Tools 2003. Stats: Version 0.3 2001 has 1,901 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), Latin OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, zz01)
	Arial    [ show all samples ]  (arial.ttf, arialbd.ttf, arialbi.ttf and ariali.ttf) Source: Supplied with the Windows XP SP2 (service pack 2) update. Older versions were supplied with various Microsoft products and the Smart package of Microsoft's core fonts project. Stats: Version 3.00 has 1,674 glyphs and 909 kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), Cyrillic (Russian plus other Slavic and non-Slavic languages), Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Vietnamese. Warning: Versions prior to 3.00 supported only the Arabic letters used for Arabic and Persian languages. OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, MAR)
	BPG Glaho Arial V5 Big    [ show all samples ]  (BPG_Glaho_Arial_V5_big.ttf) Note: There is also a BPG-specific font called "Arial Unicode MS" (BPG_Glaho_Arial_Unicode_MS_V5.ttf) with similar Unicode range support as BPG Glaho Arial V5 Big. Source: Free download from either the shavlego file area or the bpgfonts file area. Stats: Version 3.00 has 1,757 glyphs and 1,172 kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), Cyrillic (Russian plus other Slavic and non-Slavic languages), Georgian (Mkhedruli), Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Vietnamese OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (...), Latin
	Lateef    [ show all samples ]  (LateefRegOT.ttf) Source: Free download from SIL International's Arabic script Unicode font page. Stats: Version 1.0rc1 build 117/117 has 1,147 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Parkari, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek; Also includes letters in the "Arabic Supplement" block), Latin OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Kurdish, Sindhi, Urdu), Latin
	Microsoft Sans Serif    [ show all samples ]  (micross.ttf) Source: Supplied with Windows XP SP2 (service pack 2). Older versions were supplied with Windows XP and Windows 2000. Stats: Version 1.41 has 2,257 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), Cyrillic (all or most of range), Greek (including polytonic and Coptic characters), Hebrew, Latin (basic and beyond), Thai, Vietnamese Warning: IPA, Greek polytonic, Greek Coptic, and many Cyrillic characters were only added with version 1.41. OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, MAR)
	Nafees Pakistani Naskh    [ show all samples ]  (Nafees_Pakistani_Naskh.ttf) Note: Uses Urdu style glyphs for Eastern Arabic-Indic (U+06F0 - U+06F9) and European (U+0030 - U+0039) digits. Source: Free download from the Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing (CRULP). Stats: Version 002.000 has 745 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Azeri, Balochi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Urdu) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic
	PakType Naqsh    [ show all samples ]  (PakType Naqsh 2.2.ttf) Style is handwritten. Source: Free download from the Pakistani Typography (PakType) Project. Stats: Version 2.2 has 1,849 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Parkari, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), IPA, Latin, Vietnamese OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic
	PakType Tehreer    [ show all samples ]  (PakType-Tehreer1.3.ttf) Source: Free download from the Pakistani Typography (PakType) Project. Stats: Version 1.3 has 869 glyphs and 480 kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Parkari, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek; Also includes letters in the "Arabic Supplement" block) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Sindhi, Urdu)
	Pashto Kror Asiatype    [ show all samples ]  (kroro.ttf from dw-pashto.zip) Note: Pashto glyphs for Eastern Arabic-Indic digits (U+06F0 - U+06F9) are also used for Arabic-Indic digits (U+0660 - U+0669). Contains no European digits (U+0030 - U+0039). Source: Free download from Deutsche Welle's Pashto page. Stats: Version 2.0.0 Feb 2003 has 309 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic
	Pashtu Abdaali    [ show all samples ]  (pashtuab.ttf) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pashtu Asad    [ show all samples ]  (pashtuas.ttf) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pashtu Breshnik    [ show all samples ]  (pashtubk.ttf) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pashtu Kandahar    [ show all samples ]  (pashtukn.ttf) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pashtu pa' Storee    [ show all samples ]  (pashtust.ttf) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pashtu Preghal    [ show all samples ]  (pashtupg.ttf) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pashtu Waziristan    [ show all samples ]  (pashtuwz.ttf from running pashtufont.exe) Source: Free download from Khpala Pashto. Stats: Version 2.01 has 591 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Pashto)
	Pokhto    [ show all samples ]  (Pokhto.ttf from running Pokhto.exe) Note: Pashto glyphs for Eastern Arabic-Indic digits (U+06F0 - U+06F9) are also used for Arabic-Indic digits (U+0660 - U+0669). Contains no European digits (U+0030 - U+0039). Source: Free download from Tolafghan. (Look for the "Download Now" link.) Stats: Version 3.00 has 288 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Pashto, Persian) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic
	Riwaj    [ show all samples ]  (Riwaj.ttf) Note: Contains no European digits (U+0030 - U+0039). Source: Free download from the Hifazat e Quran site. Stats: Version 1.1 has 581 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek) OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic
	Scheherazade    [ show all samples ]  (ScheherazadeRegOT.ttf) Source: Free download from SIL International's Arabic script Unicode font page. Stats: Version 1.0rc1 build 117/117 has 1,197 glyphs and no kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Parkari, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek; Also includes letters in the "Arabic Supplement" block), Latin OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, Kurdish, Sindhi, Urdu)
	Tahoma    [ show all samples ]  (tahoma.ttf and tahomabd.ttf) Source: Comes with Microsoft's Windows XP and Windows 2000. Stats: Version 3.14 has 2,034 glyphs and 674 kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), Cyrillic (Russian plus other Slavic and non-Slavic languages), Greek (including polytonic), Hebrew, Latin, Thai, Vietnamese OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic
	Times New Roman    [ show all samples ]  (times.ttf, timesbd.ttf, timesbi.ttf and timesi.ttf) Source: Supplied with the Windows XP SP2 (service pack 2) update. Older versions were supplied with various Microsoft products and the Smart package of Microsoft's core fonts project. Stats: Version 3.00 has 1,674 glyphs and 867 kerning pairs Support: Arabic script (Arabic, Ajami, Azeri, Balochi, Berber, Brahui, Kazakh, Kirghiz Kurdish, Lahnda, Jawi, Pashto, Persian, Shahmukhi, Sindhi, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek), Cyrillic (Russian plus other Slavic and non-Slavic languages), Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Vietnamese. Warning: Versions prior to 3.00 supported only the Arabic letters used for Arabic and Persian languages. OpenType Layout Tables: Arabic (default, MAR)

 

Additional Information About These Font Samples

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Related Links

• The Unicode implementation of Arabic script is described in chapter 8 (Middle Eastern Scripts) of The Unicode Standard, Version 5.0.
• The Unicode character code charts are available at the organization's website.
• Names, images, properties and additional background/non-technical information about related Unicode blocks and their characters can be found on decodeunicode's Arabic, Arabic Presentation Forms A, and Arabic Presentation Forms B pages (in English and German/Deutsch).
• Microsoft provides OpenType information for Arabic script font developers.
• Excellent test pages for Arabic script are available from a "nifty.com" home page (in English and Japanese).
• To see examples of different styles of calligraphy visit ArabicCalligraphy.com or Sakkal Design.
• The UNDP "Computer Locale Requirements for Afghanistan" report details Arabic Unicode character usage for Brahui, Dari, Pashto, and Uzbek.
• Afghanan.net has a tutorial on the Pashto alphabet (not Unicode related).
• Writing system information at Wikipedia and Omniglot.

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