// ── Paste this entire block as one JavaScript cell in your Observable notebook ── { // ── Data ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── // connects: true → letter joins to BOTH sides (has all 4 forms) // connects: false → letter joins only to preceding letter (no initial/medial) const urduAlphabet = [ { char: "ا", name: "alif", connects: false }, { char: "آ", name: "alif madda", connects: false }, { char: "ب", name: "be", connects: true }, { char: "پ", name: "pe", connects: true }, { char: "ت", name: "te", connects: true }, { char: "ٹ", name: "ṭe", connects: true }, { char: "ث", name: "se", connects: true }, { char: "ج", name: "jīm", connects: true }, { char: "چ", name: "che", connects: true }, { char: "ح", name: "baṛī he", connects: true }, { char: "خ", name: "khe", connects: true }, { char: "د", name: "dāl", connects: false }, { char: "ڈ", name: "ḍāl", connects: false }, { char: "ذ", name: "zāl", connects: false }, { char: "ر", name: "re", connects: false }, { char: "ڑ", name: "ṛe", connects: false }, { char: "ز", name: "ze", connects: false }, { char: "ژ", name: "zhe", connects: false }, { char: "س", name: "sīn", connects: true }, { char: "ش", name: "shīn", connects: true }, { char: "ص", name: "swād", connects: true }, { char: "ض", name: "zwād", connects: true }, { char: "ط", name: "to'e", connects: true }, { char: "ظ", name: "zo'e", connects: true }, { char: "ع", name: "'ain", connects: true }, { char: "غ", name: "ghain", connects: true }, { char: "ف", name: "fe", connects: true }, { char: "ق", name: "qāf", connects: true }, { char: "ک", name: "kāf", connects: true }, { char: "گ", name: "gāf", connects: true }, { char: "ل", name: "lām", connects: true }, { char: "م", name: "mīm", connects: true }, { char: "ن", name: "nūn", connects: true }, { char: "ں", name: "nūn ghunna", connects: false }, { char: "و", name: "vāo", connects: false }, { char: "ہ", name: "choṭī he", connects: true }, { char: "ھ", name: "do chashmi he", connects: true }, { char: "ء", name: "hamza", connects: false }, { char: "ئ", name: "ye hamza", connects: true }, { char: "ی", name: "choṭī ye", connects: true }, { char: "ے", name: "baṛī ye", connects: false } ]; // ── Positional form helper ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── // The tatweel ـ (U+0640) is the standard Arabic extension stroke. // Placing it adjacent to a letter forces the shaping engine to render the // correct contextual form without needing a real neighbouring letter. // // initial: letter + ـ (letter opens word, tail extends right→left) // medial: ـ + letter + ـ (connected on both sides) // final: ـ + letter (letter closes word, head receives stroke) // // Non-connector letters have no initial or medial form distinct from // their isolated form; their "medial" rendering is identical to final. const T = "\u0640"; // tatweel ـ function getForms(letter) { if (letter.connects) { return { isolated: letter.char, initial: letter.char + T, medial: T + letter.char + T, final: T + letter.char }; } else { return { isolated: letter.char, initial: null, // no distinct initial form medial: null, // no distinct medial form final: T + letter.char }; } } // ── Render ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const URDU_FONT = `'Noto Nastaliq Urdu','Jameel Noori Nastaleeq','Alvi Nastaleeq',serif`; const NA = `—`; const rows = urduAlphabet .map((letter, i) => { const f = getForms(letter); const rowBg = i % 2 === 0 ? "#fdfaf6" : "#f5ede3"; const noteStyle = `font-size:0.72em; color:#999; font-family:sans-serif;`; const note = letter.connects ? "" : `non-connector`; const cell = (val) => val ? `${val}` : `${NA}`; return ` ${ i + 1 } ${cell(f.isolated)} ${ letter.name } ${cell(f.initial)} ${cell(f.medial)} ${cell(f.final)} ${note} `; }) .join(""); const headerStyle = `background:#13294B; color:white; font-family:sans-serif; font-size:0.8em; font-weight:600; letter-spacing:0.04em; padding:8px 14px; text-align:center;`; const tableHTML = ` ${rows}

#	Isolated	Name	Initial	Medial	Final	Note
Positional forms produced using tatweel ـ (U+0640), the Arabic extension stroke. Non-connector letters (ا، د، ر، و…) have no initial or medial form distinct from their isolated shape.

`; const div = document.createElement("div"); div.innerHTML = tableHTML; return div; }