Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Why are kasras flater in Hyderabad than in Būlāq?

In 1938 the 1342 Giza muṣḥaf was reset in Hyderabad:
the same text in lines as long as in Būlāq but slightly higher
although kasras and kasratain are not as steep as in the original.
While in Giza kasras are integrated into the descender of the main (letter) line,
in Hyderabad they are ‒ like the pause-sign-top-line, the Ḍamma-Fatḥa-Šadda-Ǧazm-line ‒
in a line of their own below the letters.
This is normal in type set/type printed maṣāḥif
In 1906 the Amīrīya get new types: Ǧaʿfar Bey left the design almost unchanged, he reduced the ligatures by more than 150, and had the lower bodies of sorts undercut to allow tight kerning.
The Monotype clones used in Hyderabad were not as sophisticated, here see a a top line for pause sign, a line for fatḥa, ḍamma, šadda, the main line for the letters and the kasra-line, while kasra, kasratain, kasra-with-small-mīm are integrated in Būlāq (i.e. next to a descender, close to the letters, even in the bowl of ح ج خ ع غ )












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وملاىه II

إذا اتخذنا الآية الرابعة من سورة إبراهيم (١٤:٤) منطلقاً ﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ﴾، يتضح...