Documentation of the Evangelion CPA font

Aleksandr Andreev

University of Oslo, Faculty of Theology

Note the following:

• The joining behavior of Alaph, He, Waw, Sadhe, and Taw differs from Classical Syriac. In Classical Syriac these characters are right-joining only, but in CPA these characters are dual-joining.
• U+0716 Syriac Letter Dotless Dalath Rish is used for Dalath, which does not take a dot. The font also provides a dotted Dalath at U+0715, which looks like this: ܕ
• Initial, medial, and final forms can be called out of context by entering U+200D Zero Width Joiner, as in:

  ܐ	ܐ‍
  ܐ	‍ܐ‍
  ܐ	‍ܐ

• Default joining behavior can be overwritten by entering U+200C Zero Width Non-Joiner:

ܐܒ

ܐ‌ܒ

• You can lengthen the joiner between characters (stretch the characters) by inserting U+0640 Arabic Tatweel between characters: ܐܠــܘܗܐ ܐܠܘܗܐ ܐܠـܘܗܐ ܐܠـــــܘܗܐ Note that while this character is encoded in the Arabic block, Unicode Core Spec specifies[4] that it should also be used for the Syriac script.

Diacritical Marks

Seyome

The seyome is encoded at U+0308 Combining Diaresis and looks like this ◌̈.

Here are examples of the seyome above all of the theoretically possible characters:

ܐ̈ ܒ̈ ܓ̈ ܕ̈ ܖ̈ ܗ̈ ܘ̈ ܙ̈ ܚ̈ ܛ̈ ܝ̈ ܟ̈ ܠ̈ ܡ̈ ܢ̈ ܣ̈ ܥ̈ ܦ̈ ܧ̈ ܨ̈ ܩ̈ ܪ̈ ܫ̈ ܬ̈

Note that positioning seyome over Rish results first in the removal of the character’s dot. Here are some sample words with the seyome:

ܐܢ̈ܗ ܐܬ̈ܝܢ ܗܢ̈ܝܢ ܗ̈ܠܝܟ ܡܠܟ̈ܝܢ ܒܢ̈ܝ ܚܝ̈ܝܗܘܢ ܡ̈ܝܐ ܐܒܗ̈ܬܐ ܚܒ̈ܠܝܐ ܣܟ̈ܠܐܢ ܒܬܘ̈ܠܬܐ ܐܘܪ̈ܚܬܗܘܢ

Single Dot Above

The single dot above is encoded as U+0307 Combining Dot Above and looks like this: ◌̇. Here it is placed above all of the theoretically possible characters:

ܐ̇ ܒ̇ ܓ̇ ܕ̇ ܖ̇ ܗ̇ ܘ̇ ܙ̇ ܚ̇ ܛ̇ ܝ̇ ܟ̇ ܠ̇ ܡ̇ ܢ̇ ܣ̇ ܥ̇ ܦ̇ ܧ̇ ܨ̇ ܩ̇ ܪ̇ ܫ̇ ܬ̇

The dot has a variety of meanings. It can be used as a feminine marker over Taw or He, as in the following examples:

ܒܛܢܬ̇ ܐܬܥܒܖܬ̇ ܗܘܬ̇ ܥܠܝܗ̇ ܚܬ̇ܗ̇

It can be used to distinguish homonymns, as in:

ܡ̇ܢ ܡܢ

It can occur as a vocalization mark over Alaph or Waw (and He?):

ܐ̇ܦܪܟܘܣ ܙܘܢܐ̇ ܗ̇ܐ ܘ̇

NB: U+0740 Syriac Feminine Dot is not used.

Single Dot Below

The dot below is encoded at U+0323 Combining Dot Below and looks like this: ◌̣. Here the dot is positioned below all of the theoretically possible characters:

ܐ̣ ܒ̣ ܓ̣ ܕ̣ ܖ̣ ܗ̣ ܘ̣ ܙ̣ ܚ̣ ܛ̣ ܝ̣ ܟ̣ ܠ̣ ܡ̣ ܢ̣ ܣ̣ ܥ̣ ܦ̣ ܧ̣ ܨ̣ ܩ̣ ܪ̣ ܫ̣ ܬ̣

In practice it occurs only below Aleph, Wow, and Yudh, as in these words:

ܟܢܝ̣ܫܬ̇ܐ ܫܘ̣ܡ̇ܝܐ̇ ܩ̇ܠ̈ܐ̣

The dot above and dot below may be combined, by entering them in succession: ܐ̣̇. The order of entry is not relevant.

If two diacritical marks are entered above a character they are stacked, indicating that an error has been made: ܒ̇̈.

Punctuation

The following punctuation marks are available:

Testing

Here is some sample text. You can edit this text to play with the font:

You can enter CPA text using any Syriac keyboard layout, such as the virtual keyboard provided by Lexilogos.

Bugs and Questions

Please open an issue on GitHub.

License

The font is free software, distributed under the terms of the SIL Open Font License.

ܬܫܡܠܡ ܒܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܒܫܢܬ ܐܬܝܢ ܘܚܡܫܐ ܘܥܣܪܝܢ