Arabic Beh Initial Form

It is Beh shaped to join the next letter. The letter stays the same; its outline changes with its position in a word. Arabic writing developed from Nabataean script, with inscriptions from the first-century BCE and papyrus documents from the first-century CE showing stages in that history. The script later appeared in Qur’anic manuscripts, official writing, coins, buildings, and other objects. By the 8th century, Qur’anic manuscripts had a distinctive style; by the 13th century, more fluid hands had replaced older ones in Qur’an production.

Arabic is used by Arabic-speaking and other communities, and Arabic script also serves languages such as Persian and Urdu. Beh’s dot below distinguishes it from Teh and Theh, whose related basic shapes carry dots above.

How should I use initial Beh in text?

Type ordinary Beh; let the text system shape it. At the start of a joining word, the system displays the initial form; neighboring letters determine the other connected forms.

This pre-shaped Beh is useful in a character specimen or when handling legacy data. In fresh text, it encodes a positional form separately from the ordinary letter, which can interfere with search or spell-checking. A following joining letter produces the initial shape; connections on both sides produce the medial shape, while a word boundary gives a final or isolated shape.