Arabic Letter Ng Final Form

Use the base ng letter in new text; keep this form for legacy compatibility. Arabic letters change shape according to their position and neighboring letters. This character fixes the ng letter in its final shape, so it can look wrong if inserted where another shape belongs.

For ordinary writing, enter the base letter U+06AD and let Arabic shaping choose its appearance. Retain this character when an older text or data format specifically requires the presentation-form code point.

Why does Arabic script have an ng letter?

Arabic-script writers added letters for sounds Arabic did not have, including /ŋ/. Jawi adapted Arabic script for Malay; it was used for purposes such as religious writing and trade. The Terengganu Inscription Stone, dated 1303, is an early surviving Jawi witness.

Jawi and Pegon are related Arabic-script traditions used for Malay and for Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese. Their added letters do not always match. This character is a positional presentation form, not a one-off invention of the underlying ng letter.

Which ng letter is used in Jawi?

The sound is shared, but the letters are different. The base letter U+06AD is associated in Unicode notes with Uyghur, Kazakh, Old Malay, and early Persian. Jawi nga is U+06A0, a separate character. Knowing the sound does not make the two letters interchangeable.

A 2019 Unicode review says the source behind the older “Old Malay” annotation is difficult to determine. The Terengganu inscription documents early Jawi, but does not establish that this exact presentation-form character was used there.