Arabic Letter Veh Initial Form

It is the opening shape of the letter Veh. The base letter ڤ has three dots and is used for /v/ in several writing traditions that use the Arabic script. This initial form does not add another sound or word.

Veh developed as Arabic-script writers adapted the alphabet for sounds Arabic did not have. In early New Persian, it represented /β/, a sound that later shifted to /b/. The earliest surviving Persian manuscript in Arabic script dates to the early 10th century, by which time the principles for adapting the script were established. Veh’s shape is built on ف, the Arabic letter fāʾ.

The letter’s use varies by language. Sorani Kurdish uses ڤ for /v/; modern Persian no longer uses it. As of 2026, some Arabic dialects also use Veh for /v/ in foreign names and loanwords. In Jawi and Pegon, the same base shape represents /p/.

Should I use ﭬ in a normal word?

No; use base Veh for ordinary text. ﭬ is a compatibility presentation form: it stores one joining position in advance. Text shaping normally chooses the appropriate form from the base letter and its neighbors.

Reserve ﭬ for reproducing legacy data or testing a conversion. It may look right while encoding the text in a way that other software handles inconsistently.