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Nuqat

Definition

The diacritical dots in Arabic script that distinguish letter pairs (b/t/th, n/y, etc.); in fluent adult writing, multi-dot groups are often merged into individual strokes whose specific form is highly individualising.

Related terms

Abjad
A script system representing only consonants, with vowels supplied by context; Arabic, Hebrew, and Urdu are abjads. Most individualising forensic features lie...
Abugida (Alphasyllabary)
A script system in which consonant characters carry inherent vowels modified by diacritical marks; Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, and Thai are abugidas.
Alphabet
A script system in which individual characters represent individual phonemes; Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and Korean Hangul are alphabets.
Class Characteristics
Features deliberately or systematically imparted to a group of items by design or manufacture, such as the calibre of a bullet, the...
Cross-Script Disguise
An attempt by a writer to imitate a script system in which they are not fluent, typically to mislead investigators about linguistic...
Logograph
A script system representing morphemes or syllables with complex characters; Chinese Hanzi and Japanese Kanji are logographic, with character stroke order as...
OSAC (NIST)
Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science under the US National Institute of Standards and Technology; the successor body to SWGDOC,...
Shirorekha
The horizontal headline stroke at the top of most Devanagari consonant characters, joining adjacent letters; its individual variation in height, pressure, continuity,...
Stroke Order
The canonical sequence of strokes within a CJK character, specified by national pedagogical standards (GB/T 15834 in China, Joyo Kanji conventions in...

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