Dot Placement
مواضع النقاط
How dots distinguish letters that share a base shape
Arabic has 28 letters, but only about 18 distinct base shapes. What distinguishes many letters from each other is the number and position of dots (نقط) placed above or below the skeleton of the letter. For example, ب (bāʾ), ت (tāʾ), and ث (thāʾ) share the same base form but are differentiated by one dot below, two dots above, and three dots above, respectively.
Why It Matters
Misplaced, missing, or ambiguous dots can change a word's meaning entirely. Typographically, dot placement affects clarity at small sizes, where dots may collide with diacritics or neighboring letters. Good Arabic typefaces carefully manage dot size, spacing, and positioning across all contextual forms to maintain legibility.