Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-inline] Arabic drop-caps (#2399)

@r12a, this topic has been bouncing around for a bit now. My personal take is that since this is a novelty of a typographical practice in Arabic script text, there is no reliable source. However, the research shows that (a) most cases of drop-caps in Arabic script texts are not using joining forms; (b) through my research on the matter, I believe that there is also some precedence for the drop-caps in Arabic script text to _use of joining forms_. This requires further investigation, but I reproduce the case that I'm referring to as a rare precedence.

What follows is from the volume [_Compendium of Latin Translations of Persian Astronomical Tables_](https://www.wdl.org/en/item/10676/#institution=qatar-national-library), selected portions of [_Zīj-i Sultānī_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zij-i_Sultani) translated into Latin and published by Oxford University Press in 1655.

![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/875962/49882078-ad7fba00-fde4-11e8-8487-b82f50932f65.png)

![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/875962/49881977-6d203c00-fde4-11e8-88d2-796168ac9007.png)

Further pointers:
– [my thread on Persian Computing](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/persian-computing/W-Upl6DAEcg)
– [Liam Quin's blogpost](https://barefootliam.blogspot.com/2014/05/drop-caps-other-writing-systems-other.html) has a section with his findings, points to the thread above

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Received on Wednesday, 12 December 2018 16:23:08 UTC