Joining Group - Dal

Dal is a joining group that applies to the Arabic letter dal, as well as its variants like the initial and medial forms used in scripts such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. Characters in this group share a specific cursive connection behavior, meaning they do not connect to the following letter in a word, but they do connect from the previous letter, resulting in a right‑joining pattern. This affects how the letter appears in connected text, with its isolated or final form used when no letter follows, and a medial form when preceded by a connecting character. Dal is distinct from other joining groups because of its simple, unlooped shape, which influences ligature formation and rendering in complex text shaping. For typography and text layout, recognizing this group helps ensure proper glyph selection and positioning, especially in bidirectional or calligraphic contexts where accurate joining rules are essential.