Use the tailed form of U+0620 KASHMIRI YEH as per Unicode consensus

[Manishearth]

Defect Report

Title

Use the tailed form of U+0620 KASHMIRI YEH as per Unicode consensus.

Font

All Noto Sans/Naskh Arabic fonts

Where the font came from, and when

Tested on Google Fonts on 2024-07-29 with Noto Sans Arabic

Issue

1. Steps to reproduce: Observe the text ؠ (U+0620) or كؠ (U+0643, U+0620) in any of these fonts
2. Observed results: U+0620 is rendered with a circle underneath it
3. Expected results: U+0620 should have a rendered form with a half-length "tail", similar to that in Noto Nastaliq, Scheherzade New, Lateef, or Harmattan.

In UTC #180, 180-C23 agreed to change the default glyph for U+0620 to no longer have the circle, as detailed in Fixing the Kashmiri Yeh.

This is based on research done in Report on Kashmiri Yeh that details that due to a mistake in the Unicode standard, many fonts have incorrectly chosen to show a ring below the glyph for U+0620 KASHMIRI YEH in isolated and final forms.

Table of various fonts showing incorrect renderings


Now that Unicode has reviewed the evidence and agreed with the conclusion, we should update the fonts so Kashmiri users get a better experience as soon as possible.

The initial/medial forms of U+0620 should still show a ring below them.

Happy to answer any questions that come up. Unfortunately I'm not much of a font designer and don't know how best to design a half-tail yeh for these fonts. The report has plenty of examples of handwritten and typeset half-tail yehs, though.

cc @simoncozens @khaledhosny