[arabic-vip] ZWNJ (earlier: [vip] Overarching principles used in Devanagari team report)

[Siavash Shahshahani]

Here's an example of what could be a very reasonable domain name that
requires ZWNJ(maybe this will give someone the idea of applying!). 'Silk
Road' in Persian/Dari/Tajiki and perhaps some other languages is  
<راه‌ابریشم>
(pronounced Raahe Abrisham). This is considered a single word, but
rendering it without ZWNJ as
<راهابریشم>
would look unpronounceable and very funny. And this could be a gTLD with
clients in Central Asia as I think it is the name of a network there.
Siavash

On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:47:32 -0700, "Sarmad Hussain"
<sarmad.hussain at kics.edu.pk> wrote:
> From what I recollect, there is no ban, but a discussion around it at
this
> time (e.g. there is a document restricting it which is currently being
> drafted and not in final stages).  However, ICANN VIP Team can advise.
> 
> Regards,
> Sarmad
> 
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Siavash Shahshahani [mailto:shahshah at irnic.ir]
>>>Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 11:42 AM
>>>To: Sarmad Hussain
>>>Cc: Baher Esmat; Andrew Sullivan; arabic-vip at icann.org
>>>Subject: Re: [arabic-vip] [vip] Overarching principles used in
>>>Devanagari team report
>>>
>>>
>>>My recolection is similar to Sarmad's. I don't remember that we made a
>>>distinction between the occurrence of ZWNJ in TLD and the subordinate
>>>strings, but I may be wrong. If there's a general ban for the use of
>>>ZWNJ
>>>in TLDs, could someone provide a reference?
>>>Siavash
>>>
>>>On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:44:43 -0700, "Sarmad Hussain"
>>><sarmad.hussain at kics.edu.pk> wrote:
>>>> Dear Baher, Andrew, All,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for your feedback.  We have the following text for ZWNJ in the
>>>> latest
>>>> version of the report on issues:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 200C (ZWNJ): Even though there may be some policy to restrict the use
>>>of
>>>> ZWNJ in the TLDs, the committee felt that due to its critical use in
>>>Arabic
>>>> script to separate ligatures which end with joining letters, there is
>>>a
>>>> need
>>>> for ZWNJ by the community for TLDs (even though there may be limited
>>>use
>>>at
>>>> this time).  Zero Width Non Joiner is needed in domain names in
>>>Arabic
>>>> script to separate multiple words within a label.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Though there is a defined rule which allows ZWNJ only in contexts
>>>where
>>>its
>>>> effect is visible, there are few contexts which ZWNJ may still not
>>>have
>>>a
>>>> visible impact.  This includes characters U+0637, U+0638 and U+069F.
>>>This
>>>> is indicated by the two sequences, one with and one without the ZWNJ:
>>>طب
>>>> ط‌ب.  The ZWNJ should not be permitted following these three
>>>characters,
>>>> in
>>>> addition to the constraint already put on its use by the IDNA 2008
>>>protocol
>>>> (see RFC 5893).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have requested Baher for links to the audio recordings to re-check
>>>this.
>>>> However, other members attending the F2F meeting are also requested
>>>to
>>>> comment so that we can draft this text to correctly reflect what we
>>>> finalized.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Sarmad
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> From: arabic-vip-bounces at icann.org [mailto:arabic-vip-
>>>bounces at icann.org]
>>>On
>>>> Behalf Of Baher Esmat
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 9:08 AM
>>>> To: Andrew Sullivan; arabic-vip at icann.org
>>>> Subject: Re: [arabic-vip] [vip] Overarching principles used in
>>>Devanagari
>>>> team report
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 9/21/11 5:19 PM, "Andrew Sullivan" <ajs at crankycanuck.ca> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 07:59:27PM -0700, Sarmad Hussain wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> 2.       The Arabic Script Community is requesting the use of ZWNJ
>>>in
>>>> TLDs
>>>>>
>>>>> This is something that did not come clear to me in our face to face,
>>>>> but I know someone has asked for this on a mailing list.
>>>>
>>>> It was not that clear to me as well. I recall there was a discussion
>>>about
>>>> this during the f2f meeting but thought that there was no consensus
>>>on
>>>the
>>>> necessity to allow ZWNJ at TLD level, and the conclusion was that the
>>>team
>>>> would raise this as an issue in their final report.
>>>>
>>>> Baher
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I do like 1.6 (I think Andrew emphasized this as "delegation" in
>>>our
>>>> meeting
>>>>>> and it is an important point not very well understood by the
>>>community
>>>>>> (please correct me if I am wrong here)).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> Sarmad
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> From: vip-bounces at icann.org [mailto:vip-bounces at icann.org] On
>>>Behalf
>>>Of
>>>>>> Naela Sarras
>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 7:24 AM
>>>>>> To: vip at icann.org
>>>>>> Subject: [vip] Overarching principles used in Devanagari team
>>>report
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> During a meeting of the Devanagari Case Study Team meeting last
>>>week,
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> team adopted a set of overarching principles that they will include
>>>in
>>>> their
>>>>>> Case Study Issues report. We are sharing this section of the report
>>>with
>>>> the
>>>>>> other case study teams in case they find it useful for their
>>>respective
>>>>>> reports.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Naela Sarras
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>