Huati Wulan The Arabic script has been adapted by many languages beyond Arabic itself. In Xinjiang, more than thirteen million speakers of Uyghur, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz use a modified Arabic script, often referred to here as the “UKK script.” Since the early twentieth century, several alphabet reforms have been introduced to make the script better reflect the sounds of these languages. This involved removing letters not needed for UKK, and adding new ones to represent sounds not present in Arabic or Persian. The UKK script is used in parallel with Chinese characters in this region, creating a unique multilingual context.
Through this process, the UKK script developed features that make it distinct from Arabic or Persian typography. Examples include the use of Latin numerals instead of Arabic numerals, the practice of hyphenation in justification, and a very different role for the hamza compared to its traditional usage. These changes show both the linguistic needs and the cultural background of the UKK languages.
Although the script is in daily use, the typography of the modified Arabic scripts in Central Asia has rarely been discussed in type design research. Digital font support is still incomplete, and many existing fonts are inconsistent in quality. This presentation introduces the background of the UKK script, outlines the alphabet reforms, and explains its main typographic characteristics. I will also present my work on FT Nazyra, a typeface designed for UKK languages, and share some of the design considerations behind it. The aim is to provide practical information for type designers and researchers interested in this underrepresented writing system.