The Arabic star is a
punctuation mark
Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...
added to Unicode 1.1 because the
asterisk
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
(*) might appear similar to a
Star of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
in its six-lobed form
(✻).
The
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
star is given a distinct character in
Unicode
Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
, , in the range
Arabic punctuation.
Variants
In many modern fonts, however, the asterisk is five-pointed, and the Arabic star is sometimes six- or eight-pointed. The two symbols are compared below (the display depends on your browser's font).
Unicode
In Unicode, Arabic and similar stars are encoded at:
*
*
In some displays, the use of the ٭ character can cause the
text directionality to change.
Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm
/ref>
See also
*Star (glyph)
In typography, a star is any of several glyphs with a number of points arrayed within an imaginary circle.
Four points
Five points
See also
* Mullet (heraldry)
* Pentagram
Six points
See also
* Seal of Solomon
* Hexagram
Seven poi ...
References
External links
Windows Programming/Unicode/Character reference/0000-0FFFStar Symbol
Arabic punctuation and symbols
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