Traditional Arabic is an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

naskh-based typeface first developed by

Monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

as Series 589 in the spring of 1956. It featured a system of interlocking sorts to allow for the

diacritics A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...

to properly display over the letters they modify. Whereas Linotype's typeface Simplified Arabic or Yakout had become the standard for newspapers, the Traditional Arabic typeface became the preferred for quality book printing. In the 1970s and 1980s,

Compugraphic Compugraphic Corporation, commonly called cg, was an American producer of typesetting systems and phototypesetting equipment, based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, a few miles from where it was founded. This company is distinct from Compugraphics, ...

plagiarized Traditional Arabic as well as Simplified Arabic; they had both become ubiquitous. When the Belgian Agfa-Gevaert Corporation came to control Compugraphics, it licensed the fonts it plagiarized to

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

for use in

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

References

Arabic typefaces Monotype typefaces Plagiarism Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1956 {{font-stub