View source for Zero-width joiner

{{Short description|Non-printing character used in computerized typesetting}}
{{distinguish|Zero-width non-joiner|Word joiner}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic|image=}}
[[File:IEC 60417 - Ref-No 6077-2.svg|thumb|120px|ISO keyboard symbol for ZWJ]]
The '''zero-width joiner''' ('''ZWJ''', {{IPAc-en|'|z|w|ɪ|dʒ}};<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-11-28|title=113 New Unicode Emoji (plus skin tones)|url=http://blog.unicode.org/2016/11/113-new-unicode-emoji-plus-skin-tones.html|access-date=2021-01-14|website=Unicode Blog}}</ref> rendered: {{Not a typo|{{kbd|&#8205;}}}}; [[HTML entity]]: {{kbd|&amp;zwj;}} or {{kbd|&amp;#8205;}}) is a [[non-printing character]] used in the computerized [[typesetting]] of [[writing system]]s in which the shape or positioning of a [[grapheme]] depends on its relation to other graphemes ([[complex script]]s), such as the [[Arabic script]] or any [[Indic script]]. Sometimes the [[Latin script|Roman script]] is to be counted as complex, e.g. when using a [[Fraktur]] typeface.  When placed between two characters that would otherwise not be connected, a ZWJ causes them to be printed in their connected forms.

The exact behaviour of the ZWJ varies depending on whether the use of a [[conjunct consonant]] or ligature (where multiple characters are shown with a single [[glyph]]) is expected by default; for instance, it suppresses the use of conjuncts in [[Devanagari]] (whilst still allowing the use of the individual joining form of a dead consonant, as opposed to a [[halant]] form as would be required by the [[zero-width non-joiner]]), but induces the use of [[Sinhala script#Consonant conjuncts|conjuncts in Sinhala]] (which does not use them by default).<ref>{{cite web| url=http://unicode.org/review/pr-37.pdf |title=Proposal on Clarification and Consolidation of the Function of ZERO WIDTH JOINER in Indic Scripts |id=[[Unicode Technical Committee|UTC]] [[INCITS|L2]]/04-279, Public Review Issue #37 |date=2004-06-30 |first=Peter |last=Constable |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode16.0.0/core-spec/chapter-13/#G38608 |title=13.2. Sinhala (§ Virama (al-lakuna) and Consonant Forms) |work=The Unicode Standard, Core Specification |institution=[[Unicode Consortium]] |quote=Unless combined with a U+200D {{sc|ZERO WIDTH JOINER}}, an {{lang|si-Latn|al-lakuna}} is always visible and does not join consonants to form orthographic consonant clusters. […] Note how the use of ZWJ in Sinhala differs from that of typical Indic scripts.}}</ref> Similarly to Sinhala, when a ZWJ is placed between two [[emoji]] characters (or interspersed between multiple), it can result in a single glyph being shown, such as the family emoji, made up of two adult emoji and one or two child emoji.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://emojipedia.org/zero-width-joiner/ |title=Zero Width Joiner |language=en |publisher=[[Emojipedia]] |access-date=2015-09-21}}</ref>

In some cases, such as the second Devanagari example below, the ZWJ can be used to display a joining form in isolation, when included after the character and combining halant code.

The character's code point is {{unichar|200D|ZERO WIDTH JOINER|html=}}. In the [[InScript Typing|InScript]] keyboard layout for Indian languages, it is typed by the key combination {{Key press|Ctrl|Shift|1}}. However, many layouts use the position of [[QWERTY]]'s ']' key for this character.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://malayalam.kerala.gov.in/index.php/%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82:Inscript.jpg |title=ചിത്രം:Inscript.jpg – Malayalam Computing |language=ml |publisher=Malayalam.kerala.gov.in |access-date=2011-10-22 |archive-date=2011-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011172849/http://malayalam.kerala.gov.in/index.php/%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82:Inscript.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Examples ==
[[File:Zero Width (Non)Joiner.svg|thumb|Use of {{control code link|ZWNJ}} and ZWJ to select alternative forms of [[Devanagari]], [[Tamil script|Tamil]], [[Kannada script|Kannada]], [[Sinhala script|Sinhala]] and [[emoji]].]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Bengali–Assamese script|Bengali]]
|-
! Character sequence !! Appearance
|-
| <big>[ra র] [virāma ্ ] [ya য]</big> || <big>র্য</big>
|-
| <big>[ra র] [ZWJ] [virāma ্ ] [ya য]</big> || <big>র‍্য</big>
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Devanagari script|Devanagari]]
|-
! Character sequence !! Appearance
|-
| <big>[ka क] [virāma ्]</big> || <big>क्</big>
|-
| <big>[ka क] [virāma ्] [ZWJ]</big> || <big>क्‍</big>
|-
| <big>[ka क] [virāma ्] [ṣa ष]</big> || <big>क्ष</big>
|-
| <big>[ka क] [virāma ्] [ZWJ] [ṣa ष]</big> || <big>क्‍ष</big>
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Kannada script|Kannada]]
|-
! Character sequence !! Appearance
|-
| <big>[ra ರ‍] [virāma ್] [ka ಕ]</big> || <big>ರ್ಕ</big>
|-
| <big>[ra ರ‍] [ZWJ] [virāma ್] [ka ಕ]</big> || <big>ರ‍್ಕ</big>
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Sinhala script|Sinhala]]
|-
! Character sequence !! Appearance
|-
| <big>[śa ශ] [virāma  ්] [ra ර]</big> || <big>ශ්ර</big>
|-
| <big>[śa ශ] [virāma  ්] [ZWJ] [ra ර]</big> || <big>ශ්‍ර</big>
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Malayalam script|Malayalam]]<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Until Unicode 5.0; in later editions, specific code points are allotted<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2007/07129-malayalam.pdf |title=Changes related to Malayalam in Unicode 5.1.0 from 5.0 |publisher=Unicode.org |access-date=2015-06-12}}</ref>)</span>
|-
! Character sequence !! Appearance
|-
| <big>[Na ണ] [virāma ്] [ZWJ]</big> || <big>ണ്‍</big>
|-
| <big>[na ന] [virāma ്] [ZWJ]</big> || <big>ന്‍</big>
|-
| <big>[ra ര] [virāma ്] [ZWJ] </big> || <big>ര്‍</big>
|-
| <big>[la ല] [virāma ്] [ZWJ] </big> || <big>ല്‍</big>
|-
| <big>[La ള] [virāma ്] [ZWJ] </big> || <big>ള്‍</big>
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ [[Emoji]]
|-
! Character sequence !! Appearance !! Description
|-
| <big>[Man] [ZWJ] [Woman] [ZWJ] [Boy]</big> || <big>👨‍👩‍👦</big> || Family: Man, Woman, Boy
|-
| <big>[Waving white flag] [ZWJ] [Rainbow]</big> || <big>🏳️‍🌈</big> || Rainbow Flag
|-
| <big>[Runner] [Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-1-2] [ZWJ] [Female Sign]</big> || <big>🏃🏻‍♀️</big> || Woman Running: Light Skin Tone
|-
| <big>[Runner] [Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-6] [ZWJ] [Female Sign]</big> || <big>🏃🏿‍♀️</big> || Woman Running: Dark Skin Tone
|-
|<big>[Man] [ZWJ] [Red hair]</big>
|👨‍🦰
|Man: Red Hair
|-
|<big>[Person] [ZWJ] [Sheaf of rice]</big>
|👨‍🌾
|Farmer
|}

==See also==
* [[Word joiner]]
* [[Zero-width non-joiner]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://unicode.org/review/pr-37.pdf Proposal on Clarification and Consolidation of the Function of ZERO WIDTH JOINER in Indic Scripts]

{{Unicode navigation}}

[[Category:Control characters]]
[[Category:Typography]]
[[Category:Unicode formatting code points]]

{{Digital-typography-stub}}