In today's world, Zero-width joiner has gained unprecedented relevance. Whether due to its impact on society, politics, the economy or culture, Zero-width joiner is a topic that leaves no one indifferent. From its beginnings until today, Zero-width joiner has been the subject of study, debate and controversy. In this article, we will explore different aspects of Zero-width joiner, analyzing its importance in the current context and its influence in different areas of daily life. In addition, we will delve into its history, evolution and future perspectives, with the aim of thoroughly understanding the relevance of Zero-width joiner today.
Non-printing character used in computerized typesetting
The zero-width joiner (ZWJ, /ˈzwɪdʒ/) (‍) is a non-printing character used in the computerized typesetting of writing systems in which the shape or positioning of a grapheme depends on its relation to other graphemes (complex scripts), such as the Arabic script or any Indic script. Sometimes the 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 conjuncts in Sinhala (which does not use them by default). 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.
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 U+200DZERO WIDTH JOINER (‍). In the InScript keyboard layout for Indian languages, it is typed by the key combination Ctrl+Shift+1. However, many layouts use the position of QWERTY's ']' key for this character.
Breitenloser Verbinder
Carácter de ancho cero
Liant sans chasse
Zero Width Joiner
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