Thank you, خالد and Richard.
there is only one Indic mark I can think of for which
the issue of component association arises, and that is the nukta
That is good to know, given the complexity of the Indic scripts.
Other thoughts:
* One could simply break up Arabic ligatures in need of harakat. If
someone knows whether or to what extent this is done in otherwise
ligated text, I will be curious to know.
* Just now it is occurring to me that {the fact that the shadda is
often used in ordinary writing} should make it easier to find data
on all this, unless gemination blocks ligation in certain ways.
* If there are conventions on the relative placement of harakat in
general (I mean: not necessarily print), I will be curious to know.
Some letter/consonant clusters have quite vertical an appearance,
and any type foundry will need to be familiar with common practice
(to the extent there is any), no matter what medium or technology is
used in the end to create a typeface.
Stephan
