The Zero-Width Non-Joiner

In Persian, many of the letters of the alphabet naturally connect with the following letter when written in a word.  However, when writing certain prefixes, suffixes and compound words, we override this natural behavior of joining letters and prevent them from joining the following letter but without adding a space between the two.

The ZWNJ is also known as:

Nim fāseleh

Fāseleh-ye majāzi

Fāseleh-ye sefr

Pseudo-space

HTML Entity (decimal):  ‌
HTML Entity (hex):  ‌
HTML Entity (named):  ‌
UTF-8 (hex):  e2808c
UTF-8 (binary):  11100010:10000000:10001100
UTF-16 (hex):  0x200C
UTF-16 (decimal):  8204
C/C++/Java source code:  "\u200C"
 

In case that's not enough info for you, check out fileformat.info

 
How to type this space:  (Use any one of these 6 methods)
  1. On Win2000 and WinXP: Control+Shift+2 (This does not work in Word or other Office programs but works in Notepad and other Windows editing programs so if desperate, you can cut & paste!)
  2. On any version of Windows: Make sure "Num Lock" (that's a key above the key pad) is on. Type "alt" plus the following numbers on the key pad: 0 (that's a zero) + 157 (one-five-seven)
  3. On any version of Windows: In Word, look up on the tool bar for Insert, then Symbol, then Special Characters. Now look for either "Zero-width non-joiner" or "No-width optional break" (it has different names in different versions of Word). Now either insert it into the text or make a shortcut key to some unused key. (I've chosen Alt+Insert on my computer)
  4. If you have WordXP:  Look up on the tool bar for Insert, then Symbol then type in the code as shown:  (click picture to enlarge)
  5. Also if you have WordXP: type 200C + Alt + x  (I've not been able to verify that this way actually works.)
  6. WindowsXP and OfficeXP: Make sure "Num Lock" (that's a key above the key pad) is on. Type "alt" plus the following numbers on the key pad: 8204

 

The best way to type ZWNJ is to get yourself a new keyboard.

Special thanks to Roozbeh Pournader and the PersianComputing list at http://farsiweb.info/   for much info on the Zero-Width Non-Joiner.

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