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liga — Standard Ligatures

liga (Standard Ligatures) gathers the ligatures that are in common use.

The fi and fl ligatures are examples. Anything can go in it, so long as the font’s maker judges it a ligature in common use.

Ligatures commonly found in liga gives a rough guide.

Without liga
Official
With liga
Official
.fea source
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Five features form ligatures, liga among them.

Feature Purpose
rlig Ligatures required for correct display of a script. Always applied
liga Ligatures in common use. On by default
clig Ligatures recommended only in a specific context. On by default
dlig Ligatures used for special effect, at the user’s preference. Off by default
hlig Ligatures once in common use that now appear anachronistic. Off by default

In Arabic, ل (lam) followed by ا (alef) always takes the single form لا. This is not a matter of taste but a form the script requires. Ligatures like this belong in rlig, not liga.

For example, you may want f and t to form a ligature, but not when an ascending letter comes before them, as in a script face. Ligatures that form or not depending on the surrounding letters — the context — belong in clig, not liga.

The rules are written with Lookup Type 4.

Without rules
difficult waffle
With rules
difficult waffle
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