ABSTRACT
Based on the theory of graphetic articulation (Johannessen, 2010), this chapter, by considering the universal conventions of graphic forms and vital factors of affordance mentioned in the theory of articulatory graphetics, compares calligraphic letterforms with graphical forms, first understanding how a letterform functions like a graphical form, then describing the process in which a calligraphic letterform creates a communicative visual event. Relying on the three main factors of acting body, tool, and substance in Nastaliq representative forms, the chapter explains the process performance in letterforms in which communicative events are created. The chapter also draws a self-inclusive calligraphic articulation particularly for Nastaliq calligraphy ‒ or a calligraphic articulation. In other words, it considers calligraphic practices from the perspective of graphetics and examines conventions through the three aspects of acting body, tool, and substance within the dynamic analysis method of “articulatory graphetics”; this is comparable to “articulatory phonetics” and applied to graphic forms to understand the differences in various visual communicative events that they cause and to identify factors that create similarities and differences in communicative events created by graphic trademarks.
