RTL Language Indicator Regex for PHP
/^[-ۿ-ݐ-ݿﭐ-﷿ﹰ-]/What this pattern does
This page provides a lightweight, single-purpose regular expression for matching rtl language indicator, ported and verified for PHP. A rigorously tested regex reduces debugging time and protects your application from edge-case failures. The snippet below is ready to drop into your PHP project — whether you're validating in a Laravel validator, a WordPress plugin, or a standalone PHP script.
Php Implementation
<?php
// RTL Language Indicator
// ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Localization > Locale & Language
define('RTL_LANGUAGE_INDICATOR_PATTERN', '/^[-ۿ-ݐ-ݿﭐ-﷿ﹰ-]/');
function validate_rtl_language_indicator(string $input): bool {
return (bool) preg_match(RTL_LANGUAGE_INDICATOR_PATTERN, $input);
}
// Example
var_dump(validate_rtl_language_indicator("مرحبا")); // bool(true)Test Cases
Matches (Valid) | Rejects (Invalid) |
|---|---|
مرحبا | Hello |
שלום | こんにちは |
سلام | 你好 |
| — | 안녕 |
When to use this pattern
This pattern is drawn from the Localization > Locale & Language category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for PHP developers because especially relevant in PHP where PCRE backtracking limits can trigger silent failures on malicious input. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.
Common Pitfalls
Persian (Farsi) and Urdu use the Arabic script range with additional characters. Kurdish (Kurmanji) uses Latin script. Pashto uses Arabic script. Script detection is more reliable than language detection for RTL determination.
Technical Notes
Unicode ranges: 0600-06FF (Arabic), 0590-05FF (Hebrew), 0750-077F (Arabic Supplement), FB50-FDFF (Arabic Presentation Forms A), FE70-FEFF (Arabic Presentation Forms B). Use for dynamic RTL layout detection, not for validation.
Have a pattern that belongs in the vault?
Submit it for review — community-verified patterns get credited to your GitHub handle. Free submissions join the queue. Priority review available for $15.
Submit a Pattern