Coloring text in Arabtex (and booktabs) package

Question

I am using arabtex package in a booktabs style table. I would like to highlight the initial, medial and final forms of the arabic letters with a color such as red or graying out the rest of the letters. I tried to use something like \RL{\textcolor{gray}.b\textcolor{black}a} but it does not work.

I appreciate any help.

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{arabtex}
\usepackage{booktabs}


\begin{document} 

\begin{table}[]
\centering
\caption{The Arabic alphabet.}
\label{my-label}
\begin{tabular}{@{}ccccc@{}}
\toprule
Name & \begin{tabular}[c]{@{}c@{}}Standing\\ Alone\end{tabular} & Final & Medial & Initial \\ \midrule
 `alif& \RL{a} & \RL{.baa} & \RL{.baa.b} & \RL{a}  \\
 baa'& \RL{b} & \RL{tb} & \RL{tbt} & \RL{bt} \\
 taa'& \RL{t} & \RL{.bt} &\RL{.bt.b}  & \RL{t.b} \\
 thaa'& \RL{_t} & \RL{.b_t} & \RL{.b_t.b} & \RL{_t.b} \\
 jiim&    \RL{^g}&\RL{.b^g}& \RL{.b^g.b} &\RL{^g.b}  \\
 Haa'&  \RL{h}&  \RL{.bh}&  \RL{.bh.b}& \RL{h.b} \\
 khaa'& \RL{_h} & \RL{.b_h} &\RL{.b_h.b}  & \RL{_h.b} \\
 daal&  \RL{d}& \RL{.bd} & \RL{.bd.b} & \RL{d.b} \\
 dhaal&  \RL{_d}& \RL{.b_d} & \RL{.b_d.b} & \RL{_d.b} \\
 raa'&    \RL{r} &\RL{.br}& \RL{.br.b} &\RL{r.b}  \\
 zaay&    \RL{z}&\RL{.bz}&\RL{.bz.b}  & \RL{z.b} \\
 siin&    \RL{s}&\RL{.bs}& \RL{.bs.b} &\RL{s.b}  \\
 shiin& \RL{^s} & \RL{.b^s} & \RL{.b^s.b} &\RL{.b^s.b}  \\
 Saad& \RL{.s} & \RL{.b.s} & \RL{.b.s.b} & \RL{.s.b} \\
 Daad&  \RL{.d}& \RL{.b.d} &  \RL{.b.d.b}&\RL{.d.b}  \\
 Taa'& \RL{.t} & \RL{.b.t} & \RL{.b.t.b} & \RL{.t.b} \\
 Dhaa'& \RL{.z} & \RL{.b.z} & \RL{.b.z.b} & \RL{.z.b} \\
 `ayn&  \RL{`}&  \RL{.b`}& \RL{.b`.b} & \RL{`.b} \\
 ghayn&\RL{.g}  & \RL{.b.g} & \RL{.b.g.b} & \RL{.g.b} \\
 faa'&\RL{f}  & \RL{.bf} & \RL{.bf.b} &\RL{f.b}  \\
 qaaf& \RL{q} & \RL{.bq} & \RL{.bq.b} & \RL{q.b} \\
 kaaf& \RL{k} & \RL{.bk} & \RL{.bk.b} & \RL{k.b} \\
 gaaf& \RL{g} & \RL{.bg} & \RL{.bg.b} & \RL{g.b} \\
 laam& \RL{l} & \RL{.bl} & \RL{.bl.b} & \RL{l.b} \\
 miim& \RL{m} & \RL{.bm} & \RL{.bm.b} & \RL{m.b} \\
 nuun& \RL{n} & \RL{.bn} & \RL{.bn.b} &\RL{n.b}  \\
 haa'& \RL{h} &  \RL{.bh}& \RL{.bh.b} & \RL{h.b} \\
 waaw& \RL{w}  &  \RL{.bw}& \RL{.bw.b} & \RL{w.b} \\
 yaa'& \RL{_A} & \RL{.b_A} & \RL{.b_A.b} & \RL{_A.b} \\ \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}





\end{document}

Answer 1

Be sure you have the most recent version of acolor (the documentation should be dated 31 July 2014), and use it this way:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{arabtex,booktabs,acolor}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[]
  \acolor{isolated}{olive}
  \acolor{vowelmarks}{pink!75!purple}
  \acolor{initial}{purple}
  \acolor{medial}{cyan}
  \acolor{final}{teal}
  \acoloron
  \centering
  \caption{The Arabic alphabet.}
  \label{my-label}
  \begin{tabular}{@{}lcccc@{}}
    \toprule
    \scshape name & \scshape isolated & \scshape final & \scshape medial & \scshape initial\\
    \midrule
    `alif & \RL{a}  & \RL{.baa} & \RL{.baa.b} & \RL{a}     \\
    baa'  & \RL{b}  & \RL{tb}   & \RL{tbt}    & \RL{bt}    \\
    taa'  & \RL{t}  & \RL{.bt}  & \RL{.bt.b}  & \RL{t.b}   \\
    thaa' & \RL{_t} & \RL{.b_t} & \RL{.b_t.b} & \RL{_t.b}  \\
    jiim  & \RL{^g} & \RL{.b^g} & \RL{.b^g.b} & \RL{^g.b}  \\
    Haa'  & \RL{h}  & \RL{.bh}  & \RL{.bh.b}  & \RL{h.b}   \\
    khaa' & \RL{_h} & \RL{.b_h} & \RL{.b_h.b} & \RL{_h.b}  \\
    daal  & \RL{d}  & \RL{.bd}  & \RL{.bd.b}  & \RL{d.b}   \\
    dhaal & \RL{_d} & \RL{.b_d} & \RL{.b_d.b} & \RL{_d.b}  \\
    raa'  & \RL{r}  & \RL{.br}  & \RL{.br.b}  & \RL{r.b}   \\
    zaay  & \RL{z}  & \RL{.bz}  & \RL{.bz.b}  & \RL{z.b}   \\
    siin  & \RL{s}  & \RL{.bs}  & \RL{.bs.b}  & \RL{s.b}   \\
    shiin & \RL{^s} & \RL{.b^s} & \RL{.b^s.b} & \RL{.b^s.b}\\
    Saad  & \RL{.s} & \RL{.b.s} & \RL{.b.s.b} & \RL{.s.b}  \\
    Daad  & \RL{.d} & \RL{.b.d} & \RL{.b.d.b} & \RL{.d.b}  \\
    Taa'  & \RL{.t} & \RL{.b.t} & \RL{.b.t.b} & \RL{.t.b}  \\
    Dhaa' & \RL{.z} & \RL{.b.z} & \RL{.b.z.b} & \RL{.z.b}  \\
    `ayn  & \RL{`}  & \RL{.b`}  & \RL{.b`.b}  & \RL{`.b}   \\
    ghayn & \RL{.g} & \RL{.b.g} & \RL{.b.g.b} & \RL{.g.b}  \\
    faa'  & \RL{f}  & \RL{.bf}  & \RL{.bf.b}  & \RL{f.b}   \\
    qaaf  & \RL{q}  & \RL{.bq}  & \RL{.bq.b}  & \RL{q.b}   \\
    kaaf  & \RL{k}  & \RL{.bk}  & \RL{.bk.b}  & \RL{k.b}   \\
    gaaf  & \RL{g}  & \RL{.bg}  & \RL{.bg.b}  & \RL{g.b}   \\
    laam  & \RL{l}  & \RL{.bl}  & \RL{.bl.b}  & \RL{l.b}   \\
    miim  & \RL{m}  & \RL{.bm}  & \RL{.bm.b}  & \RL{m.b}   \\
    nuun  & \RL{n}  & \RL{.bn}  & \RL{.bn.b}  & \RL{n.b}   \\
    haa'  & \RL{h}  & \RL{.bh}  & \RL{.bh.b}  & \RL{h.b}   \\
    waaw  & \RL{w}  & \RL{.bw}  & \RL{.bw.b}  & \RL{w.b}   \\
    yaa'  & \RL{_A} & \RL{.b_A} & \RL{.b_A.b} & \RL{_A.b}  \\
    \bottomrule
  \end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}