Abjad

E318980

Abjad is a type of writing system that primarily represents consonants, leaving most vowels unmarked or optional.

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All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Abjad canonical 1
Abjad system 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf consonant-based script
writing system type
canDevelopInto abugida through systematic vowel diacritics
alphabet through increased vowel marking
characteristic vowels are mostly unmarked or optional
classificationInLinguistics segmental writing system
contrastedWith abugida
alphabet
syllabary
definedAs a writing system that primarily represents consonants
designPrinciple economy of symbols by omitting most vowels
distinguishedBy systematic omission of short vowels
etymologyFrom Arabic word ʾabjad
etymologyMeaning derived from the old order of the Arabic alphabet letters: alif, bāʾ, jīm, dāl
exampleScripts Arabic script
Hebrew script
Imperial Aramaic
surface form: Imperial Aramaic script

Nabataean alphabet
surface form: Nabataean script

Phoenician alphabet
surface form: Phoenician script

Syriac alphabet
surface form: Syriac script
graphemicInventoryFocus consonantal phonemes
graphemicUnit consonant letters
historicalInfluenceOn Greek alphabet
Latin alphabet
many modern alphabetic scripts
historicalOriginRegion Ancient Near East
mayInclude matres lectionis to mark some vowels
notableFeature orthographic ambiguity in vowel quality
readingRequires knowledge of language and context
scriptFamilyAssociation Semitic scripts
suitableFor languages with consonantal root morphology
termIntroducedBy Peter T. Daniels
termIntroductionField writing system typology
typicalLanguages Arabic
Aramaic
Hebrew
Phoenician language
surface form: Phoenician

Syriac
Ugaritic
typicalMorphology root-and-pattern morphology
usedForSacredTexts Tanakh
surface form: Hebrew Bible

Quran
surface form: Quran (in Arabic script)
usedIn Semitic languages
vowelMarkingSystems harakat in Arabic
niqqud in Hebrew
vowelRepresentation vowels indicated by optional diacritics
vowels sometimes inferred from context
writingDirection usually written from right to left

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Zayin writingSystem Abjad
Abjad numerals hasAlternativeName Abjad
this entity surface form: Abjad system