Arabic alphabet

E38326

abjad writing system

The Arabic alphabet is a cursive, right-to-left abjad script used across the Arab world and adapted for many other languages, including Persian, Urdu, and Pashto.

Aliases (3)

Statements (91)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	abjad → writing system →
associatedWithReligion	Islam →
derivedFrom	Nabataean alphabet →
hasAdditionalLettersForPersian	4 →
hasAdditionalLettersForUrdu	several additional letters →
hasContextualLetterForms	yes →
hasCoreLetters	28 →
hasDiacritics	shadda → short vowel marks → sukun → tanwin →
hasFinalForm	yes →
hasInitialForm	yes →
hasIsolatedForm	yes →
hasLetter	alif → baʼ → dal → dhal → faʼ → ghayn → haʼ → jim → kaf → khaʼ → lam → mim → nun → qaf → raʼ → shin → sin → taʼ → thaʼ → waw → yaʼ → zay → ʿayn → ḍad → ḥaʼ → ṣad → ṭaʼ → ẓaʼ →
hasLetterCount	28 basic letters →
hasLigature	lam-alif →
hasMedialForm	yes →
hasTransliterationSystems	multiple Latin-based systems →
hasUppercaseLowercaseDistinction	no →
ISO15924Code	Arab →
primaryUse	writing the Arabic language →
religiousUse	Islamic calligraphy → writing the Quran →
scriptType	cursive →
standardizationBody	Academy of the Arabic Language (various national academies) →
ultimatelyDerivedFrom	Aramaic alphabet →
unicodeBlock	Arabic → Arabic Extended-A → Arabic Extended-B → Arabic Supplement →
usedFor	Arabic language → Baluchi language → Berber languages (Ajami) → Fulani language (Ajami) → Hausa language (Ajami) → Jawi script → Kashmiri language → Kurdish language → Malay language → Malayalam language (Arabi-Malayalam) → Mandinka language (Ajami) → Ottoman Turkish language → Pashto language → Persian language → Punjabi language (Shahmukhi) → Saraiki language → Sindhi language → Swahili language (Ajami) → Urdu language → Uyghur language → Wolof language (Ajami) →
usedForNumberSystem	Abjad numerals →
usedInRegion	Arab world → Middle East → North Africa → parts of Central Asia → parts of South Asia → parts of Southeast Asia →
vowelRepresentation	optional diacritics →
writingCategory	consonant-based script →
writingDirection	right-to-left →
writingSystemFamily	Arabic script →

Referenced by (65)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Chalhoub ("Arabic script") → Comoros ("Arabic script") → Derawali ("Arabic script") → Faifi Arabic ("Arabic script") → Fashn ("Arabic script") → Fulani ("Arabic script") → Fulfulde ("Arabic script") → Fuzuli ("Arabic script") → Hijazi Arabic ("Arabic script") → Kamviri language ("Arabic script") → Karbala ("Arabic script") → Khetrani ("Arabic script") → Kipchak languages ("Arabic script") → Luxor ("Arabic script") → Mandinka people ("Arabic script") → Minya ("Arabic script") → Mustafa ("Arabic script") → Oran Arabic ("Arabic script") → Persians ("Arabic script") → Riasti ("Arabic script") → Riyadh ("Arabic script") → Romani language ("Arabic script") → Ruqʿah ("Arabic script") → Saraiki ("Arabic script") → Shami Arabic ("Arabic script") → Shenwa ("Arabic script") → Shilha ("Arabic script") → Taliq script ("Arabic script") → Tarifit ("Arabic script") → Wakhi ("Arabic script") → Wolof ("Arabic script") → Yemeni Arabic ("Arabic script") → al-Wasta ("Arabic script") →	writingSystem
Arabic literature ("Arabic script") → Balti ("Arabic script") → Jatki ("Arabic script") → Maghrebi Arabic ("Arabic script") → Razihi Arabic ("Arabic script") → Sa'idi Arabic ("Arabic script") → Southwestern Iranian languages ("Arabic script") → Tamazight (generic) ("Arabic script") → Tashelhit ("Arabic script") → Tihami Arabic ("Arabic script") → Yafiʿi Arabic ("Arabic script") →	hasWritingSystem
Kazakh language ("Arabic script") → Tatars ("Arabic script") → Turks ("Ottoman Turkish alphabet") →	historicalWritingSystem
Afroasiatic languages ("Arabic script") → Assiut ("Arabic script") → Eastern Sudanic languages ("Arabic script") →	writingSystemUsed
Nastaʿlīq ("Arabic script") → Shahmukhi script ("Arabic script") →	scriptFamily
Nabataean alphabet ("Classical Arabic script") →	ancestorOf
Pegon script ("Arabic script") →	derivedFrom
Ingush ("Arabic script") →	formerWritingSystem
Persian literature ("Arabic script") →	hasScript
West Chadic ("Arabic script") →	hasWritingSystemForMajorLanguage
Urdu →	hasWritingSystemOrigin
Kyrgyz ("Arabic script") →	historicalScript
Nubians ("Arabic script") →	scriptUsage
Arabic calligraphy →	usesAlphabet
Hijazi Arabic →	usesScriptVariant
Somosta ("Arabic script") →	usesWritingSystem
Egyptians ("Arabic script") →	writingSystemCurrent
Tunisian dinar ("Arabic script") →	writingSystemForSymbol