Arabic alphabet

E38326

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.

All labels observed (6)

How this entity was disambiguated

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 (historically)
surface form: Aramaic alphabet
unicodeBlock Arabic
Arabic Extended-A
Arabic Extended-B
Arabic Supplement
usedFor Arabic
surface form: Arabic language

Balochi
surface form: Baluchi language

Berber languages (Ajami)
Fula language
surface form: Fulani language (Ajami)

Hausa
surface form: Hausa language (Ajami)

Jawi script
Kashmiri language
Kurdish language
Malay language
Malayalam
surface form: Malayalam language (Arabi-Malayalam)

Mande languages
surface form: Mandinka language (Ajami)

Ottoman Turkish
surface form: Ottoman Turkish language

Pashto language
Persian language
Shahmukhi script
surface form: Punjabi language (Shahmukhi)

Saraiki
surface form: Saraiki language

Sindhi
surface form: Sindhi language

Swahili language (Ajami)
Urdu language
Uyghur Arabic alphabet
surface form: Uyghur language

Wolof
surface form: 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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (202)

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

Kyrgyz historicalScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
al-Wasta writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Tihami Arabic hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Yafiʿi Arabic hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Razihi Arabic hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Faifi Arabic writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Balti hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Jatki hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Fuzuli writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Persian literature hasScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Ruqʿah writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Riasti writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Wakhi writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Ingush formerWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Sa'idi Arabic hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Ishaq hasScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Eritrean nakfa writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Taiz writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Avars historicalScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Mozarabic language hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Karim writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Mahmoud writingSystem Arabic alphabet
Sanʽani Arabic usesScriptVariant Arabic alphabet
Malagasy previousWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Kazakh Arabic alphabet scriptFamily Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Kazakh Arabic alphabet derivedFrom Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Southeastern Iranian languages hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Dezfuli dialect writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Banjar language writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Wolio language usesScriptHistorically Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Shushtari dialect writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Magindanawn hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Karachay-Balkar historicallyWrittenIn Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Punjabi Muslims scriptUsed Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Alif Lam Mim writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Sa el-Hagar usesWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Bima language historicalWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Northern Berber hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Dhatki hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Mansour hasScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Kabylie hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
Entissar writingSystem Arabic alphabet
Mande hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
South Arabian script distinctFrom Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Zliten writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Chamic languages writingSystemUsed Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Karluk branch hasWritingTradition Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Uyghur Arabic alphabet scriptFamily Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Uyghur Arabic alphabet adaptedFrom Arabic alphabet
Chagatai script relatedTo Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script