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.

Kenuzi-Dongola writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Kungara hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Swahili people historicalWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Askunu writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Ashkunwari hasScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Tareeno writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Fayez script Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Suha writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Wall of Love writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Torwali script Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Shua Arabic writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Fuuta Tooro Pulaar writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Soqotri language hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Moukhtara, Chouf, Lebanon writingSystem Arabic alphabet
subject surface form: Moukhtara
this entity surface form: Arabic script
al-Qurayya writingSystemOfName Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Vai hasScript Arabic alphabet
subject surface form: Vai language
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Jahanka hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Hala writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Samawah writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Qaha writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Jalandhari writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
El Sebaia writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
El-Alaki usesWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
إدريس ينتمي_إلى_نظام_كتابة Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: الأبجدية العربية
Astori Shina hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Bsharri writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Dishna writingSystemUsed Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Farshut writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Dyula people useScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Cham language hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Mehri hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Maninka hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Syrian writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Rawda writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Daniyal hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Ben Gashir writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Balti language hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Turki writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Leyli and Majnun originallyWrittenInScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Arabic language continuum writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
La Manouba (urban area) writingSystem Arabic alphabet
Beja language writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Darod usesScript Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Abnub hasWritingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Sahel Selim writingSystemUsed Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Ramtha writingSystemUsed Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Awankari writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Moncef writingSystem Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script
Grombalia writingSystemUsed Arabic alphabet
this entity surface form: Arabic script