Origin from 400
The Arabic script is an abjad, a writing system in which letters primarily represent consonants while short vowels are usually left unmarked or shown only with optional diacritics, descended from the Nabataean variant of the Aramaic script. It is written right to left and its letters change shape depending on their position within a word, connecting into a running cursive form even in print. Beyond Arabic itself, the script has historically been adapted to write Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, Pashto and many other languages across the Islamic world, generally by adding extra letters for sounds Arabic itself does not have.
Facts
Directionality In Use Since (Year)Approximate date the script had emerged in a form recognizable as Arabic script rather than its Nabataean Aramaic ancestor; the earliest securely dated Arabic inscriptions are somewhat later, and the script's formative period is not pinned to a single year. Connections
Associated With
This source names Turkish directly: "to write Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, Pashto and many other languages across the Islamic world, generally by adding extra letters for sounds Arabic itself does not have."
Source The Cambridge Encyclopedia of LanguageDavid Crystal (editor)
Descends From
Script Of
Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
Balochi is most commonly written in a Perso-Arabic-based script.
Persian is written in the Perso-Arabic script, an extended form of the Arabic alphabet.
Kurdish is biscriptal: the Sorani dialect is standardly written in a Perso-Arabic-based script.
Pashto uses an extended Perso-Arabic alphabet with added letters for Pashto-specific sounds.
Sindhi in Pakistan is standardly written in a Perso-Arabic-based script (the official script under Pakistan's constitution).
Urdu is written in a Nastaliq-style Perso-Arabic script.
Zarma, Languages Ajami, an Arabic-derived script, is a secondary writing system beside the primary Latin alphabet.
Source Wikipedia: Zarma Language
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Arts and Music Atlas: Calligraphy, influenced this subject there.
Sources
1. Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
2. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
David Crystal (editor), Cambridge University Press, 2010
Wikipedia: Zarma Language
Wikimedia FoundationScript Of: Zarma, Writing system section, Arabic alphabet Ajami script statementView the Source Wikipedia: N'Ko Script
Associated With: N'Ko, N'Ko script, History and Description sectionsQuote, Associated With: N'Ko, N'Ko script, History and Description sections
The script has a few similarities to the Arabic script, notably its direction (right-to-left) and the letters that are connected at the base.
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