Scripts
Arabic Script
AIR-uh-bik
Also Known As Arabic Alphabet
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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. Cross-Tradition 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."
Script Of
Zarma, Languages Ajami, an Arabic-derived script, is a secondary writing system beside the primary Latin alphabet.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Arts and Music Atlas: Calligraphy, influenced this subject there.
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