Arabic script

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Writing system

title: "Arabic script" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["arabic-script", "arabic-orthography", "right-to-left-writing-systems", "abjad-writing-systems"] description: "Writing system" topic_path: "general/arabic-script" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_script" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Writing system ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writing system"]

FieldValue
nameArabic script
typeAbjad
languagesSee below
time3rd century CE to the present
directionRight-to-left
fam1Egyptian hieroglyphs
fam2Proto-Sinaitic
fam3Phoenician
fam4Aramaic
fam5Nabataean
childrenN'Ko
Hanifi script
Thaana (partially)
unicode{{ublist
iso15924Arab
sampleArabic-script.svg
imagesize300px
::

| name = Arabic script | type = Abjad | languages = See below | time = 3rd century CE to the present | direction = Right-to-left | fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs | fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic | fam3 = Phoenician | fam4 = Aramaic | fam5 = Nabataean | children = N'Ko Hanifi script Thaana (partially) | unicode = {{ublist |class=nowrap |U+0600–U+06FF Arabic |U+0750–U+077F Arabic Supplement |U+08A0–U+08FF Arabic Extended-A |U+0870–U+089F Arabic Extended-B |U+10EC0–U+10EFF Arabic Extended-C |U+FB50–U+FDFF Arabic Pres. Forms-A |U+FE70–U+FEFF Arabic Pres. Forms-B |U+1EE00–U+1EEFF Arabic Mathematical... |U+1EC70–U+1ECBF Indic Siyaq Numbers |U+1ED00–U+1ED4F Ottoman Siyaq Numbers |U+10E60–U+10E7F Rumi Numeral Symbols}} | iso15924 = Arab | sample = Arabic-script.svg | imagesize = 300px

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Arabic_scripts.png" caption="Venn diagram showing major languages and scripts based on the Arabic alphabet, including Arabic, Persian, Kurdish, Kashmiri, Urdu, Sindhi, Gorani, Gilaki, Mazanderani, and Azeri Turkish."] ::

::data[format=table]

Worldwide use of the Arabic script
[[File:Arabic alphabet world distribution - four shades.png
Countries where the Arabic script is:
::

The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it, and the third-most by number of users (after the Latin and Chinese scripts).

The script was first used to write texts in Arabic, most notably the Quran, the holy book of Islam. With the religion's spread, it came to be used as the primary script for many language families, leading to the addition of new letters and other symbols. Such languages still using it are Arabic, Persian (Farsi and Dari), Urdu, Uyghur, Kurdish, Pashto, Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Sindhi, Azerbaijani (Torki in Iran), Malay (Jawi), Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese and Indonesian (Pegon), Balti, Balochi, Luri, Kashmiri, Cham (Akhar Srak), Rohingya, Somali, Mandinka, and Mooré, among others. Until the 16th century, it was also used for some Spanish texts, and—prior to the script reform in 1928—it was the writing system of Turkish.

The script is written from right to left in a cursive style, in which most of the letters are written in slightly different forms according to whether they stand alone or are joined to a following or preceding letter. The script is unicase and does not have distinct capital or lowercase letters. In most cases, the letters transcribe consonants, or consonants and a few vowels, so most Arabic alphabets are abjads, with the versions used for some languages, such as Sorani dialect of Kurdish, Kashmiri, Gorani, Uyghur, Mandarin, and Serbo-Croatian, being alphabets. It is the basis for the tradition of Arabic calligraphy.

History

Main article: History of the Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is derived either from the Nabataean alphabet or (less widely believed) directly from the Syriac alphabet, which are both derived from the Aramaic alphabet, which, in turn, descended from the Phoenician alphabet. The Phoenician script also gave rise to the Greek alphabet (and, therefore, both the Cyrillic alphabet and the Latin alphabet used in North and South America and most European countries).

Origins

In the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, northern Arab tribes emigrated and founded a kingdom centred around Petra, Jordan. This people (now named Nabataeans from the name of one of the tribes, Nabatu) spoke Nabataean Arabic, a dialect of the Arabic language. In the 2nd or 1st centuries BCE, the first known records of the Nabataean alphabet were written in the Aramaic language (which was the language of communication and trade), but included some Arabic language features: the Nabataeans did not write the language which they spoke. They wrote in a form of the Aramaic alphabet, which continued to evolve; it separated into two forms: one intended for inscriptions (known as "monumental Nabataean") and the other, more cursive and hurriedly written and with joined letters, for writing on papyrus. This cursive form influenced the monumental form more and more and gradually changed into the Arabic alphabet.

Overview

The Arabic script has been adapted for use in a wide variety of languages aside from Arabic, including Persian, Malay and Urdu, which are not Semitic. Such adaptations may feature altered or new characters to represent phonemes that do not appear in Arabic phonology. For example, the Arabic language lacks a voiceless bilabial plosive (the sound), therefore many languages add their own letter to represent in the script, though the specific letter used varies from language to language. These modifications tend to fall into groups: Indian and Turkic languages written in the Arabic script tend to use the Persian modified letters, whereas the languages of Indonesia tend to imitate those of Jawi. The modified version of the Arabic script originally devised for use with Persian is known as the Perso-Arabic script by scholars.

When the Arabic script is used to write Serbo-Croatian, Sorani, Kashmiri, Mandarin Chinese, or Uyghur, vowels are mandatory. The Arabic script can, therefore, be used as a true alphabet as well as an abjad, although it is often strongly, if erroneously, connected to the latter due to it being originally used only for Arabic.

Use of the Arabic script in West African languages, especially in the Sahel, developed with the spread of Islam. To a certain degree the style and usage tends to follow those of the Maghreb (for instance the position of the dots in the letters ar and ar). Additional diacritics have come into use to facilitate the writing of sounds not represented in the Arabic language. The term ar, which comes from the Arabic root for "foreign", has been applied to Arabic-based orthographies of African languages.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Wikipedia_in_Arabic_script_languages_in_KACST_Office.svg" caption="''Wikipedia'' in Arabic script of five languages"] ::

Table of writing styles

::data[format=table]

Script or styleAlphabet(s)Language(s)RegionDerived fromComment
NaskhArabic,
Pashto,
& othersArabic,
Pashto,
Sindhi,
& othersEvery region where Arabic scripts are usedSometimes refers to a very specific calligraphic style, but sometimes used to refer more broadly to almost every font that is not Kufic or Nastaliq.
NastaliqUrdu,
Shahmukhi,
Persian,
& othersUrdu,
Punjabi,
Persian,
Kashmiri
& othersSouthern and Western AsiaTaliqUsed for almost all modern Urdu and Punjabi text, but only occasionally used for Persian. (The term "Nastaliq" is sometimes used by Urdu-speakers to refer to all Perso-Arabic scripts.)
TaliqPersianPersianA predecessor of Nastaliq.
KuficArabicArabicMiddle East and parts of North Africa
RasmRestricted Arabic alphabetMainly historicalOmits all diacritics including i'jam. Digital replication usually requires some special characters. See: (links to Wiktionary).
::

Table of alphabets

::data[format=table] | Alphabet | Letters | Additional Characters | Script or Style | Languages | Region | Derived from: (or related to) | Note | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Arabic | 28 | | Naskh, Kufi, Rasm, & others | Arabic | North Africa, West Asia | Phoenician, Aramaic, Nabataean | | | Arabic Afrikaans | 40 | پ ݗ چ ژ ݝ ڠ ڤ گ ء ے | Naskh | Afrikaans | South Africa | Perso-Arabic | | | Ajami script | 33 | ar|}} | Naskh | Hausa, Yoruba, Swahili | West Africa, East Africa | Arabic | documented use likely between the 15th to 18th century for Hausa, Mande, Pulaar, Swahili, Wolof, and Yoruba Languages | | Aljamiado | 28 | | Maghrebi, Andalusi variant; Kufic | Old Spanish, Andalusi Romance, Ladino, Aragonese, Valencian, Old Galician-Portuguese | Southwest Europe | Arabic | 8th–13th centuries for Andalusi Romance, 14th–16th centuries for the other languages | | Arebica | 30 | bs-Arab| ڄ ە اٖى ي ڵ ںٛ ۉ ۆ}} | Naskh | Serbo-Croatian | Southeastern Europe | Perso-Arabic | Latest stage has full vowel marking | | Arwi alphabet | 41 | ta-Arab|}} | Naskh | Tamil | Southern India, Sri Lanka | Perso-Arabic | | | Belarusian Arabic alphabet | 32 | bs-Arab| ࢮ ࢯ}} | Naskh | Belarusian | Eastern Europe | Perso-Arabic | 15th / 16th century | | Balochi Standard Alphabet(s) | 29 | bal| ٹ ڈ ۏ ݔ ے}} | Naskh and Nastaliq | Balochi | South-West Asia | Perso-Arabic, also borrows multiple glyphs from Urdu | This standardization is based on the previous orthography. For more information, see Balochi writing. | | Berber Arabic alphabet(s) | 33 | ar| چ ژ ڞ ݣ ء}} | | Various Berber languages | North Africa | Arabic | | | Burushaski | 53 | bsk|}} (see note) | Nastaliq | Burushaski | South-West Asia (Pakistan) | Urdu | Also uses the additional letters shown for Urdu. Sometimes written with just the Urdu alphabet, or with the Latin alphabet. | | Chagatai alphabet | 32 | ar| ݣ}} | Nastaliq and Naskh | Chagatai | Central Asia | Perso-Arabic | ݣ is interchangeable with نگ and ڭ. | | Dobrujan Tatar | 32 | | Naskh | Dobrujan Tatar | Southeastern Europe | Chagatai | | | Galal | 32 | | Naskh | Somali | Horn of Africa | Arabic | | | Jawi | 36 | ms-Arab|}} | Naskh | Malay | Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and part of Borneo | Arabic | Since 1303 AD (Trengganu Stone) | | Kashmiri | 44 | ks|}} | Nastaliq | Kashmiri | South Asia | Urdu | This orthography is fully voweled. 3 out of the 4 (ۆ, ۄ, ێ) additional glyphs are actually vowels. Not all vowels are listed here since they are not separate letters. For further information, see Kashmiri writing. | | Kazakh Arabic alphabet | 35 | kk-Arab| ٵ ٶ ۇ ٷ ۋ ۆ ە ھ ى ٸ ي}} | Naskh | Kazakh | Central Asia, China | Chagatai | In use since 11th century, reformed in the early 20th century, now official only in China | | Khowar | 45 | khw|}} | Nastaliq | Khowar | South Asia | Urdu, however, borrows multiple glyphs from Pashto | | | Kyrgyz Arabic alphabet | 33 | ky-Arab| ۅ ۇ ۉ ۋ ە ى ي}} | Naskh | Kyrgyz | Central Asia | Chagatai | In use since 11th century, reformed in the early 20th century, now official only in China | | Pashto | 45 | ps| ټ څ ځ ډ ړ ږ ښ ګ ڼ ۀ ي ې ۍ ئ}} | Naskh and occasionally, Nastaliq | Pashto | South-West Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan | Perso-Arabic | ګ is interchangeable with گ. Also, the glyphs ی and ې are often replaced with ے in Pakistan. | | Pegon script | 35 | jv-Arab|}} | Naskh | Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese | South-East Asia (Indonesia) | Arabic | | | Persian | 32 | fa| پ چ ژ گ }} | Naskh and Nastaliq | Persian (Farsi) | West Asia (Iran etc. ) | Arabic | Also known as Perso-Arabic. | | Shahmukhi | 41 | pa|}} | Nastaliq | Punjabi | South Asia (Pakistan) | Perso-Arabic | | | Saraiki | 45 | skr|}} | Nastaliq | Saraiki | South Asia (Pakistan) | Urdu | | | Sindhi | 52 | ڪ ڳ ڱ گ ک پ ڀ ٻ ٽ ٿ ٺ ڻ ڦ ڇ چ ڄ ڃ ھ ڙ ڌ ڏ ڎ ڍ ڊ | Naskh | Sindhi | South Asia (Pakistan) | Perso-Arabic | | | Sorabe | 28 | | Naskh | Malagasy | Madagascar | Arabic | | | Soranî | 33 | ku-Arab| ڕ ڤ ڵ ۆ ێ}} | Naskh | Kurdish languages | Middle-East | Perso-Arabic | Vowels are mandatory, i.e. alphabet | | Swahili Arabic script | 28 | | Naskh | Swahili | Western and Southern Africa | Arabic | | | İske imlâ | 35 | tt-Arab| ۋ}} | Naskh | Tatar | Volga region | Chagatai | Used prior to 1920. | | Ottoman Turkish | 32 | ﭖ ﭺ ﮊ ﮒ ﯓ ئە | | Ottoman Turkish | Ottoman Empire | Chagatai | Official until 1928 | | Urdu | 39+ (see notes) | {{nq| ٹ ڈ ڑ ں پ ھ چ ژ آ گ ے}} (see notes) | Nastaliq | Urdu | South Asia | Perso-Arabic | 58 letters including digraphs representing aspirated consonants. بھ پھ تھ ٹھ جھ چھ دھ ڈھ کھ گھ | | Uyghur | 32 | ug| ئا ئە ھ ئو ئۇ ئۆ ئۈ ۋ ئې ئى}} | Naskh | Uyghur | China, Central Asia | Chagatai | Reform of older Arabic-script Uyghur orthography that was used prior to the 1950s. Vowels are mandatory, i.e. alphabet | | Wolofal | 33 | wo-Arab|}} | Naskh | Wolof | West Africa | Arabic, however, borrows at least one glyph from Perso-Arabic | | | Xiao'erjing | 36 | zh-Arab|}} | Naskh | Sinitic languages | China, Central Asia | Chagatai | Used to write Chinese languages by Muslims living in China such as the Hui people. | | Yaña imlâ | 29 | tt-Arab| ئا ئە ئی ئو ئۇ ئ ھ}} | Naskh | Tatar | Volga region | İske imlâ alphabet | 1920–1927 replaced with Cyrillic | ::

Current use

Today Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are the main non-Arabic speaking states using the Arabic alphabet to write one or more official national languages, including Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Brahui, Persian, Pashto, Central Kurdish, Urdu, Sindhi, Kashmiri and Punjabi.

An Arabic alphabet is currently used for the following languages:

Middle East and Central Asia

East Asia

South Asia

Southeast Asia

  • Malay in the Arabic script known as Jawi. In some cases it can be seen in the signboards of shops and market stalls, especially in rural or conservative areas of Malaysia, but it is no longer commonly used for everyday writing, being relegated instead to religious studies. Particularly in Brunei, Jawi is used in terms of writing or reading for Islamic religious educational programs in primary school, secondary school, college, or even higher educational institutes such as universities. In addition, some television programming uses Jawi, such as announcements, advertisements, news, social programs or Islamic programs
  • Cham language in Cambodia and Vietnam besides Western Cham script.

Europe

Africa

  • North Africa
  • Northeast Africa
  • Southeast Africa
    • Comorian, in the Comoros, currently side by side with the Latin alphabet (neither is official)
    • Swahili, was originally written in Arabic alphabet, Swahili orthography is now based on the Latin alphabet that was introduced by Christian missionaries and colonial administrators
  • West Africa
    • Zarma language of the Songhay family. It is the language of the southwestern lobe of the West African nation of Niger, and it is the second leading language of Niger, after Hausa, which is spoken in south central Niger
    • Tadaksahak is a Songhay language spoken by the pastoralist Idaksahak of the Ménaka area of Mali
    • Hausa language uses an adaptation of the Arabic script known as Ajami, for many purposes, especially religious, but including newspapers, mass mobilization posters and public information
    • Dyula language is a Mandé language spoken in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Mali.
    • Jola-Fonyi language of the Casamance region of Senegal
    • Balanta language a Bak language of west Africa spoken by the Balanta people and Balanta-Ganja dialect in Senegal
    • Mandinka, widely but unofficially (known as Ajami), (another non-Latin script used is the N'Ko script)
    • Fula, especially the Pular of Guinea (known as Ajami)
    • Wolof (at zaouia schools), known as Wolofal.
    • Yoruba, earliest attested history of use since 17th century, however earliest verifiable history of use dates to the 19th century. Yoruba Ajami used in Muslim praise verse, poetry, personal and esoteric use
  • Arabic script outside Africa
    • In writings of African American slaves
      • Writings of by Omar Ibn Said (1770–1864) of Senegal
      • The Bilali Document also known as Bilali Muhammad Document is a handwritten, Arabic manuscript on West African Islamic law. It was written by Bilali Mohammet in the 19th century. The document is currently housed in the library at the University of Georgia
      • Letter written by Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701–1773)
      • Arabic Text From 1768
      • Letter written by Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori (1762–1829)

Former use

With the establishment of Muslim rule in the subcontinent, one or more forms of the Arabic script were incorporated among the assortment of scripts used for writing native languages. In the 20th century, the Arabic script was generally replaced by the Latin alphabet in the Balkans, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, while in the Soviet Union, after a brief period of Latinisation, use of Cyrillic was mandated. Turkey changed to the Latin alphabet in 1928 as part of an internal Westernizing revolution. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many of the Turkic languages of the ex-USSR attempted to follow Turkey's lead and convert to a Turkish-style Latin alphabet. However, renewed use of the Arabic alphabet has occurred to a limited extent in Tajikistan, whose language's close resemblance to Persian allows direct use of publications from Afghanistan and Iran.

Africa

Europe

Central Asia and Caucasus

South and Southeast Asia

Middle East

Unicode

Main article: Arabic script in Unicode

As of Unicode , the following ranges encode Arabic characters:

Additional letters used in other languages

Assignment of phonemes to graphemes

: ∅ = phoneme absent from language ::data[format=table title="style="text-align: left;"| "]

Language familyAustron.Dravid.TurkicIndo-EuropeanNiger–Con.Language/scriptPegonJawiArwiAzeriKazakhUyghurUzbekSindhiPunjabiUrduPersianPashtoBalochiKurdishSwahili
∅
∅∅
∅∅
∅∅
∅∅∅∅
::

copy from this list to fill in the shapes column consistently. ا ٮ ح د ر س ص ط ع ڡ ٯ ڪ ك ک گ ل م ں ه و ى ے

For "i'jam & other additions" columns: copy items from the following list to fill in these columns consistently.

column "A" and "B" then columns "above" and/or "below"

none above or below: style=color:#E2E5EA; | none

above: V pointing up above: V pointing down below: Hamza above: Hamza above: Madda above: dagger Alef below: dagger Alef above: Noon Ghunna above: small below: small above or below: ring

line above or below: horizontal line below: 2 lines

above: 1 dot below: 1 dot

above: 2 dots below: 2 dots above: 2 dots (vertically) below: 2 dots (vertically)

above: 4 dots below: 4 dots

below: 3 dots above: 3 dots below: 3 dots (inverted) above: 3 dots (inverted) below: 3 dots (horizontal)

above or below: Persian numeral 2 above or below: Persian numeral 3 above or below: Persian numeral 4

--

Table of additional letters in other languages

::data[format=table]

LetterUse & PronunciationUnicodei'jam & other additionsShapeSimilar Arabic Letter(s)U+abovebelowAdditional letters with additional marksAdditional letters with shape alterationAdditional Digraph letters
Pe, used to represent the phoneme in Persian, Pashto, Punjabi, Khowar, Sindhi, Urdu, Kurdish, Kashmiri; it can be used in Arabic to describe the phoneme otherwise it is written ب .U+067Enone3 dots
used to represent the equivalent of the Latin letter Ƴ (glottalic palatal approximant ) in some African languages such as Fulfulde.U+0750none3 dots
(horizontal)
B̤ē, used to represent a voiced bilabial implosive in Hausa, Sindhi and Saraiki.U+067Bnone2 dots
(vertically)
represents an aspirated voiced bilabial plosive in Sindhi.U+0680none4 dots
Ṭhē, represents the aspirated voiceless retroflex plosive in Sindhi.U+067A2 dots
(vertically)none
Ṭē, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+067C2 dotsring
Ṭe, used to represent the phoneme (a voiceless retroflex plosive ) in SindhiU+067D3 dots
(inverted)none
Ṭe, used to represent Ṭ (a voiceless retroflex plosive ) in Punjabi, Kashmiri, Urdu.U+0679small
none
Teheh, used in Sindhi and Rajasthani (when written in Sindhi alphabet); used to represent the phoneme (pinyin q) in Chinese Xiao'erjing.U+067F4 dotsnone
represents the "c" voiceless dental sibilant affricate phoneme in BosnianU+0684none2 dots
(vertically)
represents the "ć" voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate phoneme in Bosnian.U+0683none2 dots
Che, used to represent ("ch"). It is used in Persian, Pashto, Punjabi, Urdu, Kashmiri and Kurdish. in Egypt.U+0686none3 dots
Ce, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+06853 dotsnone
represents the "đ" voiced alveolo-palatal affricate phoneme in Bosnian. Also used to represent the letter X in Afrikaans.U+07572 dotsnone
Źim, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+0681Hamzanone
Dha, to represent the phoneme in Somali and in the Pegon script. Also used to represent the phoneme in Burushaski.U+068E3 dotsnone
used in Saraiki to represent a Voiced alveolar implosive .U+0759small
2 dots
(vertically)
used in Saraiki to represent a voiced retroflex implosive .U+068Anone1 dot
Ḍal, used to represent a Ḍ (a voiced retroflex plosive ) in Punjabi, Kashmiri and Urdu.U+0688smallnone
Dhal, used to represent the phoneme in SindhiU+068C2 dotsnone
Ḍal, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+0689nonering
Ṛe, represents a retroflex flap in Punjabi and Urdu.U+0691smallnone
Ṛe, used to represent a retroflex lateral flap in Pashto.U+0693nonering
used in Ormuri to represent a voiced alveolo-palatal fricative , as well as in Torwali.U+076B2 dots
(vertically)none
Že / zhe, used to represent the voiced postalveolar fricative in, Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, Urdu, Punjabi and Uyghur.U+06983 dotsnone
Ǵe / ẓ̌e, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+06961 dot1 dot
used in Kurdish to represent rr in Soranî dialect.U+0695noneV pointing down
used in Kalami to represent a voiceless retroflex fricative , and in Ormuri to represent a voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕ/.U+076D2 dots verticallynone
used in Shina to represent a voiceless retroflex fricative .U+075C4 dotsnone
X̌īn / ṣ̌īn, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+069A1 dot1 dot
Used in Wakhi to represent the phoneme .U+069C3 dots3 dots
Used to represent the phoneme (pinyin c) in Chinese.U+069E3 dotsnone
Nga in the Jawi script and Pegon script.U+06A03 dotsnone
Ve, used in Kurdish to represent , it can be used in Arabic to describe the phoneme otherwise it is written ف . Pa, used in the Jawi script and Pegon script to represent .U+06A43 dotsnone
A Maghrebi variant for ڤ in Arabic script to represent the sound if needed.U+06A5none3 dots
A ar ق with three dots, used to represent the voiced velar plosive in Algerian and Tunisian. Has no Arabic name.U+06A83 dotsnone
Ng, used to represent the phone in Ottoman Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and UyghurU+06AD3 dotsnone
Gaf, represents a voiced velar plosive in the Jawi script of Malay.U+06AC1 dotnone
U+07621 dotnone
Gaf, represents a voiced velar plosive in Persian, Pashto, Punjabi, Somali, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Kurdish, Uyghur, Mesopotamian Arabic, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, and one Berber variant in Arabic script for .U+06AFlinehorizontal linenone
Gaf, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto.U+06ABringnone
Gaf, represents a voiced velar plosive in the Pegon script of Indonesian.U+08B4none3 dots
represents the Velar nasal phoneme in Sindhi.U+06B12 dots + horizontal
linenone
represents a voiced velar implosive in Sindhi and SaraikiU+06B1horizontal
line2 dots
used to represent the phoneme (pinyin ng) in Chinese, one Berber variant in Arabic script or Moroccan Arabic for .U+0763none3 dots
used in Marwari to represent a retroflex lateral flap , and in Kalami to represent a voiceless lateral fricative .U+076Alinehorizontal
linenone
– or alternately typeset as – is used in Punjabi to represent voiced retroflex lateral approximant /ɭ/U+08C7smallnone
U+0644 U+0615
used in Kurdish to represent ll in Soranî dialect. Represents the "lj" palatal lateral approximant phoneme in Bosnian.U+06B5V pointing downnone
represents the retroflex nasal phoneme in Pashto.U+06BC1 dotring
represents the retroflex nasal phoneme in Sindhi.U+06BBsmallnone
used in Punjabi to represent and Saraiki to represent .U+07681 dot + smallnone
Nya in the Jawi script ڽـ ـڽـ ڽ., The isolated ڽ‎ and final ـڽ‎ resemble the form ڽ, while the initial ڽـ‎ and medial forms ـڽـ‎, resemble the form پ.U+06BD3 dotsnone
represents the "nj" palatal nasal phoneme in Bosnian.U+07691 dot
V pointing downnone
Ö, used to represent the phoneme in Kyrgyz.U+0624Strikethroughnone
Uu, used to represent the phoneme in Somali.+ U+0648 U+0653Maddanoneﻭ}} +
Va in the Jawi script.U+06CF1 dotnone
represents a in Kyrgyz, Uyghur, and Old Tatar; and in Kazakh; also formerly used in Nogai.U+06CB3 dotsnone
represents "o" in Kurdish, "ü" in Azerbaijani, and in Uyghur as part of the digraph ئۆ. It represents the "u" phoneme in Bosnian.U+06C6V pointing downnone
U, used to represents the phoneme in Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uyghur.U+06C7Dammanone
represents the "o" phoneme in Bosnian. Also used to represent /ø/ in Kyrgyz.U+06C9V pointing upnone
Ii, used to represent the phoneme in Somali and Saraiki.U+0649 U+0653Maddanone
Pasta Ye, used to represent the phoneme in Pashto and Uyghur.U+06D0none2 dots vertical
X̌əźīna ye Ye, used to represent the phoneme [əi] in Pashto.U+06CDlinehorizontal
linenone
Nya in the Pegon script.U+06D1none3 dots
represents ê in Kurdish.U+06CEV pointing down2 dots
(start + mid)
Khē, represents in Sindhi.U+06A9nonenonenone
"Swash kāf" is a stylistic variant of in Arabic, but represents un- aspirated in Sindhi.U+06AAnonenonenoneك }}

|
| Do-chashmi he (two-eyed hāʼ), used in digraphs for aspiration and breathy voice in Punjabi and Urdu. Also used to represent in Kazakh, Sorani and Uyghur. | U+06BE | none | none | none | | / | | | | | | | Ae, used represent and in Kazakh, Sorani and Uyghur. | U+06D5 | none | none | none | | / | | | | | | | Baṛī ye ('big ''yāʼ'''), is a stylistic variant of ي in Arabic, but represents "ai" or "e" , in Urdu and Punjabi. | U+06D2 | none | none | none | | | | | | | | | Oo, used to represent the phoneme in Somali. | U+0623 U+0648 | | Hamza | none | | أ }} + | | | | | | | represents the "i" phoneme in Bosnian. | U+0627 U+0656 U+0649 | | Alef | none | | اٖ }} + | | | | | | | Ee, used to represent the phoneme in Somali. | U+0623 U+064A | | | Hamza | 2 dots | | أ }} + | | | | ::

Letter construction

Most languages that use alphabets based on the Arabic alphabet use the same base shapes. Most additional letters in languages that use alphabets based on the Arabic alphabet are built by adding (or removing) diacritics to existing Arabic letters. Some stylistic variants in Arabic have distinct meanings in other languages. For example, variant forms of kāf are used in some languages and sometimes have specific usages. In Urdu and some neighbouring languages, the letter Hā has diverged into two forms dō-čašmī hē and gōl hē, while a variant form of yā referred to as baṛī yē is used at the end of some words.

Table of letter components

Explanatory notes

References

References

  1. (1996). "The World's Writing Systems". Oxford University Press, Inc.
  2. "Arabic Alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica online.
  3. Vaughan, Don. "The World's 5 Most Commonly Used Writing Systems". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  4. [https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/cham_background.pdf Cham romanization table background. Library of Congress]
  5. Mahinnaz Mirdehghan. 2010. Persian, Urdu, and Pashto: A comparative orthographic analysis. ''Writing Systems Research'' Vol. 2, No. 1, 9–23.
  6. "Exposición Virtual. Biblioteca Nacional de España". Bne.es.
  7. Ahmad, Syed Barakat.. (11 January 2013). "Introduction to Qur'anic script". Routledge.
  8. Sina Ahmadi, Antonios Anastasopoulos. (2023). "Script Normalization for Unconventional Writing of Under-Resourced Languages in Bilingual Communities". Proceedings of the 61st Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers).
  9. Gruendler, Beatrice. (1993). "The Development of the Arabic Scripts: From the Nabatean Era to the First Islamic Century According to Dated Texts". Scholars Press.
  10. (2012-02-13). "A Brief Introduction to The Arabic Alphabet". Saqi.
  11. Senner, Wayne M.. (1991). "The Origins of Writing". U of Nebraska Press.
  12. "Nabataean abjad".
  13. Naveh, Joseph. "Nabatean Language, Script and Inscriptions".
  14. Taylor, Jane. (2001). "Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans". I.B.Tauris.
  15. "Zribi, I., Boujelbane, R., Masmoudi, A., Ellouze, M., Belguith, L., & Habash, N. (2014). A Conventional Orthography for Tunisian Arabic. In Proceedings of the Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC), Reykjavík, Iceland.".
  16. Brustad, K. (2000). The syntax of spoken Arabic: A comparative study of Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian, and Kuwaiti dialects. Georgetown University Press.
  17. "Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashmii". baask.com.
  18. (2002). "Dictionary of the Bakhtiari dialect of Chahar-lang". google.com.eg.
  19. Iran, Mojdeh. (5 February 2011). "Bakhtiari Language Video (bak) بختياري ها! خبری مهم".
  20. (June 2011). "Pakistan should mind all of its languages!". tribune.com.pk.
  21. ["Ethnologue"](http://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/aeq/).
  22. "Ethnologue".
  23. "The Bible in Brahui". Worldscriptures.org.
  24. "Rohingya Language Book A-Z". Scribd.
  25. "Ida'an". scriptsource.org.
  26. "The Coptic Studies' Corner". stshenouda.com.
  27. "--The Cradle of Nubian Civilisation--". thenubian.net.
  28. (19 July 2012). "2 » AlNuba egypt".
  29. "Zarma". scriptsource.org.
  30. "Tadaksahak". scriptsource.org.
  31. "Lost Language — Bostonia Summer 2009". bu.edu.
  32. "Dyula". scriptsource.org.
  33. "Jola-Fonyi". scriptsource.org.
  34. (October 2021). "African Arabic-Script Languages Title: From the 'Sacred' to the 'Profane': the Yoruba Ajami Script and the Challenges of a Standard Orthography".
  35. "Ibn Sayyid manuscript".
  36. "Muhammad Arabic letter".
  37. "Charno Letter". Muslims In America.
  38. Asani, Ali S.. (2002). "Ecstasy and enlightenment : the Ismaili devotional literature of South Asia". I.B. Tauris.
  39. [http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/52_folder/52_articles/52_alphabet.html Alphabet Transitions – The Latin Script: A New Chronology – Symbol of a New Azerbaijan] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-04-03 , by Tamam Bayatly)
  40. Sukhail Siddikzoda. "Tajik Language: Farsi or Not Farsi?".
  41. "Brief history of writing in Chechen".
  42. p. 20, [[Samuel Kramer. Samuel Noel Kramer]]. 1986. ''In the World of Sumer: An Autobiography''. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
  43. J. Blau. 2000. Hebrew written in Arabic characters: An instance of radical change in tradition. (In Hebrew, with English summary). In ''Heritage and Innovation in Judaeo-Arabic Culture: Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the Society For Judaeo-Arabic Studies'', p. 27–31. Ramat Gan.
  44. "Proposal to encode ARABIC LETTER LAM WITH SMALL ARABIC LETTER TAH ABOVE in the UCS".
  45. "Urdu Alphabet".

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arabic-scriptarabic-orthographyright-to-left-writing-systemsabjad-writing-systems