Writing systems {alphabet, writing} use units that depend on sounds {phonetic alphabet, writing system}, syllables {syllabic alphabet, writing system}, or words {ideographic alphabet, writing system}.
Arabic language uses a cursive alphabet {Arabic alphabet}, with words written right to left. Persian language uses Arabic alphabet plus four characters.
Aramaic language developed an early alphabet {Aramaic alphabet}.
In Bulgaria, Cyril and Methodius derived a new alphabet {Cyrillic alphabet} from Greek, as they translated Bible from Greek into local languages in 9th century. Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Ukraine use Cyrillic alphabet.
In India, Sanskrit and Hindi in India use a script {Devanagaii script}.
Ethiopian language has a distinctive alphabet {Ethiopian alphabet}.
German language uses Roman alphabet {Germanic alphabet} plus special letters, such as ß.
Early Slavic languages used an alphabet {Glagolitic alphabet}.
In Bulgaria [300 to 400], bishop Ulfilas invented an alphabet {Gothic alphabet}.
Alphabet {Greek alphabet} letters [-800] can be alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega. Letters have uppercase and lowercase. Though a non-Indo-European language, Etruscan used Greek alphabet.
Hebrew language uses a distinctive alphabet {Hebrew alphabet}.
Minoan syllabary {Linear A alphabet} had syllable symbols.
Mycenae syllabary {Linear B alphabet} symbols were syllables with one consonant and one vowel. Mycenaeans introduced Linear B writing after they conquered Crete.
In Ireland [300 to 400], alphabet {ogham} was linear.
Old Persian [-200] used a script {Pehlevi alphabet}.
Phoenicia had first linear alphabet {Phoenician alphabet} {West-Semitic alphabet} [-1700].
In Italy [-700 to -600], alphabet {Roman alphabet} {Etruscan alphabet} was linear.
Early Germanic tribes developed signs {rune, letter}|. First six runic-alphabet letters are f, u, th, a, r, and k {futhark}.
Sequoia or Sequoyah invented a syllabary {Cherokee alphabet} in North Carolina [1820].
Easter Island had logograms {Easter Island alphabet}.
Hittite language had hieroglyphic logograms {Hieroglyphic Hittite}.
In Egypt [-3000], ideograph logograms {hieroglyphics, alphabet} were for consonants.
In Indus Valley [-2200], alphabet {Indus Valley alphabet} had logograms, not yet deciphered.
In Mexico, alphabet had logograms {Mayan glyphs}.
In Elam, alphabet had logograms {proto-Elamite alphabet}.
In south Mexico, Zapotec language had logograms {Zapotec alphabet}.
In Korea [1446], king Sejong invented script {han'gul}.
Chinese can use cursive ideography {hiragana}.
Japanese can use formal syllable-writing system {kana}.
Japanese can use syllable-writing system {kana majiri}. Because it comes from hiragana, Chinese-ideogram translations use kana majiri.
Japanese syllable-writing systems {kanji} can have logograms.
Japanese syllable-writing system {katakana}, derived from Chinese ideograms, is for official documents and science.
Writing systems {ideographic alphabet, writing}| can use units about objects, not sounds.
Writing systems {linear writing} can use sound-sign series.
Writing systems {logography} can use logograms.
Writing systems {phonetic alphabet, sounds}| can use units about sounds.
Writing systems {pictography}| can use pictograms.
Writing systems {syllabic alphabet, linguistics} can use logograms about syllables.
Alphabets can have word-like signs {glyph, sign}|.
In ancient Egypt, pictographs {hieroglyph, picture}| represented words or syllables.
Figures {ideogram}| {ideograph} can be for objects or symbols, not sounds. Ideograms can have added unpronounced semantic signs to denote categories.
Writing can have non-phonetic signs {isotype} of universal meaning.
Pictured objects {logogram}| can represent objects or sounds. Logograms can represent first word sounds {acrophony, logogram}.
Pictograms {petroglyph}| can be on rocks.
In Chinese, symbols {phonetic, symbol} {phonetic complement} within compound ideographs can suggest pronunciation.
Pictures {pictogram}| can denote objects and sounds.
Letters can be full-size {uppercase} or smaller {lowercase} {case, writing}.
Words can use apostrophe to show letters that were left out {contraction, word} {word contraction}.
Two letters can link {ligature, writing}| to improve appearance: ae, fi, ff, fl, oe, and tt.
Two letters {digraph} {diphthong, letter}| can represent one sound.
Three letters {triphthong} can represent one sound.
Z {zed}.
Letters can have additions {diacritical mark}| to basic shapes.
A Russian letter {hard sign}, replaceable by apostrophe, is mute and is only in word middles. Bulgarian pronounces hard sign in word middles but not at word ends.
Russian, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian have mute sign {soft sign}, with preceding consonant palatalized.
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Description of Outline of Knowledge Database
Date Modified: 2022.0225