List of writing systems
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This is a '''list of writing systems''' (or '''scripts'''), classified according to some common distinguishing features.
The usual name of the script is given first (and '''bolded'''); the name of the language(s) in which the script is written follows (in brackets), particularly in the case where the language name differs from the script name. Other informative or qualifying annotations for the script may also be provided.
[[Image:Writing systems worldwide.png|500px|thumb|
{|
|-
|'''Alphabet''' <span style="background-color:#AAAAAA;color:white;">Latin</span> <span style="background-color:#008080;color:white;">Cyrillic</span><span style="background-color:cyan;color:black;">&Latin</span> <span style="background-color:blue;color:white;">Greek</span> <span style="background-color:darkblue;color:white;">Georgian</span> <span style="background-color:darkblue;color:white;">Armenian</span>
|'''Logographic+Syllabic''' <span style="background-color:red;color:white;">[[Hanzi]] (L)</span> <span style="background-color:#DC143C;color:white;">[[Kana]] (2S)+[[Kanji]](L)</span> <span style="background-color:#C000C0;color:white;">[[Hangul]](Featural-alphabetic S)</span><span style="background-color:#FF00FF;color:black;">+limited [[Hanja]](L)</span>
|-
|'''Abjad''' <span style="background-color:green;color:white;">Arabic</span><span style="background-color:#66FF00;color:black;">&Latin</span> <span style="background-color:#00ff7f;color:black;">Hebrew</span>
|'''Abugida''' <span style="background-color:#FFC000;color:black;">N,</span> <span style="background-color:orange;color:black;">S Indic</span> <span style="background-color:#800000;color:white;">Ethiopic</span> <span style="background-color:olive;color:white;">Thaana</span> <span style="background-color:#FFFF80;color:black;">Canadian Syllabic</span>
|}]]
[[Image:WritingSystemsoftheWorld4.png|500px|thumb|Writing systems of the world today.]]
==Pictographic/ideographic writing systems==
{{WStypes}}
'''Ideographic scripts''' (in which graphemes are [[ideogram]]s representing concepts or ideas, rather than a specific word in a language), and '''pictographic scripts''' (in which the graphemes are iconic pictures) are not thought to be able to express all that can be communicated by language, as argued by the linguists [[John DeFrancis]] and [[J. Marshall Unger]]. Essentially, they postulate that no ''full'' writing system can be completely pictographic or ideographic; it must be able to refer directly to a language in order to have the full expressive capacity of a language. Unger disputes claims made on behalf of [[Blissymbols]] in his 2004 book ''Ideogram''.
Although a few [[pictographic script|pictographic]] or [[ideographic script]]s exist today, there is no single way to read them, because there is no one-to-one correspondence between symbol and language. Hieroglyphs were commonly thought to be ideographic before they were translated, and to this day Chinese is often erroneously said to be ideographic. In some cases of ideographic scripts, only the author of a text can read it with any certainty, and it may be said that they are ''interpreted'' rather than read. Such scripts often work best as mnemonic aids for oral texts, or as outlines that will be fleshed out in speech.
*'''[[Aztec writing|Aztec]]''' — [[Nahuatl language|Nahuatl]]
*'''[[Dongba script|Dongba]]''' — [[Naxi]]
*'''[[Míkmaq hieroglyphic writing]]''' — [[Míkmaq]] - Does have phonetic components, however.
There are also symbol systems used to represent things other than language. Some of these are
*'''[[Blissymbols]]''' - A constructed ideographic script used primarily in [[Augmentative and Alternative Communication]] (AAC).
*'''[[DanceWriting]]'''
*'''[[New Epoch Notation Painting]]'''
== Logographic writing systems ==
In '''logographic writing systems''', glyphs represent [[Word (linguistics)|word]]s or [[morpheme]]s (meaningful components of words, as in ''mean-ing-ful''), rather than phonetic elements.
Note that no logographic script is comprised solely of [[logogram]]s. All contain graphemes which represent [[phonetic]] (sound-based) elements as well. These phonetic elements may be used on their own (to represent, for example, grammatical inflections or foreign words), or may serve as [[phonetic complement]]s to a logogram (used to specify the sound of a logogram which might otherwise represent more than one word). In the case of Chinese, the phonetic element is built into the logogram itself; in Egyptian and Mayan, many glyphs are purely phonetic, while others function as either logograms or phonetic elements, depending on context. For this reason, many such scripts may be more properly referred to as '''logosyllabic''' or '''complex''' scripts; the terminology used is largely a product of custom in the field, and is to an extent arbitrary.
===Consonant-based logographies===
*'''[[Egyptian hieroglyph|Hieroglyphic]]''', '''[[Hieratic]]''', and '''[[Demotic Egyptian|Demotic]]''' — writing systems of [[Ancient Egypt]]
===Syllable-based logographies===
*'''[[Anatolian hieroglyph]]s''' — [[Luwian language|Luwian]]
*'''[[Cuneiform script|Cuneiform]]''' — [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]], [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], other [[Semitic languages]], [[Elamite language|Elamite]], [[Hittite language|Hittite]], [[Luwian language|Luwian]], [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]], and [[Urartian language|Urartian]]
*'''[[Chinese character]]s (Hanzi)''' — [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]] (called '''[[Kanji]]'''), [[Korean language|Korean]] (called '''[[Hanja]]'''), [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (called '''[[Han tu]]''', obsolete)
*'''[[Maya script|Mayan]]''' — [[Chorti language|Chorti]], [[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec]], and other [[Classic Maya language]]s
*'''[[Yi script#Classical Yi|Yi]] (classical)''' — various [[Yi language|Yi/Lolo languages]]
====Logographies based on Chinese====
*'''[[Jurchen]]''' — [[Jurchen language|Jurchen]]
*'''[[Khitan large script]]''' — [[Khitan language|Khitan]]
*'''[[Tangut]]''' — [[Tangut language|Tangut]]
*'''[[Zhuang]]''' — [[Zhuang language|Zhuang]]
*'''Vietnamese''' — [[Chu nho]] (for vernacular Vietnamese, now obsolete)
== Syllabaries ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Syllabary]] -->
In a '''[[syllabary]]''', graphemes represent '''[[syllable]]s''' or [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]s. (Note that the 19th century term ''syllabics'' usually referred to ''abugidas'' rather than true syllabaries.)
*'''[[Afaka script|Afaka]]''' — [[Ndyuka]]
*'''[[Yugtun script|Alaska script]]''' — [[Yupik language|Central Yup'ik]]
*'''[[Cherokee alphabet|Cherokee]]''' — [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]]
*'''[[Cypriot syllabary|Cypriot]]''' — [[Mycenaean language|Mycenean Greek]]
*'''[[Geba script|Geba]]''' — [[Naxi]]
*'''[[Hiragana]]''' — [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
*'''[[Katakana]]''' — Japanese
*'''[[Kikakui]]''' - [[Mende language|Mende]]
*'''[[Kpelle syllabary|Kpelle]]''' — [[Kpelle language|Kpelle]]
*'''[[Linear B]]''' — [[Mycenaean language|Mycenean Greek]]
*'''[[Man'yōgana]]''' - Japanese
*'''[[Nü Shu]]''' — [[Yao people|Yao]]
*'''[[Vai script|Vai]]''' — [[Vai language|Vai]]
*'''[[Woleaian script|Woleaian]]''' — [[Woleaian language|Woleaian]] (a likely syllabary)
*'''[[Yi script#Modern Yi|Yi]] (modern)''' — various [[Yi language|Yi/Lolo languages]]
===[[Semi-syllabaries]]: Part syllabic, part alphabetic scripts===
In most of these systems, some consonant-vowel combinations are written as syllables, but others are written as consonant plus vowel. In the case of Old Persian, all vowels were written regardless, so it was ''effectively'' a true alphabet despite its syllabic component. In Japanese a similar system plays a minor role in foreign borrowings; for example, [tu] is written [to]+[u], and [ti] as [te]+[i]. Paleohispanic [[semi-syllabaries]] behaved as a [[syllabary]] for the [[stop consonant]]s and as an [[alphabet]] for the rest of consonants and vowels. The Tartessian or Southwestern script is typologically intermediate between a pure alphabet and the Paleohispanic full semi-syllabaries. Although the letter used to write a stop consonant was determined by the following vowel, as in a full [[semi-syllabary]], the following vowel was also written, as in an alphabet. Some scholars treat Tartessian as a redundant semi-syllabary, others treat it as a redundant alphabet. Zhuyin is semi-syllabic in a different sense: it transcribes half syllables. That is, it has letters for [[syllable onset]]s and [[syllable rime|rimes]] ''(kan = "k-an")'' rather than for consonants and vowels ''(kan = "k-a-n").''
*'''[[Paleohispanic scripts|Paleohispanic semi-sillabaries]]''' — [[Paleohispanic languages]]
** '''[[Southwestern script|Tartessian or Southwestern script]]''' — [[Tartessian language|Tartessian or Southwestern language]]
** '''[[Southeastern Iberian script]]''' — [[Iberian language]]
** '''[[Northeastern Iberian script]]''' — [[Iberian language]]
** '''[[Celtiberian script]]''' — [[Celtiberian language]]
*'''[[Old Persian cuneiform script|Old Persian Cuneiform]]''' — [[Old Persian language|Old Persian]]
*'''[[Zhuyin fuhao]]''' — phonetic script for [[Chinese languages]], and principal script for several [[Formosan languages]].
== Segmental scripts ==
A '''[[segmental script]]''' has graphemes which represent the [[phoneme]]s (basic unit of sound) of a language.
Note that there need not be (and rarely is) a one-to-one correspondence between the graphemes of the script and the phonemes of a language. A phoneme may be represented only by some combination or string of graphemes, the same phoneme may be represented by more than one distinct grapheme, the same grapheme may stand for more than one phoneme, or some combination of all of the above.
Segmental scripts may be further divided according to the types of phonemes they typically record:
=== Abjads ===
An [[abjad]] is a segmental script containing symbols for [[consonant]]s only, or where vowels are ''optionally'' written with diacritics ("pointing") or only written word-initially.
*'''[[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]'''
*'''[[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]''' — [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Azeri language|Azeri]], [[Baluchi language|Baluchi]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Pashtu language|Pashtun]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Uighur language|Uighur]], [[Urdu language|Urdu]], and the languages of many other Muslim peoples
*'''[[Dhives akuru]]''' — [[Dhivehi]]
*'''[[Syriac alphabet|Estrangelo]]''' — [[Syriac language|Syriac]]
*'''[[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew Square Script]]''' — [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Yiddish]], and other Jewish languages
*'''[[Jawi (script)|Jawi]]''' - [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Malay language|Malay]]
*'''[[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean]]''' — the [[Nabataeans]] of [[Petra]]
*'''[[Pahlavi script]]''' — [[Middle Persian]]
**'''[[Parthian alphabet|Parthian]]'''
**'''[[Psalter alphabet|Psalter]]'''
*'''[[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]''' — [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] and other [[Canaan|Caananite]] languages
*'''[[Proto-Canaanite alphabet|Proto-Canaanite]]
*'''[[Sabaean alphabet|Sabaean]]'''
**'''[[South Arabian alphabet|South Arabian]]''' — Sabaic, Qatabanic, Himyaritic, and Hadhramautic
*'''[[Sogdian alphabet|Sogdian]]'''
*'''[[Samaritan alphabet|Samaritan (Old Hebrew)]]''' — [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
*'''[[Tifinagh]]''' — [[Tuareg languages|Tuareg]]
*'''[[Ugaritic alphabet|Ugaritic]]''' — [[Ugaritic language|Ugaritic]], [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]]
=== True alphabets ===
A true [[alphabet]] contains separate letters (not [[diacritic]] marks) for both [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]]s.
====Linear nonfeatural alphabets====
''Linear'' alphabets are composed of lines on a surface, such as ink on paper.
*'''[[Arabic alphabet|Arabic (for Uyghur)]]'''
*'''[[Armenian alphabet|Armenian]]''' — [[Armenian language|Armenian]]
*'''[[Avestan alphabet]]''' — [[Avestan language]]
*'''[[Beitha Kukju]]''' — [[Albanian language|Albanian]]
*'''[[Coptic alphabet|Coptic]]''' — [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]]
*'''[[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]]''' — [[Eastern Slavic languages]] ([[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]), eastern [[South Slavic languages]] ([[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]]), the other [[languages of Russia]], [[Kazakh language]], [[Kyrgyz language]], [[Tajik language]], [[Mongolian language]]. [[Azerbaijan]], [[Turkmenistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]] are changing to the Latin alphabet but still have considerable use of Cyrillic. See [[Languages using Cyrillic]].
*'''[[Eclectic Shorthand]]'''
*'''[[Elbasan script|Elbasan]]''' — [[Albanian language|Albanian]]
*'''[[Fraser alphabet|Fraser]]''' — [[Lisu language|Lisu]]
*'''[[Gabelsberger shorthand]]'''
*'''[[Georgian alphabet|Georgian]]''' — [[Georgian language|Georgian]] and [[Mingrelian language|Mingrelian]]. Variants include '''[[Mkhedruli]], [[Khutsuri]], [[Asomtavruli]], [[Nuskhuri]]'''
*'''[[Glagolitic alphabet|Glagolitic]]''' — [[Old Church Slavonic]]
*'''[[Gothic alphabet|Gothic]]''' — [[Gothic language|Gothic]]
*'''[[Greek alphabet|Greek]]''' — [[Greek language|Greek]]
*'''[[International Phonetic Alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Latin alphabet]]''' or '''[[Roman alphabet]]''' — originally [[Latin language]]; most current western and central [[Languages of Europe|European languages]], [[Turkic languages]], [[languages of Africa|sub-Saharan African languages]], [[indigenous languages of the Americas]], languages of [[maritime Southeast Asia]] and [[languages of Oceania]] use developments of it. Languages using a non-Latin writing system are generally also equipped with '''[[Romanization]]''' for [[transliteration]] or secondary use.
*'''[[Manchu alphabet|Manchu]]''' — [[Manchu language|Manchu]]
*'''[[Mandaic alphabet|Mandaic]]''' — [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]] dialect of [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]
*'''[[Mongolian alphabet|Mongolian]]''' — [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]
*'''Neo-[[Tifinagh]]''' — [[Berber languages|Tamazight]]
*'''[[N'Ko]]''' — [[Maninka language]], [[Bambara language|Bambara]], [[Dyula language]]
*'''[[Ogham]]''' ({{pronounced|oːm}}) — [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]], [[Brythonic languages|Britannic]], [[Pictish language|Pictish]]
*'''[[Old Hungarian script|Hungarian Runes]]''' — [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]
*'''[[Old Italic alphabet]]''' — [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]], [[Oscan language|Oscan]], [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]]
*'''[[Old Permic script|Old Permic (or ''Abur'')]]''' — [[Komi language|Komi]]
*'''[[Orkhon script|Orkhon "runes"]]''' — [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
*'''[[Osmanya script|Osmanya]]''' — [[Somali language|Somali]]
*'''[[Runic alphabet]]''' — [[Germanic languages]]
*'''[[Santali alphabet|Ol Cemet']]''' — [[Santali language|Santali]]
*'''[[Tai Lue]]''' — [[Dai people|Lue]]
*'''[[Bassa alphabet|Vah]]''' — [[Bassa language|Bassa]]
====Featural linear alphabets====
A [[Featural alphabet|featural script]] has elements that indicate the components of articulation, such as [[bilabial consonant]]s, [[fricative consonant|fricatives]], or [[back vowel]]s. Scripts differ in how many features they indicate.
*'''[[Gregg Shorthand]]'''
*'''[[Hangul]]''' — [[Korean language|Korean]]
*'''[[Shavian alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Tengwar]]''' (a fictional script)
*'''[[Visible Speech]]''' (a phonetic script)
*'''[[Stokoe notation]]''' for [[American Sign Language]]
====Manual alphabets====
[[Manual alphabet]]s are frequently found as parts of [[sign language]]s. They are not used for writing ''per se'', but for spelling out words while signing.
*'''[[American Manual Alphabet|American manual alphabet]]''' (used with slight modification in [[Hong Kong]], [[Malaysia]], [[Paraguay]], [[Philippines]], [[Singapore]], [[Taiwan]], [[Thailand]])
*'''[[Two-handed manual alphabet|British manual alphabet]]''' (used in some of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], such as [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]])
*'''[[Catalonian manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Chilean manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Chinese manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Dutch manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Ethiopian manual alphabet]]''' (an abugida)
*'''[[French manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Greek manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Icelandic manual alphabet]]''' (also used in [[Denmark]])
*'''[[Indian manual alphabet]]''' (a true alphabet?; used in [[Devanagari]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] areas)
*'''[[International manual alphabet]]''' (used in [[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Norway]], [[Finland]])
*'''[[Iranian manual alphabet]]''' (an abjad; also used in [[Egypt]])
*'''[[Israli manual alphabet]]''' (an abjad)
*'''[[Italian manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Korean manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Latin American manual alphabets]]'''
*'''[[Polish manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Portuguese manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Romanian manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Russian manual alphabet]]''' (also used in [[Bulgaria]] and ex-[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] states)
*'''[[Spanish manual alphabet]]''' ([[Madrid]])
*'''[[Swedish manual alphabet]]'''
*'''[[Yugoslav manual alphabet]]'''
====Other non-linear alphabets====
These are other alphabets composed of something other than lines on a surface.
*'''[[Braille|Braille (Unified)]]''' — an embossed alphabet for the visually-impaired, used with some extra letters to transcribe the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic alphabets, as well as Chinese
*'''[[Korean Braille|Braille (Korean)]]'''
*'''[[American Braille|Braille (American)]]''' (defunct)
*'''[[New York Point]]''' — a defunct alternative to Braille
*'''[[International maritime signal flags]]''' (both alphabetic and ideographic)
*'''[[Morse code|Morse code (International)]]''' — a [[trinary]] code of dashes, dots, and silence, whether transmitted by electricity, light, or sound)
*'''[[American Morse code]]''' (defunct)
*'''[[Semaphore line|Optical telegraphy]]''' (defunct)
*'''[[Flag semaphore]]''' — (made by moving hand-held flags)
=== Abugidas ===
An [[abugida]], or ''alphasyllabary'', is a segmental script in which [[vowel]] sounds are denoted by [[diacritical mark]]s or other systematic modification of the [[consonant]]s. Generally, however, if a single letter is understood to have an inherent unwritten vowel, and only vowels other than this are written, then the system is classified as an abugida regardless of whether the vowels look like diacritics or full letters. The vast majority of abugidas are found from India to Southeast Asia and belong historically to the Brāhmī family.
====Abugidas of the Brāhmī family====
*'''[[Brāhmī script|Brāhmī]]''' — [[Prakrit]], [[Sanskrit]]
*'''[[Ahom alphabet|Ahom]]'''
*'''[[Balinese alphabet|Balinese]]'''
*'''[[Batak alphabet|Batak]]''' — [[Toba language|Toba]] and other [[Batak (Indonesia)|Batak]] languages
*'''[[Baybayin]]''' — [[Ilokano language|Ilokano]], [[Kapampangan language|Kapampangan]], [[Pangasinan language|Pangasinan]], [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]], [[Bikol languages]], [[Visayan languages]], and possibly other [[Philippine languages]]
*'''[[Bengali script|Bengali]]''' — [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]]
*'''[[Buhid script|Buhid]]'''
*'''[[Burmese alphabet|Burmese]]''' — [[Burmese language|Burmese]], [[Karen languages]], [[Mon language|Mon]]
*'''[[Cham alphabet|Cham]]'''
*'''[[Dehong]]''' — [[Dehong Dai]]
*'''[[Devanagari|Devanāgarī]]''' — [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], and many other languages of northern India
*'''[[Gujarati script|Gujarāti]]''' — [[Gujarati language|Gujarāti]], [[Kachchi language|Kachchi]]
*'''[[Gurmukhi script]]''' — [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
*'''[[Hanunoo script|Hanuno’o]]'''
*'''[[Javanese alphabet|Javanese]]'''
*'''[[Kaganga alphabet|Kaganga]]''' — [[Rejang language|Rejang]]
*'''[[Kannada script|Kannada]]''' — [[Kannada language|Kannada]], [[Tulu language|Tulu]]
*'''[[Khmer alphabet|Khmer]]'''
*'''[[Lao alphabet|Lao]]'''
*'''[[Limbu alphabet|Limbu]]'''
*'''[[Lontara alphabet|Lontara’]]''' — [[Buginese language|Buginese]], [[Makassar language|Makassar]], and [[Mandar language|Mandar]]
*'''[[Malayalam script|Malayalam]]'''
*'''[[Modi alphabet|Modi]]''' — [[Marathi language|Marathi]]
*'''[[Oriya script|Oriya]]'''
*'''[[Phagspa script|Phags-pa]]''' — [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], and other languages of the [[Yuan Dynasty]] [[Mongol Empire]]
*'''[[Ranjana script|Ranjana]]''' — [[Newari language|Newari]]
*'''[[Sinhala script|Sinhala]]'''
*'''[[Sourashtra alphabet|Sourashtra]]'''
*'''[[Soyombo script|Soyombo]]'''
*'''[[Syloti Nagri]]''' - [[Sylheti language|Sylheti]]
*'''[[Tagbanwa alphabet|Tagbanwa]]''' — [[Ethnic Groups of Palawan|Languages of Palawan]]
*'''[[Tai Dam]]'''
*'''[[Tamil script|Tamil]]'''
*'''[[Telugu script|Telugu]]'''
*'''[[Thai alphabet|Thai]]'''
*'''[[Tibetan alphabet|Tibetan]]'''
*'''[[Tocharian alphabet|Tocharian]]'''
*'''[[Varang Kshiti]]''' — [[Ho language|Ho]]
====Other Abugidas====
*'''[[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]]''' — '''[[Cree syllabics]]''' (for [[Cree language|Cree]]), '''[[Inuktitut syllabics]]''' (for [[Inuktitut language|Inuktitut]]), and other variants for [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]], [[Carrier language|Carrier]], [[Blackfoot]], and other languages of Canada
*'''[[Ge'ez language#Ge'ez writing system|Ethiopic]]''' — [[Amharic language|Amharic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ge’ez]], [[Oromo]], [[Tigrigna language|Tigrigna]]
*'''[[Kharoṣṭhī]]''' — [[Gandhari language|Gandhari]], [[Sanskrit]]
*'''[[Meroitic script|Meroitic]]''' — [[Meroë]]
*'''[[Pitman Shorthand]]'''
*'''[[Pollard script]]''' — [[Hmong language|Miao]]
*'''[[Sorang Sompeng]]''' — [[Sora language|Sora]]
*'''[[Thaana]]''' — [[Dhivehi]]
*'''[[Thomas Natural Shorthand]]'''
====Final consonant-diacritic abugidas====
In at least one abugida, not only the vowel but any [[syllable coda|syllable-final]] consonant is written with a diacritic. That is, representing [o] with an under-ring, and final [k] with an over-cross, [sok] would written as {{IPA|s̥̽}}.
*'''[[Róng]]''' — [[Lepcha]]
====Vowel-based abugidas====
In a couple abugidas, the vowels are basic, and the consonants secondary. If no consonant is written in Pahawh Hmong, it is understood to be /k/; consonants are written after the vowel they precede in speech. In Japanese Braille, the vowels but not the consonants have independent status, and it is the vowels which are modified when the consonant is ''y'' or ''w''.
*'''[[Boyd's Syllabic Shorthand]]'''
*'''[[Japanese Braille]]''' — [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
*'''[[Pahawh Hmong abugida]]''' — [[Hmong language|Hmong]]
== Undeciphered systems thought to be writing ==
{{main|Undeciphered writing systems}}
These writing systems have not been deciphered. In some cases, such as Meroitic, the sound values of the glyphs are known, but the texts still cannot be read because the language is not understood. In others, such as the [[Phaistos Disc]], there is little hope of progress unless further texts are found. Several of these systems, such as Epi-Olmec and Indus, are claimed to have been deciphered, but these claims have not been confirmed by independent researchers. In Vinča and other cases the system, although symbolic, may turn out to not be writing.
*'''[[Byblos syllabary|Byblos]]''' — the city of [[Byblos]]
*'''[[Eskayan]]''' — [[Bohol]], [[Philippines]]
*'''[[Isthmian script|Isthmian]]''' (apparently logosyllabic)
*'''[[Indus script]]''' — [[Indus Valley Civilization]]
*'''[[Khipu]]''' — [[Inca Empire]] (very possibly not writing)
*'''[[Khitan script|Khitan]] small script''' — [[Khitan language|Khitan]]
*'''[[Linear A]]''' (a syllabary) — [[Eteocretan|Minoan]]
*'''[[Mixtec script|Mixtec]]''' — [[Mixtec]] (perhaps pictographic)
*'''[[Vinča signs|Vinča]]''' (perhaps proto-writing)
*'''[[Olmec hieroglyphs|Olmec]]''' — [[Olmec|Olmec civilization]] (possibly the oldest [[Mesoamerica]]n script)
*'''[[Phaistos Disc]]''' (a unique text)
*'''[[Proto-Elamite]]''' — [[Elam]] (nearly as old as Sumerian)
*'''[[Rongorongo]]''' — [[Rapa Nui language|Rapa Nui]] (perhaps a syllabary)
*'''[[Middle Bronze Age alphabets|Wadi el-Ħôl & Proto-Sinaitic]]''' (likely an abjad)
*'''[[Zapotec writing|Zapotec]]''' — [[Zapotec]] (another old Mesoamerican script)
*'''[[Banpo Script]]''' -[[Yangshao culture]]
*'''[[Jiahu Script]]''' -[[Peiligang culture]]
* '''[[Southwestern script|Tartessian or Southwestern script]]''' — [[Tartessian language|Tartessian or Southwestern language]]
* '''[[Southeastern Iberian script]]''' — [[Iberian language]]
== Undeciphered manuscripts ==
A number of manuscripts from comparable recent past may be written in an invented writing system, a cipher of an existing writing system or may only be a [[hoax]].
*'''[[Voynich manuscript]]'''
*'''[[Rohonc Codex]]'''
*'''[[Codex Seraphinianus]]'''
*'''[[James Hampton (artist)|Hamptonese]]'''
*'''[[Asemic writing]]
==Other==
===Phonetic alphabets===
This section lists alphabets used to transcribe [[phonetic]] or [[phoneme|phonemic]] sound; not to be confused with [[spelling alphabet]]s like the [[NATO phonetic alphabet]].
# [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]
# [[Deseret alphabet]]
# [[Unifon]]
# [[Americanist phonetic notation]]
# [[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]]
# [[Shavian alphabet]]
===Special alphabets===
Alphabets may exist in forms other than visible symbols on a surface. Some of these are:
====Tactile alphabets====
# [[Braille]]
# [[Moon type]]
# [[New York Point]]
====Manual alphabets====
# [[Fingerspelling]]
For example:
# [[American Sign Language]]
# [[American manual alphabet]]
# [[Korean manual alphabet]]
# [[Cued Speech]]
====Long-Distance Signaling====
# [[International maritime signal flags]]
# [[Morse code]]
# [[Flag semaphore]]
# [[Semaphore line|Optical telegraphy]]
===Alternative alphabets===
# [[Gregg Shorthand]]
# [[Initial Teaching Alphabet]]
# [[Pitman Shorthand]]
# [[Quikscript]]
===Fictional writing systems===
# [[Ath (alphabet)]]
# [[Aurebesh]]
# [[Cirth]]
# [[D'ni language|D'ni]]
# [[Goa'uld language|Goa'uld]]
# [[Klingon language|Klingon]]
# [[On Beyond Zebra!]]
# [[Sarati]]
# [[Tengwar]]
== See also ==
*[[Artificial script]]
*[[List of languages by first written accounts]]
*[[Genealogy of scripts derived from Proto-Sinaitic]]
*[[Grapheme]]
*[[Writing system]]
*[[List of languages by writing system]]
*[[List of inventors of writing systems]]
*[[List of ISO 15924 codes]]
*[[:Category:Character sets]] - computer representations of alphabets, especially [[Unicode]]
*[[:Category:Writing systems]]
*[http://copper.chem.ucla.edu/~jericks Deseret Alphabet]
==References==
* [http://omniglot.com/ Omniglot - a guide to writing systems]
* [http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws.html Ancient Scripts: Home](Site with some introduction to different writing systems and group them into [http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_types.html origins]/[http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_types.html types]/[http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_families.html families]/[http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_regions.html regions]/[http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_timeline.html timeline]/[http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_atoz.html A to Z])
* [[Michael Everson]]'s [http://www.evertype.com/alphabets/index.html Alphabets of Europe]
* [http://scriptorium.17.forumer.com/index.php Scriptorium Bulletin Board] — A forum devoted to writing systems
* [http://copper.chem.ucla.edu/~jericks Deseret Alphabet]
{{writing systems}}
[[Category:Lists of languages]]
[[Category:Encodings]]
[[Category:Writing systems|*]]
[[Category:WikiProject Systems lists|Writing systems]]
[[zh-min-nan:Bûn-jī hē-thóng lia̍t-toaⁿ]]
[[cs:Seznam písem (podle skupin)]]
[[de:Liste der Schriftsysteme]]
[[fr:Liste des écritures non déchiffrées]]
[[ja:文字体系の一覧]]
[[nn:Verdas skriftsystem]]
[[pt:Anexo:Lista de sistemas de escrita]]
[[ro:Listă de sisteme de scriere]]
[[ru:Нерасшифрованная письменность]]