different scripts of the world

The World's Most Popular Writing Scripts

Rank	Name of script	Type	Population actively using (in millions)
1	Latin Latin	Alphabet	over 4900
2	Chinese 汉字 漢字	Logographic	1340
3	Arabic العربية	Abjad	660+
4	Devanagari देवनागरी	Abugida	608+

Apr 28 2022

Full Answer

What are the world's most popular writing scripts?

The World's Most Popular Writing Scripts Rank Name of script Type Population actively using (in millions) 1 Latin Latin Alphabet over 4900 2 Chinese 汉字 漢字 Logographic 1340 3 Arabic العربية Abjad 660+ 4 Devanagari देवनागरी Abugida 608+ 32 more rows ...

What are the different types of writing scripts?

These writing scripts can be classified into the following categories: logogram, syllabary, and alphabet. Logograms are written by using one character to represent an entire word or idea.

Are there any scripts that still exist?

Some of them have disappeared while others still exist. On the outline map below you can see the distribution of the world’s most important scripts that are currently used.

How many styles of Arabic script are there?

Arabic script has many different styles—over 100 in fact. But there are six primary styles, which can generally be distinguished as being either geometric (basically Kufic and its variations) and cursive (Naskh, Ruq’ah, Thuluth, etc.). Kufi (or Kufic) is noted for its proportional measurements, angularity and squareness.

How many different scripts are there in the world?

How many languages have a written form? According to Ethnologue, 4,065 language currently have a written form. However many are rarely written, or few of the people who speak them are able to read and write them.

What is the most common script?

The Latin alphabetThe Latin alphabet is the most widely used script, with nearly 70 percent of the world's population employing it. It commonly consists of 26 letters and is the basis for the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is used to relate the phonetics of all languages.

What are the main scripts?

The World's Most Popular Writing ScriptsRankName of scriptType1Latin LatinAlphabet2Chinese 汉字 漢字Logographic3Arabic العربيةAbjad4Devanagari देवनागरीAbugida32 more rows•Oct 23, 2019

Which is the first script in the world?

cuneiform scriptThe cuneiform script, created in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, ca. 3200 BC, was first. It is also the only writing system which can be traced to its earliest prehistoric origin.

What script is used in India?

Devanagari scriptDevanagariDevanagari देवनागरीScript typeAbugidaTime periodEarly form: 1st century CE Modern form: 7th century CE to presentDirectionleft-to-rightRegionIndia 120+ languages use Devanagari script Fiji as script for Fiji Hindi South Africa as protected language (script) Nepal12 more rows

Which language is known as queen of world scripts?

Kannada had a huge boost during the Vijayanagar period. Shri Vinoba Bhave called "Kannada" script the "Queen of World Scripts" – "Vishwa Lipigala Raani".

How many Indian scripts are there?

3.4. Although Indian writing systems number at least 25 in a recent survey, the major scripts are 14, out of which 12 originated from the Brāhmī. Like the Greek alphabet, it had many local variants and gave rise to many Asian scripts - Burmese, Thai, Tibetan, etc.

What are the 3 scripting languages?

13 Best Scripting LanguagesJavaScript/ECMAScript.PHP.Python.Ruby.Groovy.Perl.Lua.Bash.More items...•

What is English script called?

Latin alphabetLatin alphabet, also called Roman alphabet, the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and the languages of most of Europe and those areas settled by Europeans.

Which language is mother of all languages?

SanskritCOIMBATORE: The Tamil language is older than Sanskrit and is "the mother of all languages in the world," said Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

Which is the most beautiful written language?

The 12 Most Beautiful Written Language Scripts in the WorldDevanagari.Chinese.Burmese.Traditional Mongolian.Tibetan.Sinhala.Balinese. Not only is the Balinese script beautiful, but it's also thought to have some extra “holy powers” by some. ... Arabic. Arabic is famous for its written form.More items...

What is the oldest script in India?

The Brahmi scriptDefinition. The Brahmi script is the earliest writing system developed in India after the Indus script.

What is a pictographic script?

Ideographic scripts (in which graphemes are ideograms 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, ...

What is segmental script?

Segmental scripts. A segmental script has graphemes which represent the phonemes (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.

What does glyph mean in writing?

In logographic writing systems, glyphs represent words or morphemes (meaningful components of words, as in mean -ing-ful ), rather than phonetic elements. Note that no logographic script is composed solely of logograms. All contain graphemes that represent phonetic (sound-based) elements as well.

What is asemic writing?

Asemic writing is a writing-like form of artistic expression that generally lacks a specific semantic meaning, though it sometimes contains ideograms or pictograms.

What is manual alphabet?

Manual alphabets are frequently found as parts of sign languages. They are not used for writing per se, but for spelling out words while signing.

What is the Suckerfish script?

Suckerfish script – Mi'kmawi'sit – Does have phonetic components, however. Testerian – used for missionary work in Mexico. Emoji – used in electronic messages and web pages. There are also symbol systems used to represent things other than language, or to represent constructed languages.

Is a full writing system pictographic or ideographic?

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 .

ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡ

One of the things that makes the traditional Mongolian script so beautiful is that it’s written vertically, from top to bottom. There’s also an emphasis placed on visual harmony between letters, which is immediately noticeable when reading the language.

7. Balinese

Not only is the Balinese script beautiful, but it’s also thought to have some extra “holy powers” by some. The text is currently used mostly in religious contexts, especially in those related to Hinduism, and there are some letters that are considered to have powers beyond the sounds they represent.

8. Arabic

Arabic is famous for its written form. For those that don’t read or write the language, it’s a dizzying swirl of lines, curves, and dots. For those that can read Arabic, this language that’s written from right to left carries great meaning.

עברית

Hebrew shares more than its beauty with Arabic; both languages have alphabets that have origins involving the Aramaic alphabet. They’re also both written from right to left. While the two languages don’t aren’t vastly different visually, you probably wouldn’t mistake one for the other.

ქართული

This often-overlooked language has some gorgeous scripts. There are actually three different writing systems used for the Georgian language, but modern Georgian is written in what is called Mkhedruli, which means “military” or “cavalry” in Georgian. Interestingly, there isn’t a great deal that’s known about its origins.

Հայերէն

Used widely throughout the Ottoman Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries, the Armenian alphabet is now used to write the national language of Armenia and by more than five million Armenian speakers.

12. Geʽez

Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of this language before. Today, Geʽez is only used as a liturgical language in Ethiopia and isn’t spoken as a native language. Its script, however, is used in several different languages, including Amharic and Tigrinya. In these languages, the script is referred to as fidäl, which means “script” or “letter.”

When was Arabic written?

It dates to about 400 CE.

What is the difference between written and speech?

Whereas speech is fleeting, written communication provides a permanence and has ultimately influenced everything from commerce to government to religion. The following are the five most commonly used writing systems around the world.

How many people use the Bengali alphabet?

An estimated 300 million people use this syllabic alphabet, which is derived from the Brahmi alphabet and is closely related to Devanagari. The current form of the Bengali alphabet first appeared in 1778 and was slightly modernized in the 19th century.

How many letters are in the Latin alphabet?

Latin alphabet. The Latin alphabet is the most widely used script, with nearly 70 percent of the world’s population employing it. It commonly consists of 26 letters and is the basis for the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is used to relate the phonetics of all languages.

Where are Chinese characters used?

Chinese characters. Chinese characters, called logograms by linguists, number in the thousands and are used in numerous languages across Asia, most notably the languages of China and Japan.

How many people use Chinese characters?

Chinese characters, called logograms by linguists, number in the thousands and are used in numerous languages across Asia, most notably the languages of China and Japan. An estimated 1.34 billion people around the world use the Chinese alphabet—also known as hanzi, kanji or hanja—for written communication. It is considered among the oldest continuously used forms of writing in the world.

Where are indic scripts used?

Indic scripts are used throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of Central and East Asia (e.g. Hindi, Sanskrit, Konkani, Marathi, Nepali, Sindhi and Sherpa). They are so widespread that they vary a lot, but Devanagari is the most important one.

How are Chinese written?

Traditionally, Chinese is written in vertical columns from top to bottom; the first column on the right side of the page, and the text starting on the left.

What is the four treasures of the study?

“Four treasures of the study” is an expression that refers to the brush, ink, paper and ink stone used in Chinese and other East Asian calligraphic traditions. The head of the brush can be made of the hair (or feather) of a variety of animals, including wolf, rabbit, deer, chicken, duck, goat, pig and tiger. The Chinese and Japanese also have a tradition of making a brush from the hair of a newborn, as a once-in-a-lifetime souvenir for the child.

How many letters are there in Arabic?

The Arabic alphabet was developed from the Nabataean script (which was itself derived from the Aramaic script) and contains a total of 28 letter. These 28 letters come from 18 basics shapes, to which one, two or three dots are added, above or below the letter. Arabic uses a writing system that we haven’t seen yet: an abjad, which is basically an alphabet that doesn’t have any vowels—the reader must supply them.

Is clerical script taller than seal script?

They are wider than the seal script and the modern standard script, both of which tend to be taller than wider. Some versions of clerical are square, and others are wider. Compared to seal script, forms are strikingly rectilinear; but some curvature and influence from seal script remains.

Does typography have borders?

The beauty of typography has no borders. While most of us work with the familiar Latin alphabet, international projects usually require quite extensive knowledge about less familiar writing systems from around the world. The aesthetics and structure of such designs can be strongly related to the shape and legibility of the letterforms, ...

Is Arabic script a diacritic?

Short consonants and long vowels are represented by letters, but short vowels and long consonants are not generally indicated in writing. The script includes numerous diacritics, which serve to point out consonants in modern Arabic.

Overview

Segmental scripts

Pictographic/ideographic writing systems

Logographic writing systems

Syllabaries

Undeciphered scripts and systems that may be writing

Undeciphered manuscripts

Other