Alphabet, Abjad and so forth

[James E. Clapp]

"Michael" writes:

> We all know the term "alphabet", and there are probably quite
> a few of us who are familiar with the term "abjad".
>
> (Abjad is a term used to refer to a writing system -- like
> the one used in Arabic -- that begins "a-b-j".)
>
> Does English have any other terms that we use to refer to
> a language's writing system should it fall outside of the
> usual "abecedarian" approach ?
>
> Thanks,
> Michael


Here are some relevant entries from the "Abbreviations, Conventions, and
Definitions" section of the staggering book _The World's Writing Systems_
(Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, eds., Oxford University press, 1996),
pp. xxxix-xlv:

abecedary [also called "abecedarium" (pl. "abecedaria," obviously) -JC]
a text listing the characters of an abjad or alphabet in their traditional
or standard order (even if that order does not begin with the equivalent of
_a_ or _b_)

abjad
a type of writing system that denotes only consonants

abugida
a type of writing system whose basic characters denote consonants followed
by a particular vowel, and in which diacritics denote the other vowels

alphabet
a type of writing system that denotes consonants and vowels

alphasyllabary
a writing system in which vowels are denoted by subsidiary symbols not all
of which occur in a linear order (with relation to the consonant symbols)
that is congruent with their temporal order in speech

character
1. general term for any self-contained element of a writing system;
2. conventional term for a unit of the Chinese writing system in East Asian
scripts

featural script
a type of writing system whose characters denote phonetic features

logosyllabary
a type of writing system whose characters denote morphemes, and a subset of
whose characters can be used for their phonetic syllabic values without
regard to their semantic values

orthography
conventional spelling of texts, and the principles therefor

sign
1. a unit in a communicative system comprising a signifier (what carries the
meaning) and a signified (what is meant); 2. conventional term for a
self-contained unit of cuneiform script

signary
general term for a determined collection of characters (or signs), used to
avoid specifying abjad, alphabet, etc.

syllabary
a type of writing system whose characters denote syllables, with no
deliberate graphic similarity between characters denoting phonetically
similar syllables

writing system
a signary together with an associated orthography


James E. Clapp
Author, Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law