Definitions of writing systems

[Kathy H.]

Here are some types of writing systems, from Daniels, Peter T. and William Bright.  1996.  The World's Writing Systems.  Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 
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
 
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
 
 
Hope this helps.
 
Kathy
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