Writing systems can be divided into 5 main categories: Alphabets, Abjads, logo-syllabaries, Syllabaries, and Abugidas. Below are descriptions of what each one is.

Alphabets

Alphabets are systems where each glyph creates a different sound, and you can put these glyphs together to make a work. The most famous alphabet is the Latin alphabet which is used by many different languages. Glyphs can also have more than one sound, and it’s up to the reader to figure out what sound the letter makes.

Abjads

Abjads are almost the same as alphabets; the only difference is that they’re made up of almost only consonants. For example, in Hebrew, you would have to infer the vowels in between the constants based on context, and the same goes for Arabic.

Syllabaries

In a syllabary, each glyph represents an entire syllable. A good example is Japanese, with many different glyphs representing each syllable. Hangul, which is the writing system for the Korean language, might look like a syllabary but isn’t because each consonant and vowel has an individual glyph, which you can combine to create a syllable.

Logo-Syllabaries

A logo syllabary has each glyph representing an entire word or sound. The most common usage of this system is Chinese. The Chinese language has thousands of glyphs, each meaning an entire word or a sound.

Abugidas

Abugidas are in between alphabets and syllabaries, so they’re also sometimes called a syllabic alphabet. Abugidas have a unique glyph for each constant and vowel, like an alphabet; however, unlike an alphabet, vowels are written as small changes to the constant, which makes a syllable similar to a syllabary.

Related Articles :

Writing Systems